Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Does Archbishop Cupich believe in the Real Presence?


On November 30, Archbishop Blaise Cupich of Chicago was interviewed by Norah O'Donnell on Face the Nation. O'Donnell asked about giving communion to pro-abortion politicians--that is, Catholics who are persisting in grave sin:

“So, when you say we cannot politicize the communion rail, you would give communion to politicians, for instance, who support abortion rights.”

Cupich responded:

I would not use the Eucharist or as they call it the communion rail as the place to have those discussions or way in which people would be either excluded from the life of the church. The Eucharist is an opportunity of grace and conversion. It's also a time of forgiveness of sins. So my hope would be that that grace would be instrumental in bringing people to the truth."

This reasoning obviously applies to any mortal sin: murder, rape, sodomy, you name it.

Speaking as an all-too-frequent sinner, I DO NOT receive communion when in a state of mortal sin. My frequent sinfullness has given me the opportunity to reflect on why:

Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is in the same situation as Jesus on the Cross. As was the case at Golgotha, He is utterly defenseless, helpless For me, or anyone else, to receive Jesus when in a state of serious sin, is to attack an utterly defenseless Person.

That of course is presupposes a belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament. And reading the Archbishop's statement, I remind him  that the "time of forgiveness of sins" is during the sacrament of penance.

2 comments:

TLM said...

As I said in another post: 'Archbishop Cupich seems to have meshed the 2 sacraments together. A 'one stop shopping' kind of attitude. Stop at the communion rail and receive forgiveness, mercy and the body and blood of our Lord Jesus at the same time. Either he doesn't believe in sin or he doesn't believe in the real presence. There are Bishops of both categories, I have learned from personal experience.

TLM said...

Oh wait!! Where did I get the idea of a 'Communion Rail'? They yanked those out of all of our Churches after Vat ll. Silly to think that the 'breath of fresh air' we were so eager for, would allow us to actually KNEEL out of reverence for the King of Kings.