Seeing

Seeing

Your priest can tell you of an October 1 missive from the chancery in which our bishop shared his unhappiness that even more people than before the pandemic appear to be receiving communion on the tongue, and how they ought to be pressured to stop.

This is not just because of COVID any more, but now also because of normal influenza, according to the memo.

Fear has expanded beyond the immediate threat of the COVID virus to the seemingly omnipresent sicknesses that never stop troubling the world.

By whatever method one chooses to receive Holy Communion, it should be acknowledged that we live in a time when belief in the Real Presence of the Eucharist has been shown to be shockingly and abysmally low, and that no initiatives from the hierarchy seem yet to have turned that tide. It has been an egregious & seemingly insoluble problem for them for decades, leading to direct acts of sacrilege of the sort St. Paul warned us about in scripture, and to the deterioration of faith generally.

Given this, it is highly interesting, is it not, and even encouraging that more people appear spontaneously moved to show more profound expressions of reverence than was previously their habit?

Could this signal a deepening of Eucharistic belief? Would this not be good news?

This desire has not come, apparently, from any diocesan initiative or USCCB program; it has appeared on its own, and at least according to our bishop’s observations, has increased.

So where has it come from?

One might wonder if it is Our Lord and His Spirit, stirring some greater awareness of His Presence within people; a process with which one should be loathe to meddle.

But it is impossible to entertain this thought, it seems, while the mindset continues to develop that the potential adverse outcomes of disease & liability are worse than the unbelief that can deprive one of salvation.

And so, those discerning in a new way the Body of the Lord and feeling a pull toward acts of further reverence will not in any way, shape or form be supported and accommodated, but will be actively discouraged from this.

To say this is unfortunate doesn’t begin to cover it.

Might we please consider that God has taught His people something that bishops, priests, catechists, Catholics parents, etc. have not been able to teach? That He has touched their hearts Himself, in spite of the terrible obduracy of our irreligious age & the many human failings that stand in the way?

Could we not take this as a subject over which to rejoice and about which to praise Him, rather than a something to be legalistically stamped out?

Some action points for the next few weeks for readers so inclined:

1. Please do pray for our bishop and the other members of USCCB preparing for their Fall Assembly and its subsequent discussion on Eucharistic Coherence.

2. Corpus Christi for Unity & Peace is sponsoring a presentation on November 6 by Fr. Paul Kalchik on the subject of “Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist and Our Worthy Reception.” Those interested may register here.

Our Lady, Health of the Sick, Comforter of the Afflicted, Help of Christians, pray for us.


87 Replies to “Seeing”

  1. News from the fruited, non-panicked Great Plains. Nary a mask in both places, a kneeler set out to receive communion in Stratton, CO last week and intinction by the priest in Park, KS this morning. Good to know the faithful remnant remains. Maybe one of those wonderful priests will be called to the Bishopric in Lafayette.

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  2. To whom it may concern,
    My name is Fr. Stephen Arabadjis.  I am a member of the Society of St. Pius X.  But I am in my 7th year of Sabbatical.Therefore I was hoping your group could do a 54 day rosary novena for my intentions.  But any prayers and sacrifices would be greatly appreciated.  I know Our Lady will reward you generously for this.
    In Our Lady,
    Fr. Arabadjis
    P.S. Thanking you in advance, since I don’t always get all my communications.

  3. I need to (damn with faint praise) Bishop Doherty. He is merely discouraging; in the Diocese of Tucson this weekend, we were outright denied receiving Him on the tongue.

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    1. Twice in 2022 B. D. announced that reception should only be in the hand. I heard this myself. Sadly, the second time was at Confirmation. I chose a different priest who happily fed me as a good shepherd does. I agree with all who say pray for him.

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  4. Congratulations Red Wolf, you have shattered my desire to become Catholic.
    With the turmoil & radical changes in our culture & ugliness of the mainstream media & social media, I’ve been tuning those sources out & seeking Truth.
    My research led me to the beauty of the Catholic Church & especially to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
    I’m in RCIA & my heart has been filled with longing & joy to finally receive Jesus in the Eucharist this spring.

    Maybe my faith is too simple.
    Receiving Jesus in the hand or on the tongue isn’t what matters. I simply want to receive Him!
    But these comments are filled with as much ugliness & hate as anything on social media.
    It breaks my heart that people who have been receiving Jesus- the thing I’ve been longing for so fervently- spew such hatred.
    So I question whether Jesus really is present in the Eucharist, if people who are receiving Him are so unkind?

