This past month, with the HHS mandate being stuffed down Catholic throats and the media twisting the issue from religious liberty to ‘denying women birth control’ has put my already limited tolerance to an all time low. My poor priest has heard my confession of uncharitable and unkind thoughts (to put it mildly) too many times to count recently.
Then today…I think my head exploded into flames on my shoulders when I heard yet another liberal gay whining about the Catholic Church’s stand on gay marriage/unions. Recently, lesbian Barbara Johnson and her lesbian lover attended St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, Washington D.C. for the funeral of her mother. Father Marcel Guarnizo had heard just before the mass that Johnson was a lesbian in a homosexual relationship with a woman, so he quietly denied her Communion at the funeral based on Canon Law 915. To put it simply…anyone in a state of grave sin is not to have Holy Communion (see below).
Johnson, stupefied that a Catholic priest would actually uphold Catholic teaching said nothing during the service, but has now decided to declare war on this priest for upholding Catholic teaching. She has promised not to stop going after him until he is removed from the priesthood. She seeks revenge on a priest for doing his job- practicing and upholding Catholic teachings.
When I say what I am going to say, I do not speak for the Catholic Church or for this priest or any particular parish. I speak solely for myself as a lay Catholic who is SICK TO DEATH of people demanding the Catholic Church bow to them and their beliefs. When I say… "IF YOU DON’T LIKE CATHOLIC TEACHING, DON’T BE A CATHOLIC!! Take your rainbow sashes down the street to Anything-Goes-Liberal church down the road and sing the praises of your gay activists till the cows come home." Just SHUT UP with your demands that other beliefs and/or religious groups must cater to YOUR beliefs.
I’m willing to bet every religious institute, be they Muslim, Jewish or any form of Christianity have some sort of statement of faith. Check them out… find the one that matches your beliefs and STOP demanding all the others accept YOUR sins as non-sins. The Catholic Church (along with other Christian denominations and Islam etc) believes that homosexual relationships (not gay people) are a sin- an abomination to God. You are not going to change that belief with your demands or gay pride marches, nor your rainbow sashes so stop wasting everyone’s time. You just look foolish and immoral in our eyes and quite frankly we are getting tired of hearing the whining- I say ‘we’ because I know I am not alone in this. Other Catholics are fed up too. We pray for you to repent as we pray for ALL sinners to repent, including ourselves. We know it’s a struggle for you, but who doesn’t have struggles in this life? Who has said resisting sin is easy? It’s not, that is why we have Confession. We must confess our sins and turn from them- not to repeat them OR try to manipulate others into thinking sin isn’t sin. It is.
The homosexual engaged in gay sexual relationships are no better or worse than the heterosexual adulterer. It’s all forbidden sexual sin. God decided what sin is and what is not. He didn’t ask our opinion and the Catholic Church is not a democracy that we get to vote on it. We don’t get to rewrite what Moral Law is.
To be Catholic…a practicing Catholic, you MUST accept ALL the Church’s teachings. This is not a buffet table to pick what you want and leave the rest behind. Being Catholic is NOT easy, hence Christ’s words of “pick up your cross and carry it” (Matt.16:24).
If you simply cannot believe or accept Catholic teachings there are tens of thousands of protestant denominations out there for you to pick from or you can start your own denomination like so many others before you. Have at it, but STOP telling the Catholic Church what it can and can’t believe or practice. The Catholic Church has been around for more than two thousand years and it is not about to cave into today’s secular demands so stop wasting everyone’s time. Your insistent whining is like nails on a chalk board, irritating but pointless as it will change nothing.
Perhaps my attitude is wrong and I am once again letting frustration run amuck in my life, but I simply have NO TOLERANCE for those who have no tolerance for my Church. I am not asking you to believe what my Church teaches; I am asking you to stop whining about what my Church teaches. Don’t like it, go somewhere else.
My patience with people such as lesbian Barbara Johnson is void at this point, and that is something I have to constantly struggle with in today’s secular society. I do not hate gays, I am not a "homophobe", nor do I wish them harm…I just wish they’d stop screaming “TOLERANCE” when they clearly have none for those who hold different beliefs then they do.
Can. 915 Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.
Canon Law source: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P39.HTM
Lesbian story Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-archdiocese-denying-communion-to-lesbian-at-funeral-was-against-policy/2012/02/28/gIQAlIxVgR_story.html
Father Marcel Guarnizo had heard just before the mass that Johnson was a lesbian in a homosexual relationship with a woman...
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, he didn't just hear about it; she told him ahead of time and he told her not to try to receive. This is a set-up.
If it is a set up (and you may be right on that), I have to wonder why the diocese administrator wrote to Johnson telling her how sorry THEY were that the priest was insensitive to the situation.
ReplyDeleteHe should have instead asked "Why did you attempt to recieve Communion while in a state of grave sin?" and let her answer that.
Why not use this as an opportunity to TEACH why ALL people in a state of grave sin should NOT receive the Eucharist??
Why backpeddle and condone sin? It does no good to anyone. Use this situation to TEACH what grave sin is and why it is wrong for ANY Catholic to go to Communion with grave sin on their souls.
*still frustrated and irritated by the whole thing*
Connecticut Catholic Corner
Clergymen tend to bend over backwards to err on the side of kindness, and this was her mother's funeral. I can see the diocesan administrator wanting to be as gentle as possible.
ReplyDeleteBut there is a limit to how far he should bend. She was told not to receive and then pitched a fit when she tried anyway and was refused. He owes her no apology, even if he is naturally consiliatory.
Ack! Conciliatory!
ReplyDelete