Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Catholics Who Support Abortion Should Not Receive Holy Communion


As usual, another well-reasoned explanation from Archbishop Raymond Burke (see article below). When one receives the Most Holy Eucharist, they respond "Amen!" Their response is a very public statement that they fully understand and agree that they are receiving the very body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ in the hidden form of the consecrated host. They are actually publicly proclaiming that they would stake their very life on the fact of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.


How can one "ask for" and receive Christ into their very body while at the same time believing that it is acceptable to terminate the very innocent, lives which God Himself created? What could possibly be their purpose in even desiring to receive Christ while at the very same time slapping Him across the face? Do they not see the incredible hypocrisy of their actions? Do they not see the scandal that they are causing to other more impressionable faithful who may see their conduct and conclude, "well I guess it's not really Jesus if someone who believes in abortion receives communion." Do they not see the eternal damage that they cause to their own soul and to the souls of others?


It is almost as though such people are saying that "it must not be that bad for me to believe in abortion because I still go to Church and go to communion." It's as if they are playing a "weighing game" with God! The problem is that if their sin meets all of the criteria of a mortal sin, they have chosen to separate themselves from any relationship with God. If they die in that state, they can never have a relationship with God in eternity. It matters not at that point how many times they attended Mass and went up to receive communion (unworthily and sacrilegiously I might add).


All of this is why Archbishop Burke emphasizes that the priest, deacon, or extraordinary minister of holy communion MUST deny the Eucharist to anyone who is publicly in this state. It is always a matter of the salvation of souls! To knowingly participate in anything that would cause another to not be saved is likewise disastrous for the participating party. This is serious stuff folks!


Catholics who support abortion should not receive Communion, says Archbishop Burke
Rome, August 19 (CNA).-The prefect of the Apostolic Signature, Archbishop Raymond Burke, said this week that Catholics, especially politicians who publicly defend abortion, should not receive Communion, and that ministers of Communion should be responsibly charitable in denying it to them if they ask for it, "until they have reformed their lives."
In an interview with the magazine, Radici Christiane, Archbishop Burke pointed out that there is often a lack of reverence at Mass when receiving Communion. "Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ unworthily is a sacrilege," he warned. "If it is done deliberately in mortal sin it is a sacrilege."
To illustrate his point, he referred to "public officials who, with knowledge and consent, uphold actions that are against the Divine and Eternal moral law. For example, if they support abortion, which entails the taking of innocent and defenseless human lives. A person who commits sin in this way should be publicly admonished in such a way as to not receive Communion until he or she has reformed his life," the archbishop said.
"If a person who has been admonished persists in public mortal sin and attempts to receive Communion, the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny it to him. Why? Above all, for the salvation of that person, preventing him from committing a sacrilege," he added.
"We must avoid giving people the impression that one can be in a state of mortal sin and receive the Eucharist," the archbishop continued. "Secondly, there could be another form of scandal, consisting of leading people to think that the public act that this person is doing, which until now everyone believed was a serious sin, is really not that serious - if the Church allows him or her to receive Communion."
"If we have a public figure who is openly and deliberately upholding abortion rights and receiving the Eucharist, what will the average person think? He or she could come to believe that it up to a certain point it is okay to do away with an innocent life in the mother's womb," he warned.
Archbishop Burke also noted that when a bishop or a Church leader prevents an abortion supporter from receiving Communion, "it is not with the intention of interfering in public life but rather in the spiritual state of the politician or public official who, if Catholic, should follow the divine law in the public sphere as well."
"Therefore, it is simply ridiculous and wrong to try to silence a pastor, accusing him of interfering in politics so that he cannot do good to the soul of a member of his flock," he stated.
It is "simply wrong" to think that the faith must be reduced to the private sphere and eliminated from public life, Archbishop Burke said, encouraging Catholics "to bear witness to our faith not only in private in our homes but also in our public lives with others in order to bear strong witness to Christ."

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