    Politics is ugly. But this site is even uglier.
    I stepped away from the political divide. Maybe I’ll step away from this horrible Catholic divide.
    Everyone is entitled to their opinions. But it seems this site perpetuates the same vitriol that anonymity on social media sites allows.
    I’m seeking a church that represents Christ- & sadly this church is not it.

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    1. Nice try. The Catholic Church is a hospital for sinners; not a museum of saints. This site has done a good job at bringing light to the darkness that is increasing in our diocese, and to some extent the broader Church due to people (and fallen angels) that want to destroy it. Just remember, outside the Church there is no salvation as several popes have spoken from the chair infallibly reminding people. If you value the salvation of your soul, and the souls of your loved ones, you will realize the necessity of being a baptized Catholic as well as the need to be in a state of grace–primarily by use of the sacraments. Find a good and holy Catholic priest (easier said than done today) and ask him to guide and bring you into the Church.

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    2. Your faith has been shaken by a website? Really? Pretty sandy foundation you got there. Seriously though, if you decide to abandon the Catholic Church for some other church, trust me, there will likely be more than a few websites out there that will criticize it. Time to toughen up a little and keep the internet in its place. Also, it typically follows these days that when someone lobs the H-word grenade (hate, hater, etc…), and attempts to shame you and compel you to accept and react to their accusations, they’re either leftists, someone with an uncharitable agenda, or both.

      But, for what it’s worth….

      The first words of Jesus in John’s gospel (1:38) come to mind: “And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you seeking?”….” It is a great question each and every believer needs to honestly answer every single day. Whatever answer you want to give, what cannot be denied is that the Son of God established one Church, one Holy Bride: The Catholic Church. And has graced Her with His Sacraments, His Word, and His Sacred Traditions. All other churches and belief systems out there were/are invented by humans. It is the docile, trusting heart that can – with God’s grace – cut through the morass of the occasionally corrupt human element that runs the Catholic Church to the glories of the Divine element that actually sustains the Catholic Church. Popes, bishops, priests, deacons, religious, cranky bloggers….all of them come and go with the years. But the fullness of God’s grace on this earth…in his Word, in his Sacraments….that never fades. It continues. And it will continue until Christ comes to claim His Holy Bride at the end of time. If you want to be all-in, you stay in Peter’s boat. Even if Peter occasionally becomes a drunken, swearing fiend. He may be steering the wheel, but it is God who controls the winds and waves and ensures the boat remains unsinkable. Why? Because God said so:

      “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)

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    3. @Almost Catholic: Friend, if what you have read here has made your journey of faith more difficult, you have my sympathy & apologies. Perhaps being new you are unaware that our diocese has gone through a great deal of upheaval and struggles lately that have left many people sad, frustrated and raw in their emotions. I understand landing smack in the middle of this would be unpleasant. Perhaps you would be kind enough to pray for what we are going through and for God’s will to be done, and I will certainly do the same for you, knowing that God has a plan for your life and your union with Him.

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      1. Dear Red Wolf, thank you so much for your kind message towards this individual. I respect you for that. Their message and the responses to it really made me sad and sick to my stomach today. It is quite normal for someone in the beginning of their RCIA journey to have questions and concerns about our faith. We should be the last people to judge or condemn them. After all, do we not want as many people as possible to join us as Catholics and ultimately enjoy Heaven with us? To judge one’s own foundation of Catholicism and accuse them of having “shaky faith” as they are still only learning about what our faith is, is simply not the way we will ever gather more individuals towards loving and knowing Christ. Catholicism should never involve “one upping” someone on social media but should involve increasing one’s understanding and love towards one another. Anything less is unproductive.

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    4. If this article caused you to have such reaction, you should consider getting catechesis from a different Catholic church. I don’t say that to be harsh, but it doesn’t sound like you are getting the teaching you need. The matter in which we receive Holy Communion is primarily a matter of justice to God. Too many books to list, but Bp. Schneider’s Corpus Christi should be a good one to start with.

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    5. I must agree with you friend, not about stepping away from the Church, but about the meanness of some of the comments here. We ought to be more charitable when commenting on those points which most cause our tempers to flare, on this forum as well as in person. Please do not let the sins of your brethren derail your journey to the Real Presence of Christ. Pax Christi.

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    6. Almost Catholic,

      I just read this article last evening (11/16/21), so I am hoping that you periodically look back to see if there are any other comments to your post. Also, I hope that my comments are not too late and offer some wisdom for you to ponder upon before you make a final decision.

      As I read through this article I was admittedly very troubled. That a Bishop of the Catholic faith would want to discourage anyone from receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord on the tongue is highly concerning. However, what troubled my heart more was your post. I am hoping that my words and witness might be of some small value as you ponder your path forward.

