Catholic Sensibility

Archbishop Chaput weighs in on receiving Communion "But the Church always expects Catholics who are living in serious sin or who deny the teachings of the Church — whether they're highly visible officials or anonymous parishioners — to have the integrity to respect both the Eucharist and the faithful, and to refrain from receiving Communion." In the debate on worthily receiving Communion, we see the desperation of some of the Church (MaChurch, if you will) to retain the appearances and content of an idealized uniformity. In St Blog's, for example, it is not enough for me to profess being adamantly Pro-Life. I have been taken to task for criticizing lobbying priorities, for suggesting pro-life leadership has been poor, for not volunteering enough, for criticizing hero-bishops, for not criticizing the "spineless," for advocating the seamless garment, for advocating a liberal-pacifist approach, often to the point where people openly question my views. All because I choose not to lock step with the Faithful Majority. I liked some of what I read in Chaput's column. I agree that people should bring more mindfulness and intent to their participation in liturgy. I'm not willing to paint I Corinthians 11:27 on a banner and start a proof-texting crusade. When we talk about unworthy communicants, we should be mindful of the whole thrust of these chapters of Paul's letter, if not the whole document. Paul is not considering the occasional participant in the community's liturgy at Corinth. He is addressing himself to the self-satisfied, the proud, and the in-crowd. First Corinthians was not written to reinforce the feelings of the faithful. He wanted to shake up a self-satisfied, narcissistic church that had lost track of the essentials of charity, inclusion, and love. A person shows up for Easter or Christmas. (Actually tons of them do, but anyway ...) Has this person given scandal by bringing their sinful life unforgiven to the altar? The way I see it, I'm sorry they don't make a regular habit of living a sacramental life. Do I feel scandalized by their non-return on Holy Family Sunday or the Second Sunday of Easter? "Scandalized" isn't the word I would use. I lament the missed opportunity. I think the good Archbishop of Denver has missed the boat in two ways: First, his ministry of evangelization will be impotent if he continues on this tack to the exclusion of other possibilities. St Paul attempted to be "all things to all people" so as to win a few. A bishop who thinks parroting the lock step chant will be enough to convince the doubters (if not win the unchurched) is being naive, if not lazy. A press release is just not enough. Unless, of course, the point is to proclaim, "I have no specks in my eye!" for the world's (and God's) benefit. Second, people are inspired by living example. The scandal generated by the mishandling of sex predators in the clergy did far more harm to the Body than scattered politicians justifying their pro-choice stance while receiving Communion. If a sense of sin and personal contrition are so vital, people might ask why they're not being modelled by their proponents. "Do as I say, not as I do" is being rejected wholeheartedly. As it should be. And when one bishop (Myers) does apologize for seeming to hammer unfairly at a single individual (the governor of New Jersey), he is branded as a traitor whose spine has slithered off into the sunset. Catholics who receive Communion without mindfulness miss a vital opportunity. No doubt about that. But they harm themselves more by their act(s) of omission than by what they have done. Likewise bishops who are satisfied with press releases have also missed opportunities. Their acts of omission: not performing public penances, not being pastors to politicians, not instilling transparency and confidence, not demonstrating Catholic teaching in new and profound ways that will appeal to the doubters (if not the opposition) will continue to harm the Body and frustrate an effort to achieve the goal. It seems to come down to planks and specks. Meanwhile, we wait for a real bishop to step forward and make an appealing case.