Thomas O'Loughlin on Mass as Theater and Eucharist as Commodity: Theological Underpinnings of These Ideas

As a follow-up to what I posted yesterday about how the aberrant Mass-as-theater theology of many Catholics is asserting itself all over again in this pandemic, some sound theological reflection from theologian Thomas O'Loughlin in an essay entitled "Reimagining the Eucharist":

If I Were a Young Person Seeking a Church Home for Myself, Why Would I EVER Want to Consider a Church in Which….

If I were a young person seeking a church home for myself, why would I EVER want to consider a church in which

Family Funerals, Immigrant-Bashing, and the Weaponization of American Catholicism: Place to Which "Pro-Life" U.S. Catholic Leaders Have Brought Their Church

At a Catholic funeral for a parent, is it normal or usual to print at the bottom of the funeral program that anyone not in communion with the Roman church is not welcome at communion — especially when the SSPX members of this family trot to communion? /1

— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) December 28, 2018

When a Story About Chewing Gum Is Not About Chewing Gum: Transgender Teen Denied Communion in Charlotte, North Carolina, Catholic Church

Was she denied Communion because she’d been chewing gum — or because she’s transgender? https://t.co/cm8rjukgYx

— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) July 27, 2018

 

With all the really challenging things going on in the world around us right now, my choice to focus on this story might appear baffling. It's a "little" story, perhaps, compared with ones like the raging fire gobbling up a big portion of California, or the (shocking but unsurprising) revelation that the parents of many children snatched from their parents by the U.S. government at the nation's borders cannot be located and there are reports that some of these children are being sexually abused. 

On the (Hateful Homophobic) Vitriol Eating Away at the Communion of the Church: "If Good Religion Slumbers and Stagnates, Bad Religion Is the Alternative"

I see connections galore between these good articles I've read in the past few days. Do you, too, I wonder?

Laura Donlon, "Fr James Martin says Cafod 'not entirely accurate' in its account of why his London lecture was 'cancelled'":

As Talk of Mercy Continues in Rome, U.S. Archbishop Restricts Communion to Righteous, Another Gay Employee of a Catholic Ministry Is Fired, Etc.: There's the Church World, and Then There's the Real World

I wrote yesterday that while the men in Rome are nattering on about mercy and fashioning a church that's a field hospital for the wounded, something else, something quite different, continues to unfold for many of us in the real world at a distance from the Vatican. For LGBT people and for women, that something else is a decided signal from the men talking about mercy and healing that some people count more than others in their church. And that the bread heaped on the Catholic table is for some people and not for others.

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: Pope Francis Doesn't Want to Give Communion Accidentally to "An Unworthy Individual"

This is one of the stinky sort of Catholic birdcage droppings: in a discussion of Michael Sean Winters's article "Pope Francis Effect II?" at National Catholic Reporter, Mary Elizabeth writes, 

Dirty Freddie and the Gays: Cardinal Dolan Explains Catholic Welcome of LGBT Persons

I get the feeling that the leader of the U.S. Catholic bishops, Cardinal Dolan, may not have been taught much about manners as he was growing up. Or any time since then, for that matter.

Remembering Dietrich Bonhöffer: "The Table Fellowship of Christians Implies Obligation"

As the anniversary of German theologian Dietrich Bonhöffer's execution by the Nazi regime passes (it was on 9 April), I think of an observation he makes in his book Life Together that has long formed the framework of my understanding of the eucharist:

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: "I Used to Think We, My Church and I, Were about Love"

My first posting this morning spoke of the heart pain I experience right now as I see a church I chose in the 1960s because its welcome table appeared open to all--the Catholic church--mount a brutal attack on LGBT human beings designed quite specifically to communicate to me and mine that we are not welcome at the Catholic table.

The Welcome Table: Further Reflections

After I blogged about the welcome table this past Sunday, I began doing a bit of online reading.  The Mountain Dulcimer Noter and Drone blog, to which I provided a link in my Sunday posting, sparked my interest in the history of the old American hymn "Welcome Table."  My online reading has led me to YouTube, where I've now listened to a series of recordings of the hymn by various artists and groups.  I want to share three of these with readers.

Sunday Thoughts: Pho, Fried Plantains, and Welcome Tables

Lines overheard in a Vietnamese restaurant in St. Paul:

Eating, Drinking, and Living in Exile: Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day and American Catholic Identity

As I flounder in the wilderness, words that are signposts for me (I choose the word "flounder" instead of "wander" deliberately: "wander" doesn't begin to touch the depths of spiritual alienation I feel in response to my Catholic church at this point in time):

When Communion Is Anything But: Vatican Rationale for Attack on American Nuns

This past week, Archbishop Peter Sartain, the man appointed by Rome to oversee American religious women, who have been charged with failure to be faithful to their vocations and church teaching, issued a statement about his new assignment.  Archbishop Sartain's statement is published in America magazine and is entitled "Deepening Communion."  At National Catholic Reporter, Joshua McElwee has also published a synopsis of Sartain's statement with commentary on it.

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: Fr. Guarnizo's Obligation to Defend Our Lord

Writing in response to an article by Jerry Filteau at National Catholic Reporter noting the recent suspension of Father Marcel Guarnizo from ministry, AMDG explains it all to us--why sinners absolutely must be barred from communion in Catholic churches:

Denial of the Eucharist: Transformative Insights from Feminist Theology

Two very good recent theological reflections on the denial of the eucharist to Barbara Johnson at her mother's funeral, both with profound insights informed by feminist theology:

Maryland Priest Denies Communion to Lesbian: Archdiocese Apologizes

A footnote to my posting two days ago about Father Marcel Guarnizo's denial of communion to Barbara Johnson at her mother's funeral last weekend: as the Washington Post reported yesterday, the archdiocese of Washington has apologized to Ms. Johnson.  Here's what the archdiocese has said, with my commentary on the apology, from a conversation thread at America magazine's "In All Things" blog:

Occupying Catholicism: Terry Weldon and Jayden Cameron Report on Austrian Movement

Building on the excerpt I posted yesterday from Jamie Manson's recent keynote address at the Call to Action gathering, I want to point to two valuable summaries of what's happening right now in the Austrian Catholic church.  At Open Tabernacle, Terry Weldon compares the We Are Church movement in Austria, which has the strong support of a sizable proportion of Austria's Catholic priests, to the Occupy movement.

Feeding Hope: Jamie Manson on Louise Lears's Story and the Sacramental Power of the People of God

After writing today about Joe Paterno, and writing constantly about the Catholic bishops in recent days, I feel a sharp need for spiritual sustenance.  To feed hope inside myself and others.  

Centrism, Siding with Victors, and Betraying the Memory of Jesus: A Reflection

Centrism is, to my perception, all about being on the winning side.  And one of the reasons I grow increasingly impatient with the centrism of many of my Catholic co-religionists, who make more and more room for the powerful on the right, no matter how rabid their views are, and less and less room for those on the left, is that the propensity for siding with victors and not victims seems to me to disconnect us from some of the most significant foundational stories that call us together as a people of faith.