Earth To All U.S. Bishops

By TOM TAKASH

Recent surveys centering on the Eucharist seem to confirm what faithful Catholics in the pews have suspected for a long time. Many, if not a majority of U.S. Catholics who still attend Mass, appear to have lost their respect, as well as their belief in the Real Presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. While most attendees at Mass seem to enjoy waving to each other during “The Sign of Peace,” even walking over to nearby friends for a hug, not as many seem equally involved in showing reverence for the Eucharistic Celebration itself. But they do enjoy superficial signs of love by smiling at their neighbors in the pew and singing nice sounding “Christian” (not necessarily Catholic) songs.
I do admit that the lines to receive Communion do seem longer today than they did many years ago, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into increased belief in Catholic teaching regarding the Eucharist. It may in fact mean just the opposite. If the polls are correct, and many Catholics consider the Eucharist merely a symbol of our Lord, then few may have concerns about whether they are worthy to receive the Host. After all, “All are welcome in this place” — or so the song goes!
It’s difficult to believe that most Catholics believe that the Eucharist is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, that is, if their actions after receiving are any indication of their understanding of Church teaching. I’ve noticed men walk back casually with their hands in their pockets after receiving, or with their arms swaying back and forth. Both men and women walking back, sometimes are nodding to friends, or joining in with the choir as soon as they return to their seats, to sing hymns after barely consuming the Host. Can they really meditate on Jesus within them, while joining in with the choir?
Surveys, unfortunately, confirm my suspicions that Catholics today are quite often Protestants in disguise. The most shocking one, a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2019, for example, found that 69 percent of “self-described Catholics” personally believe that the bread and wine used during Mass are just symbols of Jesus’ Body and Blood. Granted other surveys are a little more optimistic. However, even the best ones show that overall, only about 50 percent believe in Transubstantiation and belief among the young is not anywhere near that figure.
Should we be surprised by these stats? I don’t think so. When our Shepherds fail to demand absolute fidelity to Church teaching, especially regarding one of the our most important articles of our Faith, protecting the right to life for all persons from conception to natural death, as a condition to receiving the Eucharist, why should we expect the lay people to believe that the Host is anything more than a small slice of bread, a symbol of Jesus, a quaint memory of Him?
Catholic Democrat leaders regularly contradict the Church’s clear teaching on abortion, aggressively promoting the killing of the innocent unborn and voting repeatedly to continue the funding of Planned Parenthood. But do we see any united movements by our bishops condemning these politicians who also never fail to mention their Catholic Faith? How many of our bishops look the other way, as these same “Catholic” politicians regularly blaspheme our Church by publicly receiving the Eucharist while praising their support for abortion?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if most of our U.S. bishops showed the courage of an Archbishop Cordileone! Shouldn’t we be able to expect our bishops to “Walk the walk, and talk the talk?” Why aren’t all of them calling out those Catholic politicians by name who actively promote abortion? Why can’t they enforce Church teaching, regardless of the consequences? Isn’t this what God commands?
The closest they’ve come as a body to tackle this disgrace was to vote favorably on a “teaching document” issued in November of 2021. In it the bishops approved a motion to focus on the significance of the Eucharist in the life of the Church. In a three-year program officially starting on June 16, 2022, they hoped to begin a revival that would reawake the understanding of the Eucharist for Catholics across the country. The meeting emphasized the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and repeated a part of their 2006 document on the Eucharist, calling on Catholics who publicly reject “defined doctrines of the Church, or knowingly and obstinately repudiate her definitive teaching on moral issues,” to refrain from receiving Communion.
Sounded strong. Was any pro-abortion politician mentioned by name in the document? They weren’t about to go that far.
And what excuse are the bishops using for refusing to challenge these avid pro-abortion “Catholic” politicians? Believe it or not, they have accepted an argument provided by the pro-abortion “Catholics” themselves who cried, “If you refuse Communion to us, you are weaponizing the Eucharist against us!” And, weak-kneed bishops, looking for a way to appease these pretend Catholics, wrung their hands, and effectively said, “Golly, we don’t want to do that. Don’t get upset.”
Really? Is Big Brother succeeding in changing our thought processes? Is black now white, and white now black? In fact, by not refusing the Body and Blood of Jesus to those avid supporters of murdering the unborn, the exact opposite has been the result. Oh, they are half-right about weaponization of the Eucharist. It is being weaponized, but not by the Church, but by those very pro-abortion politicians who call themselves faithful Catholics and still actively support murdering our unborn. “See,” they seem to say, “I can take Communion just like you self-righteous pro-lifers and my bishop doesn’t care.”
Why should we have expected any better results from those disappointing surveys regarding the Eucharist? If the U.S. bishops as a whole fail to show outrage at the sacrilegious reception of Jesus by these pro-abortion politicians, it naturally follows that the lay people in the pews would likely conclude that Holy Communion just isn’t that special. Come one, come all. Get in line for the bread. It’s no big deal! Everybody’s doing it.
To compound the problem, Joe Biden bragged about his meeting with Pope Francis in October of 2021. He had even gone so far as to claim that the Pope said he should continue to receive Communion and that he was a “good Catholic.” Has the Pope ever responded to Biden’s remarks, or even issued a clarification? Not a word to agree or disagree has come from Francis. Earth to Rome. Earth to Rome. Urgent. Please respond. Your sheep are confused and beginning to scatter. Wolves are everywhere, and they smell blood.
Our bishops, including the Bishop of Rome, represent the fullness of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. They are the successors of the apostles, and as such, shouldn’t they defend the faith, just as their successors did? They stand in the person of Christ. They are His anointed Shepherds. One would think that if a bishop believed that the Eucharist is Jesus, and not just a symbol of Him, that he would also believe what St. Paul said about receiving the Eucharist unworthily:
“Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27). And, shouldn’t it then follow that such a bishop would take swift action against pro-abortion politicians in his diocese? Does anyone believe that St. Paul who always put his life on the line in defense of Jesus would have coddled pro-abortion politicians? Would he have worried about being accused of weaponizing the Eucharist?
Sadly, one can easily infer then that their failure to take decisive action is notice that even many of our bishops don’t fully believe in the Church’s position on Holy Communion. Perhaps some of them think it’s a nice thought, a tradition worth continuing, but is it a real Transfiguration, a real change from bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood? Well maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. It could be just the same bread and wine so casually consumed in the protestant churches.
And, if that’s possible, let’s not rock the boat. We’ve been getting along just fine with the secular government until now. Taking a strong stand against federal politicians may have serious consequences. They already are pressuring the Church like no other time in our country’s history. Live and let live. Funds could dry up. New regulations might cripple us. After all, when John F. Kennedy chose to tell the country that the presidency came before Catholicism, that brought us into line with American thinking. Taking action, as the fanatical right-wing Catholics propose, could ruin everything. Surely, Jesus understands our need to conform.
What Jesus understands are the consequences of not conforming more than anyone else. Our Lord and Savior knew what those in power wanted to hear, but He is not subject to man. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. When the Sanhedrin accused Him of blasphemy, when Herod dismissed Him as a harmless rabble-rouser, when Pontius Pilate searched for ways to free Him but finally yielded to Jesus’s enemies, Jesus showed us how to respond, and it wasn’t by conforming. He remained the Good Shepherd for all His sheep. He offered Himself on the Cross.
Let us pray that all our Church leaders, our Shepherds, think first of protecting their flocks and begin always to speak the truth, without fear, without worrying about how they are viewed by others, and without equivocation. The people of God deserve their best efforts. Please, all bishops, tend to your sheep.