      The most troubling part of your post was your comment, “So I question whether Jesus really is present in the Eucharist, if people who are receiving Him are so unkind?” The answer to your question is most definitely… YES! As evidence of that I present to you a few Scripture passages:

      1. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me (John 6:54-57).

      2. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26).

      3. They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles (Acts 2:42-43).

      4. Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf (1 Corinthians 10:17).

      5. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die (John 6:48-50).

      During the last supper, Jesus consecrated His Body and Blood using bread and wine. He said take this bread and eat of it, for it is my body, which is given for you. Take this cup and drink, it is the cup of the new and everlasting covenant (His Precious Blood). No human person can take Jesus out of the Eucharist. Man can only deny His presence. Please realize that all humanity is fallen. When you say, “I’m seeking a church that represents Christ- & sadly this church is not it.” Then to what Church do you go? What faith tradition has zero sinners?

      You know when Jesus first mentioned that His body would need to be eaten, he lost many of His followers. That was a bridge too far for most. However, the twelve remained and Jesus asked them if they too wanted to leave. Peter replied, “Lord where will we go? You have the words of eternal life”.

      Please understand that the Church is made up of sinners, from the Pope down to the layperson. Jesus said that He did not come to call the righteous, but the sinner. I am a sinner and I often trip on the smallest stone in the road despite my desire to do what is right. You are witnessing the frustrations of those that have endured much over the last several months. We have watched many of our religious leaders shut down our parishes out of fear. They place hand sanitizers (poison) ahead of laying Jesus into the hands of those presenting for Holy Communion. They have shown a huge lack of supernatural faith. Thus, that anger is justified, but I agree that vitriol against the sinner, as opposed to the sin is wrong. Thank you for pointing that out. I often fall into that trap myself when I first encounter such information and I sometimes spout off before I reflect. See your presence in the Church has already had an impact on someone…me.

      Know this, when I was in my early twenties I left the Catholic Church. I didn’t know my faith very well despite being raised Catholic from the cradle. I went to different churches for four years, finding only bits of Jesus at each, but finding a whole lot of vitriol (to use your term) in that many were self-righteous and condemned other faith denominations. It was so bad that I left church altogether.

      My mother, who is a faithful woman and whom I love dearly (yes I’m a proud momma’s boy), asked me to attend an event at our local parish. She told me she wanted me to meet a young priest (well young at that time) that she thought I would like. She said if I didn’t like the event I could leave. I reluctantly agreed and went. I stayed until 3:00 AM that morning talking with that priest, Father Brian Doerr. He helped to realize that home was in the Catholic Church. I went to a Christ Renews His Parish event for men that same year at his insistence. I drew into the faith because of sinners just like me. You see I thought I was the only sinner and that I didn’t feel connected to anyone because of that. I knew I was going to hell and that I was alone because I didn’t think anyone who was in the Church was a sinner, like I was a sinner. Please be assured that I am a sinner, that you are a sinner, that all of us are sinners and we need this place. We need this God-man named Jesus and I promise you… You will not find Him anywhere else but in His Church. Lastly, also please consider that Judas betrayed Jesus to His death and he was handpicked by Jesus. Don’t expect us men to be perfect, the Church is not perfect because of men from Pope down, but because Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit make it so. Don’t just pick up and leave because you’re troubled by the comments. That shows a lack of faith, but be aware that you have a unique gift through the Eucharist that can’t be found anywhere else. Also you have a special gift that can open the hearts of those by pointing out when we are straying. We need people like you to help us stay in check, not to judge. We each have our unique gifts and talents that way and with also our own flaws. I’m in the Church not because of any man, although I will be forever grateful to Fr. Brian, I’m here because Jesus is here and He is most abundantly gifted to us in His Holy Eucharist. Stay the course and learn the faith fully before you decide to leave.

      May God Bless you as you discern your path.

      Your Brother in Christ, Joe

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    7. Almost Catholic. Please don’t let this website impact your faith or get you down. If you did a survey across the diocese very few people have ever heard of this website, seen the website, or share the divisive tone of the website. Many of the comments and articles are posted by couple priests who were in their assignments for several decades and are upset that they have been asked to take on new ministries and a few former priests who had to leave the priesthood are also frequent posters. Our church has been around for over two thousand years and it will survive this website.

