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Thursday 22 October 2015

"I don't know what the Blessed Sacrament is, and I sure don't believe it's what YOU say it is, but you have it, so I want it anyway...."

The Synod continues to produce Moments That Make You Go WHAAAAAAA???

What do you suppose Robert Welsh believes about the Catholic Eucharist? that it is delusional? that it is stupid? that it is evil?

I had friends in school, very large family, widowed mother.
Sandy, one of the middle kids, was a good student and a superb athlete, who even in middle school was obviously a likely candidate for a free ride to college in field hockey.
Her sister Kathy was also a good student, vaguely interested in the arts, and a bit of a drama queen, (bear with me, there's a point to this story.)
Our coach suggested Sandy would really benefit from a week of hockey camp one summer.
Their Mom could send none of the brothers and sisters to camp, but in some years a friend with connections managed to wrangle a free week in the woods for one of the boys.
The coach thought she could get Sandy a partial--scholarship? campership? whatever you call it.
The Mother thought she might be able to manage the rest, especially after the oldest son, Joey, (a buddy of mine,) said he would contribute more than his usual 50% of lawn-mowing money to the family coffers.
At this point, Kathy, who was neither good at, nor drawn to athletics, and had no experience in, nor had ever expressed any interest in hockey, threw a complete hissy about how unfair it was that Sandy was getting something she wasn't, nobody liked her, how did they know she wouldn't have wanted to go to hockey camp, why couldn't anyone take her side for once, (yes, I, just a friend, actually happened to be there for the histrionics, in which she sobbed herself breathless,) etc., etc., etc.
The upshot, I later learned was that Kathy would also to hockey camp.
Not sure how they afforded it, what anyone else may have gone without to make it possible.
I did hear from Joey that Kathy did not offer to find baby-sitting work to contribute.

To cap it all off - after the week away, Kathy never picked up a hockey stick again.

If you've kept reading this far, the reason why I brought this incident up, (I'd really forgotten it,) was the story about one of the protestant - what are they, observers? delegates? I've heard or read both - anyway, Robert Welsh, a member of the Disciples of Christ, (a denom about which I know very little,) who is attending the Synod, wants to go to hockey camp.
Welsh, a representative of the Disciples of Christ, recounted his personal story in this regard: his wife is Catholic, as well as his daughter and grandchildren. The eldest of them, Trace, is 14 years old and a well-trained altar boy. Welsh shared that he suffers greatly at not being able share in the partaking of the Eucharist together.
He "suffers," but not, seemingly enough to remedy the situation.
The man has been married to a Catholic for over four decades, so he has been exposed to the Catholic Church's practice of Communion and, (this is important,) the Catholic Church's beliefs about Communion since 1973.
Admittedly, he may not "know" but if he does not, he is willfully ignorant.
And if he knows, he obviously does not share them.
Because if he shared them there would be no power on earth that he would allow to keep him from embracing them and availing himself of this utterly unique and life-giving gift.
And not sharing them, why would he want to take part in what to him must seem either an evil or a stupid or a delusional charade?
I want Dr Robert K. Welsh to partake of the Catholic Church's Communion.

Sir, if you actually want to receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ Truly and Wholly Present, Soul and Divinity in the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Altar- WHO OR WHAT IS STOPPING YOU?

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