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| Catholics praying outside a CLOSED Church in communist China |
Today marks 125 days since the Archdiocese of Toronto banned the reception of Holy Communion according to ordinary form. Its canonical illegality has been much discussed, and this post is but a reminder and a prediction.
A Reminder
On
March 17, 2020 all Masses were banned in the Archdiocese. From downtown
Toronto to little hamlets, two hours drive and more away, every church
was boarded up. A small, but dynamic group of Christians
during this time began to petition the Ontario government to reopen
churches. It is VERY significant that the Archdiocese of Toronto was NOT
part of this group.
When churches were reopened with limited capacity, Toronto Public Health (under the authority of Toronto City Council, via the Toronto Board of Health) officials de facto
overthrew (via threats of church closure) the local supreme authority
in the Catholic Church (Cardinal Collins) and have assumed control over
Catholic religious/liturgical practice by unconstitutionally encroaching
on religious practice and "banning" Holy Communion on the tongue.
A Prediction: We are not going to see Toronto Public Health's illegal edict lifted until a vaccine or vaccines are produced. This effectively means that many of us will not be able to fulfill our Easter Duty. We are absolved of this Duty, as the pastors of the Church are bound by the Law of the Church to give Holy Communion to any Catholic in the State of Grace who requests it. I hope I am wrong in my prediction, but don't think I will be. It may well be that some of us will not be able to receive Holy Communion for well over a year...perhaps even longer.
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| The 26 Martyrs of Japan are examples of fidelity to Christ |
Please pray for Cardinal Collins, our bishops, priests that they stand up for Christ, His Church, and the God-given rights of Catholics.
Please also pray for those Christians who are not in full unity with the See of Peter, but are standing up for Christ. Russian Orthodox Archbishop Kirill of San Francisco wrote a powerful Letter to Governor Gavin Newsom stating that his new violent measures against religion were eerily similar to those of the Soviet Union.
The Archbishop noted that Newsom's actions are "...open discrimination, hypocrisy and the infringement of our religious
rights, prompting us to recall the era of godless persecutions in the
USSR". Newsom has yet to reply to the Archbishop. Has your bishop taken a stand?
Another interesting case is that of "Pastor" John MacArthur of Sun Valley, California who defied the draconian measures of Newsom last Sunday and kept his church open. He faces the real possibility of going to jail. He is 81 years of age. MacArthur certainly is a heretic, but at least he believes enough in the Divinity of Our Lord to stand against an unjust edict that violates Christ's Law. Has your bishop shown faith in Our Lord's Divinity to stand publicly against unjust edicts, to even risk going to jail?
We, as Catholics must take as our models the martyrs, the defenders of the Faith. Let us recall the Japanese Catholics, who, without priests and under severe persecution from the State held the Faith for hundreds of years. They must be our example.
5 comments:
After 50 years of the Novus Ordo, many parishioners have been indoctrinated to view the Mass as primarily a community gathering, with the Eucharist as a "symbol", not the flesh and blood of Christ. Oh there is a "spiritual" element to it to be sure, but nothing that would stand in the way of implementing a State's legal measure. Many parishes have their own "Karens" at the Church entrance to enforce the State's requirements for masks etc. They just don't get it.
If you want to attend one of the very few Latin Masses available in the diocese on Sunday, at for example the Oratory, that Mass is the first to "sell out" of reservations. The other Masses have space available right up to Sunday. To their credit the Oratory added another Sunday Mass...a Novus Ordo. So now we have the same situation as before, but with one more Novus Ordo with loads of space. Defies common sense. I suspect this is Cardinal Collins' bailiwick, not the Oratory's.
Fitting conclusion, Barona. The Japanese Catholics of old must be our model - if, indeed, this madness goes on for as long as we may fear. Everything is a grace, to quote St. Therese.
And the Oratorians, bless their hearts, are giving Holy Communion on the hand at the Traditional Latin Mass defying not only tradition but the Law of the Church.
Indeed they are, Vox, indeed they are. What a shame.
So true Vox. It would have been better for the Oratorians to ask that we unite ourselves to the Eucharist through making a spiritual Communion. If the COVID Mass goes on we could revisit come Easter. I understand we should receive at least once annually, at Easter.
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