      1. “Many of the comments and articles are posted by couple priests…” I’m not sure if I should be flattered or offended by this. My work is my own, like it or hate it, and alas, I am not, nor have I ever been, a priest. You also cannot accurately nor truthfully assert the identities of our commenters. #makepiesnotfibs

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        1. Way to set things straight, Red Wolf! The divisive tone of the post by “Anonymous” really has no place in the church anymore. Such condescending arrogance, and a pack of lies to boot! Haven’t the faithful been lied to enough over the decades from people like this as well as the faithless shills and chancery-rats that have overseen the greatest collapse of the Catholic faith in American history? It doesn’t get more divisive than SOULS LOST!

          These fools are precisely the ones our Blessed Lord promised to separate from the faithful, thanks be to God:

          “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a person’s enemies will be the members of his household.” – Matthew 10:34-36

          Come, Lord Jesus.

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          1. The scripture should come with a “Divisive Tone Warning” for the benefit of those members of the church of accompaniment that think all souls but Hitler’s go to Heaven.

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          2. I always love it on all these so-called Catholic sites when bloggers get on and claim to speak for the Church, claim to be in the group that is the real Church, or claim to have a fuller revelation of the truth. I’m sorry my friend but Christ left us the Church and his successors designed its structure such that the Pope and his Bishops speak with authority. Those of you who choose to always be critical about the Pope and our Bishops need to examine your hearts and the damage that you are doing to Christ’s Church.

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          3. Ugh…not another malformed, pray-pay-obey shill for the church of accompaniment dishing out another utterly uninspiring, dead-on-arrival, scolding. How sweet! These folks really know how to make friends. First-class evangelists, all!

            Sorry, but after suffering through the humiliation of my “shepherds” locking me and my family out of our churches on Caesar’s orders and robbing us of access to the sacraments over a virus with a 99% recovery rate, it has become abundantly clear that I have no choice but to take up the mission given me – with authority – by this particular successor of the Apostles:

            “Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and your religious act like religious.” – Ven. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

            Mission engaged.

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  5. We should all take the time to pray for Fr. Paternoster who is in the hospital with COVID. May God allow him to get better and continue his ministry in Christ’s name.

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      1. Was it made known if he or his father received any of the COVID vaccines, or was near anyone who recently received one? No gossip, just facts. May they Rest In Peace.

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          1. Oh brother. First you go spouting about how this site is run by angry priests and now you tell us the vaccination status (which is not any of our business) of a recently deceased priest. How disgusting really. Why should anyone believe anything you say? Do you work for the diocese or something?

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      2. Did I just witness a funeral of a diocesan priest with more fellow priests present at OLMC Church than I can ever remember, and the bishop was not present?! Am I missing something? This is very disturbing to me as it speaks to the state of our diocese. I hope there is a good explanation why he was not present.

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          1. Yes, but also no mention on his personal or diocesan Twitter feed, or even at the start of the Funeral Mass homily?! Something seems off.

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    1. It is such a shame how many of our fellow parishioners in the pews have died from Covid, lost loved ones or had serious injury from Covid. This includes our priests and parish staffs. Most impacted for the last year have not been vaccinated. It is sure such a shame that more of our priests have not spoken from the pulpit and written articles in bulletins to encourage parishioners to get vaccinated. Our priest recently had covid at the same time as a few parishioners and staff. One staff member is still on a vent in the hospital. Yet not one word from our pastor about the need and duty to get vaccinated. I’ve only heard of one priest in Carmel being a Christian witness and talking about the need to get the jab. Sure wish more would as we enter into winter. Barely in to winter and Indiana is one of 6 states leading the nation in Covid hospitalizations and deaths. So sad and so avoidable.

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      1. It’s even more shameful to exploit a death and attempt to co-opt Christianity in order to perpetuate fear and division over a virus with a 99% recovery rate. And if the vaccines are so great, why don’t they work? At best, they clearly wear-off after too short a time and at worst they make your heart explode or blood-clot you to death. Stop being a tool for the stooges on mainstream media and the malevolent forces propping up their wobbly legs. They don’t care about you at all. You only have one life. Don’t surrender it so easily to some of most unworthy human beings to ever foul the earth just because they’re on TV.

        I, for one, am so glad most of our priests preach about the need to go to confession, to worthily receive the Blessed Sacrament, and to make getting to Heaven priority one. Those are the things that truly inspire, give me reason to smile, and make life worth living, not hearing for the billionth time why I am nothing but a petulant child who needs to follow the science and get another booster shot after the last three booster shots and two vaccines I got wore off six months ago.

