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JMJ
Why be selfish and share only Holy Communion with Adulterers and Protestants? We should also share the Sacrament of Penance!
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| SantCompostela25" by Georges Jansoone - Self-photographed. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Commons. |
The Synod of the Family is finally over and it appears that the Church has exchanged "Unity of Faith" for a combination of "Unity in Ambiguity" and "Unity in Diversity".
Following the Synod's quest for "Unity in Ambiguity", Pope Francis is reported as saying, "All the Divorced who ask will be admitted [to Communion]" (Rorate-Caeli).
Also, in the quest for "Unity in Diversity", the U.S Conference of Bishops committee on ecumenical and inter-religious affairs has issued an ecumenical declaration in which we find the following:
The conclusion invites the PCPCU and the LWF to create a process and timetable for addressing the remaining issues. It also suggests that the expansion of opportunities for Lutherans and Catholics to receive Holy Communion together would be a sign of the agreements already reached. The Declaration also seeks a commitment to deeper connection at the local level for Catholics and Lutherans. (USCCB)
What is curious is the single-mindedness of Church prelates in sharing only Our Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist. This ecumenical outreach, in all fairness, should extend to the proper preparation for and reception of other Sacraments, especially that which is essential to a Catholic's spiritual life, namely the Sacrament of Penance.
This Sacrament ...
... confers sanctifying grace by which are remitted the mortal sins and also the venial sins which we confess and for which we are sorry; it changes eternal punishment into temporal punishment, of which it even remits more or less according to our dispositions; it revives the merits of the good works done before committing mortal sin; it gives the soul aid in due time against falling into sin again, and it restores peace of conscience. (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
In sharing this Sacrament with our separated brethren all that is required is that they:
- Be sorry for all their sins,
- Confess these sins to a Catholic priest,
- Submit themselves to the guidance and merciful judgement of
the priest who sits in the place of Christ.
- Accept and perform the penance prescribed
- Recite an act of contrition
Of course, if the Protestant would like to sincerely approach the sacrament of penance in the Catholic Church they would need to make a Profession of Faith and Abjure the Protestant errors.
Is this not truly what is needed in the Church today, humble submission to the Laws of God and His Church?
In this age where man places himself above God and His Laws, if the lines to the confessional were longer than the lines for Communion, would that not be an indication of greater self knowledge, humility and charity?
A final and stronger argument can be made that, in one respect, the sharing of the Sacrament of Penance is superior to the reception of the Holy Eucharist: because one who receives this Sacrament in a state of mortal sin, is transformed and leaves in a state of grace.
Whereas, one who receives the Holy Eucharist in a state of mortal sin, remains at enmity with God as ...
... he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11:29)
So would not the sharing of the Sacrament of Penance for all be truly merciful?
Relevant Links Courtesy of SSPX.ca:
de Mattei
Bishop Schneider
Failed Synody
Bishop Fellay's declaration
SSPX Synod Report
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