Deserting Doctrine

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The Catholic bishops over the last 50 or so years have largely failed. They failed to promote good liturgy, they failed to preach the gospel in its fullness and they failed to protect the souls entrusted to them.

Now, many people identify as Catholics while choosing what doctrines they want to believe. The latest proof for that is the so-called Eucharist wars, which revolve around whether Catholic politicians like Joe Biden should be allowed to receive the Holy Eucharist.

Over the weekend, an image of an article made its way around the Catholic internet — the article was called "Reverence for the Eucharist." The writer references a Pew Research poll revealing a third of American Catholics don't believe in the Real Presence.

The article declares, "By consuming Our Lord, you are publicly saying that you agree with everything that the Catholic Church teaches. If you do not agree with all of the Church's teachings, even if you disagree with only one teaching, you should not receive Holy Communion."

Although it contains simple Catholic common sense, most bishops and priests would no longer say something like that. One bishop, however, dared to share it on social media. Tyler Texas' bishop, Joseph Strickland, tweeted:

This is excellent. It should be in every bulletin in every Catholic Church. To receive Our Lord in a state of mortal sin is sacrilege. Jesus gave His Body and Blood to heal us of our sins, not to encourage us to ignore sin and receive Him while making no attempt to repent.

He, of course, got flamed in the comments, with one person responding, "Nobody agrees with everything the Catholic Church teaches." 

Other responses call Strickland's response "short-sighted" and argued that he himself is violating the teachings of the Church, especially the magisterium of Pope Francis.

In Pope Francis' 2013 document, Amoris Laetitia, he claimed the Holy Eucharist "is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak." 

And just last week, in his address for the feast of Corpus Christi, Pope Francis said, "The Eucharist is not the reward of saints, but the bread of sinners."

But that is a straw man argument. No one is saying it's a reward for the perfect. Nobody is making that argument, other than Pope Francis and the people who want to justify sacrilegious Communion for unrepentant sodomites, adulterers and abortionists.

It's curious that these same people who relegate the King of the Universe to "a powerful medicine" were so quick to claim parish churches should be closed due to the China virus. When they were able to get back to Mass, they supported bishops banning Communion on the tongue. 

To put it simply, the people who object to Bp. Strickland's comment do not know or follow the Catholic faith. They follow something else while thinking they are still Catholic, but in effect, they are not.

This animus against the truth lies at the feet of those pushing it — especially at the feet of many U.S. bishops who themselves have abandoned the doctrines of the Faith. 

Learn more by watching The Download — Deserting Doctrine.

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