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      2. As this is a Catholic blog, let’s not forget the realities of these injections they are trying to push on us as the solution (which they clearly are not) for a return to “normal” (which there will not be). The reality (that our expert ethicist bishop has been quite mum on) is that fresh, never frozen aborted fetuses have and are being harvested for the R&D of these current injections being done at university settings including those in the US and Canada. The aborted fetuses’ organs are being freshly dissected and grafted onto mice (i.e., humanized mice) for testing. This abomination is what is being considered state-of-the-art medical research. Evidence of this is all throughout published journals. Not only are most bishops/cardinals mum about this practice, but so are most politicians–left and right. So, don’t be surprised when you hear a loud cry, “Enough!” from the heavens . These have been spotlighted in a pro-life blog found at: https://www.fetalindustry.com .

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  6. I recently attended a Mass in a different state where the elderly priest offered Communion in this way: He had a kneeler placed in front of him so the Communicant could either kneel or stand to receive Our Lord. If you wanted Communion on the hand, so be it. But if you wanted to receive Him on your tongue, the priest dipped the Host into the Precious Blood first (intinction).

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        1. You do have that option. All you need do is kneel before the priest and open your mouth and have your tongue in a position that Jesus can be placed on it. Our parish use to do the same with the kneeler, but under new leadership has pulled that away. The kneeler sets off to the side and could easily be moved by an Alter Server. We even asked for it to be placed back in front of the priest so elderly that wish to receive on their knees could do so. Sadly, the kneeler sits off to the side collecting dust. Just kneel. I would encourage any of you to just kneel and receive on the tongue. I look at it this way… The Eucharist is Christs Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity and we should all pay Him the highest respect He is due. Kneeling while receiving on the tongue is the most reverent way to receive Jesus and He deserves that respect for all He has done for you and me.

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  7. The power grab by the Bishop and the Vicar General continues. First it was hand picking new pastors for these new things called pastorates, which have no existence in canon law, and running them through training sessions to force conformity. Then it was shutting down our parishes for months and kowtowing to the power of the government in order to accept their government PPP money. Then it was telling us we could not take communion on the tongue, that we had to buy and use a new expensive school computer system and that we had to pay another $10k per year for United in Heart above and beyond our higher Fruitful Harvest goals. Now we are beginning to hear about the next grab. The administrative and ministerial offices of all the parishes and schools in Lafayette and West Lafayette are being consolidated with a new manger overseeing it all. Jobs will be cut in mass and this new person will be directed from the vicar general’s office. Once in place the same is to be done in Muncie, Kokomo, Hamilton County and other places in the diocese. When does it stop? When will we ever be able to have our local parish serving local needs and local souls again? How do we stop it? I’m exacerbated.

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    1. Please tell me how I can verify this. I work in the church and have not heard a single peep about this from the pastor or the diocese. If it is true it is a terrible way to treat people without even giving us any inkling we might lose our job. Is it a rumor or is there a statement or something?

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      1. The same consultants who did United in Heart have come into Lafayette to recommend the new consolidated structure. So that 10k each pastorate paid is being used to fund these consultants and others I guess.

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      1. Ahh, a verb every priest wants to have associated with their name: That they “reek”….

        You know you’ve made a poor impression when…..you “reek”.

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  8. It has been nothing short of an honor to be among the “communion lepers” sitting in our special place in the back of the church. I have to give it up to the spiritual terrorists presently running the “Church of Accompaniment”; Their study of both Jim Crow laws and South African Apartheid has been thorough. I’ve never felt more marginalized in my own church in my life. None of it’s a shock to me, however. After all, these are the same people that closed churches and stripped the faithful of the sacraments on Caesar’s orders over a flu with a 99% recovery rate. They have lost their ability to disappoint me any further. Trust has been utterly broken.

    You know, just to tick them off, I think I will stay Catholic, keep the faith, and work out my salvation in fear and trembling. I’ll even bring my family and friends with me! It will, no doubt, confound them to no end.

    So go ahead wayward shepherds, force me to sit in the back, demand I present a vaccine passport, deny me communion, close my churches, strip me of the sacraments, turn me in to Caesar’s henchmen, make me disappear. I DON’T CARE.

    “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39

    Come, Lord Jesus.

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  9. I feel so strongly about this topic, I studied a beautiful 45 minute video taking detailed notes and researching the underlying references in that video that were all prepared by LifeSiteNews, John Henry Westin. I am prepared to do a zoom session to discuss this about receiving communion on the tongue reverently on Monday, All Saints Day at 1 PM. Email me at CUP@corpuschristiforunityandpeace.org if you wish to participate. I will do it if we have at least 8 interested.

