By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
Following the Extraordinary Synod and the rollback on confusing language about same-sex attraction and the divorced and remarried in the final version of the Relatio Synodi document, the predictable reactions are coming in.
Those who continue to hold Church teaching that marriage is only between a man and a woman are labeled as “bigots,” while agitators for error are given a pass as they cloak their agenda in visions of white picket fences and mail-order children. All the commodities in the world don’t change the fact that the word “marriage” cannot be applied to any sexual expression outside of that between one man and one woman within the Sacrament of Marriage.
Dignity USA is predictably disappointed that homosexuality did not get the special consideration in the final synod document hinted at in the draft that called for “valuing” homosexual orientation in itself. Although some commentators argued that the Italian word “valutando” in the original Italian text was mistranslated and should have been read as “evaluating” rather than the approbating “valuing,” enough confusion remained to make it a wise decision to avoid the subject of “valuing” altogether in the final document.
All the talk in the world about “picket fences” and mail-order kids by those in agreement with Margery Eagan at @Crux does not change the reality at the base of her agenda: calling two men or two women “married” does not make what they have a marriage. Her uncivil labeling as “bigots” those who disagree with her include Pope Francis, who often reminds us that “marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Remaining in the final document are three “contentious” paragraphs, as John-Henry Westen of LifeSiteNews calls them, that ask for further exploration of the possibility of admitting certain civilly remarried divorced Catholics to Communion after a period of penance, calling for a deeper understanding of what it means to ask those divorced and civilly remarried to make a “spiritual communion,” and receiving homosexuals “with respect and gentleness.” Those three paragraphs did not receive the normally required two-thirds majority vote.
Many have already commented at great length on the difficulty of tossing out the discipline of the inadmissibility of civilly remarried divorced Catholics to Holy Communion, in part upon the very carefully hammered out pastoral practice of asking those living so to make a spiritual communion if they are not living as brother and sister.
Some at great personal sacrifice have decided to set up separate bedrooms in order to receive the sacrament. How does the Church now turn its back on the doctrinal truths that drove such a practical pastoral direction in the lives of sincere and practicing Catholics?
The unity and catholicity of the whole Church is at stake when certain members capriciously call, under the guise of pastoral sensitivity and desire for giving the sacraments to some, for upending truths that drive the very difficult compromises made by others in the Church for the very same reason. It is the truth which gives us graced contact with Jesus Christ the Savior, which in the end confers salvation. Many bishops have given careful thought to the consequences of a capricious jettisoning of truth in the name of a misconceived “pastorality” and continue to reject such in the name of a more authentic pastoral love of a souls which sacrifices the saving truth for no one in the scenario.
This certainly is more reflective of and faithful to the mission of the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ who gave His life for that “all may be saved.”
The paragraph on a call for a deeper understanding of the concept of “spiritual communion” has thus far been the answer to the pastoral quandary of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics who desire but are unable to receive the Sacrament of Communion in the context of faithfully attending Sunday Mass. A spiritual communion is a desire expressed in prayer to receive the Lord spiritually in one’s heart and mind because one cannot really and truly receive Him in the Sacrament of the Eucharist for reasons that also prevent reception of the Sacrament of Confession.
As Christoph Cardinal Schönborn reminded us in comments after the synod, reception of Communion presupposes the ability to go to Confession. The divorced and civilly remarried Catholic who intends to continue in the civil relationship, and most do, is unable to confess the relationship while intending the return to the “near occasion of sin” because this prevents contrition, or sorrow for sin, which is necessary for valid reception of the sacrament through absolution.
Spiritual communion prayers are usually included in Catholic prayer books, or they are available through a search on the Internet. They can also be a simply expressed desire to receive the graces of Christ’s presence outside of Communion until such time as the reason for one’s inability to communicate is removed. The grace of conversion which moves individuals to make a heroic choice of changing their lives to conform to the Commandments is never denied by God to anyone. We must continue to teach this hope-giving truth.
The Church welcomes everyone, but welcome is a two-way street. While pastors are called to welcome everyone into the pews, those who fill the pews must be willing to welcome the truth of Christ which the Church teaches and which the Church does not have the power to change because it does not belong to the Church.
The Relatio Synodi call for welcoming individuals with same-sex attraction is already being practiced where individuals do not attempt to hijack the Church through protest and demonstrations that call attention to the homosexualist agenda. Those who do not accept the Church’s own identity in the context of a sincere dialog cannot honestly claim to be unwelcomed.
Being welcomed is a gift that requires acceptance of the other. Turning the Church or the liturgy into a stage for advancing a political agenda on the redefinition of marriage which rejects the identity of the Church prevents the sincere conversation which is of the essence of giving and receiving the gift of welcome.
Thank you for reading. Praised be Jesus Christ now and forever. Amen.
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(Follow Fr. Cusick on Facebook at Reverendo Padre-Kevin Michael Cusick and on Twitter @MCITLFrAphorism. Father blogs occasionally at APriestLife.blogspot.com and mcitl.blogspot.com. You can email him at mcitl.blogspot.com@gmail.com.)
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