Saw press accounts about this a while back, so it may be old news to some, but is still worth repeating. Once again, a bishop speaks with refreshing clarity. Bishop Thomas Wenski, coadjutor of Orlando, writes:
Today, some self-identified Catholic politicians prefer to emulate Pontius Pilate’s “personally opposed but unwilling to impose” stance. Perhaps, they are baiting the Church, daring an “official sanction” making them “bad Catholics”, so as to gain favor among up their secularist, “blue state” constituencies. Such a sanction might turn their lack of coherent Catholic convictions into a badge of courage for people who hold such convictions in contempt.
But if the whole of point of being a Catholic is to grow in holiness –admittedly by practicing a whole lot and making some errors along the way – then it would be as John Paul II reminds us “a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a sentimental religiosity”. You cannot have your “waffle” and your “wafer” too. Those pro-abortion politicians who insist on calling themselves Catholics without seeing the contradiction between what they say they believe and their anti-life stance have to do a lot more of “practicing”. They need to get it right before they approach the Eucharistic table [Source].
Great point by the bishop, politicians using antiCatholic sentiment to their own advantage to get votes. I sure wouldn’t put it past them.
“You cannot have your “waffle” and your “wafer” too.”
This guy is GOOOOOOOD!
Revert Mike, I was just about to single out the same episcopal bon mot. Can you BE a bishop and be that pithy? I thought episcopal statements had to be, you know, all stodgy and everything, while the burden of crisply pointing out the obvious with verve and wit fell to Catholic punditry. Catholic bloggers, you have competition in a mitre! Not that you mind. 🙂
Maybe I’m just part of that evil “blue-state” constituency, but I hold the Eucharist to be the consecrated body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not a wafer. That’s what my anti-Catholic fundamentalist acquaintances call it. But, they’re against abortion, so I guess their okay.
The Pope calls the consecrated host a “wafer” too:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_22121999_en.html
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1998/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_23121998_en.html
For that matter, St. Paul calls the sacred body “bread” in 1 Corinthians, so I think it’s okay to speak phenomenologically of the consecrated eucharistic elements, and use such terms as bread, wine, and wafer.
I believe that those of us who call ourselves proLife ought to be consistent. Can we be anti abortion yet at the same time pro death penalty? If we truly believe in the sanctity of life, then we must be opposed to the death penalty and abortion, also. Just something to consider.
Sorry, but the pope doesn’t agree with you on that one. He points out that there is a vast difference between the two morally. Abortion is intrinsically wrong, while the death penalty can only be circumstantially wrong.
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