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  10. Tongues belong in mouths. Keep them there. I don’t believe Jesus gave his body on the apostles’ tongues during the Last Supper. Let’s follow that example and not a later infantilizing of the laity where they can’t properly put the Bread of Life into their own mouths.

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    1. He didn’t because the apostles were the first priests. Therefore their hands were consecrated and could touch the Eucharist. Receiving in the hand is a sacrilege. Judas admitted during the exorcism of Anneliese Michelle, that he was the author of receiving in the hand.

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      1. We were at St Alphonsus for a funeral on Saturday which the bishop attended, and an announcement was made by the singer before Mass that “the bishop will not be distributing communion on the tongue”. And apparently he did not. There were other priests concelebrating who were giving out Holy Communion too, but it appears that many of them did give to people on the tongue who wanted it that way. Does anyone know if it is even allowed for the bishop to have done this?? Very surprised that he could declare that. I thought there was canon law that said a person could not be refused reception on the tongue.

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        1. You can quote church law and tradition all you want. If the local bishop wants to ban communion on the tongue either at his masses or diocesan-wide, who’s going to stop him? Pope Pachamama? It is the bishop who is supposed to enforce church law and tradition! If he doesn’t want to or if he wants to “interpret” it in a way you disagree with, what can anyone really do? The church is not a democracy. All the faithful laity really have control over is where they put their tithe and which parish they decide to attend. That’s it. So, stick to your strengths! Don’t put your tithe in worthless places and go to parishes that reverently adore our Blessed Lord in their customs and liturgies. And if you start running out of such parishes, hop in the car and go find one. They are out there. And, until he retires or has a conversion of heart, avoid the bishop’s masses. Why aggravate yourself needlessly?

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          1. Ah, a bishop forcing one to profane the body of Christ if you want to receive Holy Communion from him. Sounds like another Cupich in the making. I’m sure he’s going to be such an inspiration to our diocese’s men attending the Catholic Men’s Conference in Muncie this weekend. Might be a good time for an informational protest. Make him refuse your receiving Holy Communion from him worthily on the tongue. Oh, and pray for him as something not good seems to have its hooks in him deep.

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    2. I’m not so sure I agree with you. If you recall he dipped the bread in the wine and gave that to them. How would that be given in the hand?

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      1. OOPS! That thumbs up to “Anonymous'” comment from Oct 29th 3:10pm was an error button-push! Mea culpa. Please return to zero thumbs up on that post. Thanks.

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    3. Great example of modernism. In two short sentences, you’ve managed to draw from humanism, protestantism, pelagianism; much of which, of course, is rooted in pride, and we know to whom the latter belongs.

      Thankfully, Our Blessed Lord is clear in Holy Scripture, Matthew 18:3, “And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

  11. I have told many people of how it came to be allowed to receive the Eucharist on the hand when then bishop Bernadine falsified the votes of the bishops to get the 3/4 of the bishops to approve it. Now it is known that he was a very closed friend of McCarrick and seminarians have spoken of Bernadine holding satanic rituals making them attend He along with McCarrick are guilty of the abuse of James Geruin. Bishops are modern dat Judas’

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    1. Bernardin? You mean the same Bernardin who started the Common Ground Initiative that our very bishop is listed on the advisory board?!

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  12. Cardinal Francis Arinze: “No priest has the right to demand that, and even no bishop has the right to demand you must receive on the hand.”

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        1. I could say the same is true at some area parishes…people who are more conservative than the average parishioner have no voice at their local parish, being minimized, not listened to, not feeling shepherded, tossed aside by the modernists on the staff. With the high number of priest moves, more traditional members of staff being forced out, and new modernist people hired in key positions, I’m feeling really like I don’t belong at my parish anymore. It is as if a divorce happened at the time of the priest change and staff changes, and new “spouse” and “kids” were put in and I’m being ignored and put aside. This one is looking for a new parish, not in this diocese.

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          1. The fruits of our bishop serving on the Cardinal Bernardin Common Ground Initiative board? I think he owes his flock an explanation of how he can still allow his name to be associated with a Cardinal who by all accounts was worse than McCarrick?

