Nothing worse than the lukewarm pretender. How true it is that the average Catholic (priests included as one blog commenter witnessed) would take the bread at a Protestant funeral, or wedding service, without a second thought. It’s all about human respect and not wanting to offend the liberals and non-Catholic family or friends. It’s all about the ego . . .avoiding any social discomfort, maintaining that pretentious smile, and keeping the obligatory party-wave going of handshakes and back slaps. Doing the Catholic thing, the right thing, by not receiving, which honorable Prots would respect, might require a little bit of non-comformist loyalty to God and His Church. Woe to the lukewarm, Our Lord warned. And again: “For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed, when he shall come in his majesty, and that of his Father, and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26). Father Zuhlsdorf rakes the author, Kevin Considine, Jesuit-educated candidate for PhD in theology, over the coals for this scandalous exercise in the art of equivocal heteropraxis.
Here is Considine’s lede: “You are at the wedding of a beloved family member or friend, which is taking place at a Lutheran church. You gladly accepted the invitation to celebrate this happy day with the bride and groom. But then there is a call to come to the table of the Lord’s Supper, to receive communion. This is the awkward moment you knew was coming.” The piece by Considine will only impact fellow liberals, but Father Z’s running commentary is well worth a read. Pass it on to those who need it.
