Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Catholic versus ‘Catholic’
A real Catholic writes:
I got into a bit of a tussle with the Director of Campus Ministry at the [Roman Catholic] parochial high school where I teach. He was working on large bulletin board in the main corridor of the school. A large chalice with a host was cut out of oak tag and tacked up on the board. He was in the process of putting the words around it "Do this in remembrance of me". I remarked to him that maybe the phase "Behold the Lamb of God" might be more appropriate. He remarked quite sharply, I might add, that the phase he was using was more appropriate within the context of ministry. He seemed offended and annoyed. Almost dismissing the comment as trite and cliched. Apparently, he was more concerned with provoking a moralistic response than engendering a sense of adoration. I've seen this statement,that is; "Do this in remembrance" carved into every protestant communion table in just about every church I've walked into. It is used as a stick in your eye reminder that the Lord's supper is a memorial feast. I just thought the irony was stunning. A protestant, in their eyes, is upholding the reality of the objective presence of Christ in the Eucharist and a Roman Catholic extolling the virtues of pietistic sacramental subjectivism.
— Fr Anthony Ferraro, a Continuing anglican*

Apparently the heretical ageing boomers are still calling the shots in those places.

I’m not surprised.

A Gallup poll a few years ago showed only about 30 per cent of American RCs understand what the Eucharist is.

I almost don’t care any more.

But...

Do I want Catholic reunion? Would there still be a Pope in some recognisable form? Yes and yes. But I’d never tell somebody to commit spiritual suicide by giving up the habitual practice of the traditional Catholic religion to join one of these places — mainline Protestantism without its charm (from nice architecture, prose and hymns to coffee hour after the service).

Happy vigil of All Saints.

P.S. In Protestant churches you often see that quotation in their liturgical language, the idiom of the King James Bible got from Anglicanism, ‘This do in remembrance of me’, imitating the word order of the original Greek.

*No offence but I make a distinction between these fine little churches and Anglicans, who are in the Anglican Communion.

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