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          2. “Divorce” is an apt word to use for the current situation. As with American culture, American politics, and the American Catholic Church, a great separation into parallel civilizations has been occurring for many years now. For the Church at least, we seem to be witnessing the final dying gasp of the modernist heresy that began with the French Revolution. For the modernists, they have everything they’ve ever wanted: a willing cheerleader of a pontiff, vast sums of wealth at their disposal, a comfortable relationship with Caesar, and an episcopacy dominated by either corrupted or cowed men. With the “Synod on Synodal Synodality” set to stink up the church over the next couple of years, it would seem the aging modernists and their sycophants are going for broke: erecting the ape of the church for the whole world to see at last. That its debut will land with a thud and not even have the ability to draw flies hasn’t yet entered their foolish minds. Like an untalented modern artist who randomly spews paint over piles of trash, declares it fine-art, and then wonders why no one comes to his exhibition, the modernists will debut their new church and no one will come. By then, for many of these modernists, it will be too late. Their appointed times on earth will come crashing to a close and just before they close their eyes for the last time they will look back and realize there is no one left behind to carry their torch of revolution as it extinguishes itself. The faithful remnant that did not follow them is all that is left in the wreckage of the Church. And that faithful remnant, God willing, will rebuild.

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  13. Praise God that more people are returning to the normal reception on Holy Communion on the tongue! Doesn’t our bishop recall that reception in the hand came from a post-Vatican 2 insult from Europe (how are those German bishop doing today)? Doesn’t our bishop recall how the demon who went by the name “Judas” claimed responsibility for getting the practice of reception in the hand started during the approved exorcism of Anneliese Michel?

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      1. One of the most beautiful things witnessed early on in the “pandemic” was when the faithful were “allowed” to return to attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the “remnant few” would be forced to gather in the back of the Church (like diseased Leppers) and wait until all those receiving Holy Communion in the hand went first until they could then go last and receive on the tongue. Only more beautiful was to witness that group at the end of the line slowly get larger. It was very profound to witness the trust in Jesus those people had who likely had a healthy, right and proper fear of God more than a fear of man.

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        1. It was and is beautiful to see more people receiving this way. After the churches reopened, I decided I would give more reverence to our Lord, and began wearing the veil and receiving Him only on the tongue, kneeling. It wasn’t to look holier than thou, it was out of genuine gratefulness and reverence for Jesus in the Holy Sacrament. Now I have been noticing more people at my church wearing the veil and receiving on the tongue. After attending the Latin Mass when possible, I see how far we’ve dropped in our reverence of the Blessed Sacrament at the Novus Ordo Mass. There is also a very distinct change in the music between the two rites. The Novus Ordo churches should include Latin chant and traditional hymns, as are found in the St. Michael Hymnal and other high-quality Catholic hymn books. The hymnals at most NO churches have alot of low quality songs with questionable texts and sound protestant- I hate to refer to those as “hymns”, because some are just modern rubbish that are NOT appropriate for the Catholic Mass. Shame on the GIA & OCP companies for allowing the printing of those “songs” in a Catholic hymnal, and more shame on those music directors who choose such rubbish for singing at Mass. It’s no wonder we have lost so much reverence at our Catholic NO churches. Music plays a huge part in that. Wake up music directors and read/learn what the Church tells us (see Vatican II documents) for what we ought to be hearing at Mass…guess what, it’s not the 4-part sandwich of Haas/Haugen/etc. Organ/Latin/chant/Gregorian propers are foremost what should be offered.

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    1. I think you would be surprised (or not) to discover how much our bishop doesn’t know, which I believe is the principle criteria the Vatican employs for selecting future bishops.

      God, help us!

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  14. The USCCB’s instructions say, “Those who receive Communion may receive either in the hand or on the tongue, and the decision should be that of the individual receiving, not the person distributing Communion.”

    Section 160 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GRIM) states, “The consecrated host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand, at the discretion of each communicant.”

    In 1969 Communion in the hand was permitted through an Indult; the Bishop(s) had to obtain permission from Rome, as Communion on the tongue was, and still is, the liturgical norm. Bishop Doherty apparently has it backwards. During several months of summer 2020, Bishop Doherty in one of his COVID Decrees actually stated the GRIM endorsed Communion in the hand. Only when when he became aware the Papal Nuncio had been notified of this error in his decree did he delete the egregious error in his decree. He has steadfastly refused to print a notice, that his Decree was in error, as a way of embracing Truth.

    Prior to 1969 all priests easily distributed on the tongue. Host between the thumb and index finger with the thumb on top. The hand and forearm lowered downward with the thumb sliding the host forward onto the end of the tongue. Simple. Today you see many priests trying to insert the host into the mouth. Like, what? Don’t they have any training on how to distribute on the tongue? As mentioned elsewhere in other comments, there are probably fewer chances of bodily contact with reception on the tongue as the priest is more likely to make contact, when distributing on the hand.

    Redemptionis Sacramentum, https://m.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20040423_redemptionis-sacramentum_en.html

    states in paragraph 92
    [92.] Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice, if any communicant should wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in areas where the Bishops Conference with the recognitio of the Apostolic See has given permission, the sacred host is to be administered to him or her. However, special care should be taken to ensure that the host is consumed by the communicant in the presence of the minister, so that no one goes away carrying the Eucharistic species in his hand. If there is a risk of profanation, then Holy Communion should not be given in the hand to the faithful.

    [93.] The Communion-plate for the Communion of the faithful should be retained, so as to avoid the danger of the sacred host or some fragment of it falling.

    Paragraph 93 recommends the use of the Communion paten It is seldom used the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana, though it is the norm at St. Luke Catholic Church in the Indianapolis diocese.

    Why do some Bishops have such an irrational fear of Communion on the tongue? I have my suspicions.

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  15. You know, I really feel for Bishop Doherty here. Think of all the lawsuits in recent memory where someone died unexpectedly, and the family was able to trace it back to when the recently deceased received the Eucharist on the tongue? ….crickets….waiting….

    This reaction from him is not a surprise at all. If a parish in our diocese met their Uniting in Heart goal and tithed through the roof, and Bishop Doherty figured out that all of the men in that parish wear shorts to Mass, he would put the pressure on priests to encourage their male parishioners to stop wearing long pants to church.

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  16. The point here is that when Bishop Doherty hears of something or encounters something or can’t control something/someone, he just issues another decree/order/mandate or contacts a pastor for a personal smackdown.

    All this means he can no longer move hearts or form us in charity. He’s lost us. Priests who share with lay friends or trusted members of leadership teams say that’s what explains his frustrated mandates.

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    1. I’ll bet you anything he’s just counting the days until he can retire. It won’t take 5 yrs for the total collapse of UiH tho…

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      1. Could be. The Archdiocese of Detroit’s UiH-ish program seems to be hitting some roadbumps and it seems like they went after critics of their program the same as here, like our diocese’s “Thou shalt not criticize UIH in public or in private” thing. It backfired there:

        “A highly complex program is being implemented in the archdiocese of Detroit, which seems to disregard priests’ canonical rights and promises to be highly detrimental pastorally. … Those who have raised questions have been met with summons to quasi-disciplinary hearings and demeaning language such as “you don’t have faith.””
        https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/controlling-the-cash

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  17. I generally trust that if I am taking the Body of Christ at Eucharist, He is not going to be intent upon making me or anyone around me sick. He was the Eternal Healer, after all!

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  18. He’s worried about people receiving Him the way it was done for nearly 2000 years; I’m worried about people fidgeting with face diapers immediately before and while receiving Him. One of my favorite things about going to Mexico to the English-language Mass is when the priest tells us beforehand you can only receive Him on the tongue here. That was the case there last year in November at the height of the fear here.

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  19. I happen to be one of those Catholics that became convicted of the presence of our Lord in the Eucharist only a few years ago. I was a convert in 1967, so I was present at the Mass at the time everything began to change. It was a very confusing time. Looking back, I can see how much the reverence for our Lord has also changed since then. I switched back to reception on the tongue when I also became convicted as a lay person that perhaps the hands of the laity were not appropriate as patens for our Lord. I will experience a special kind of pain in my soul if I am told that I cannot receive the host on my tongue and must receive ‘on the hand’.

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  20. Ah, that may explain the recent tightening of the screws this month at St. Alphonsus with regard to relegating those who wish to receive on the tongue to the back of the line once again. At least they haven’t stopped us from receiving on the tongue, yet. (If that happens, I’m out of there.) Why don’t they just go ahead and put out the kneeler for those of us zealots, and be done with it! Then we can really stick out like sore thumbs. But I don’t mind the looks / sneers of those who disagree with us receiving this way…anything for Christ… and giving more reverence to Him is the correct thing to do.
    All for the Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, all through the sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, all in union with St. Joseph!

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  21. It has been medically proven that reception of Eucharist on the tongue is safer than receiving it in the hand. As more and more of our freedoms are being taken away from us and our Church is continually in a state of scandal, it would seem our bishop would be happy to have more parishioners receiving Jesus Precious Body and Blood on the tongue as a sign of our deep reverence.

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  22. It has been medically proven that reception of Eucharist on the tongue is safer than receiving it in the hand. As more and more of our freedoms are being taken away from us and our Church is continually in a state of scandal, it would seem our bishop would be happy to have more parishioners receiving Jesus Precious Body and Blood on the tongue as a sign of our deep reverence. But then again our bishop was one of the 68 who signed the letter recommending no action be taken against so-called Catholic politicians who Openly promote abortion.

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