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May 15, 2005
Rainbow is the New Red
A tale of two Archdioceses. First, LA:
Just a note to say that, as in the past, members of the Rainbow Sash Movement who come to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels this Sunday will be most welcome to attend any of our Masses. Over the years, Cardinal Roger Mahony has consistently spoken to the faithful in Los Angeles about being respectful and inclusive of our Catholic brothers and sisters who are gay and lesbian. All of us struggle to be better Christians, but I think a good number of our parishes in the archdiocese are places where people feel welcome and included, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Tod M. Tamberg
Director of Media Relations
Archdiocese of Los Angeles."
Notice the language. Well, of course anyone can attend Mass, but that's not the issue that Rainbow Sash is trying to raise. The issue is receiving Communion.
Now, pulled from ourown comments, a first-hand account of St. Paul-Minneapolis:
We had LOTS of Rainbow Sashers... well over 100, possibly over 200. Plus a few Purps (purple sashers = women's ordination), and people wearing rainbow pins. All were denied Communion (but a few decided to take it themselves anyway by swiping it out of the EMHCs plate as they went by after being blessed by the priests instead... and one decided that they should be the EMHC to the Sashers, swiping a Host somehow and breaking it up into pieces to give to other Sashers -- stopped quickly, and the Sacrament rescued, by our deacon). Archbishop Flynn's statement was read before the Lord's Prayer, far as I know only a couple of Sashers actually removed their sashes for Communion, but not sure on that. There sure were a lot of them that kept them on, that's for sure!
....Honestly, the tension felt by all regarding the presence of the Rainbow Sashers (who were making comments all the way up the Communion lines and waving at people as they went by) overshadowed much of the Mass itself. Particularly for those of us who were seated near enough to see and hear the Commuion line (and see the irreverence towards the Eucharist... one person without a Sash received and then turned and handed the Host to a Sasher behind her, who immediately ate it before anyone could do anything. Not as bad as the "breaking of bread" person I guess, but still bad...)
Then, from the same diocese, Clayton links to the day at the famous St. Joan of Arc
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
Comments
This lack of respect for the Eucharistic is appalling.
Posted by: Lynn at May 15, 2005 11:55:56 PM
Lynn,
Perhaps that's because this is all less about the Eucharist than it is about them.
Posted by: Richard at May 16, 2005 12:04:47 AM
Too bad they won't face that reality.
Posted by: Lynn at May 16, 2005 12:08:15 AM
As someone from outside the States I find this very wierd and disturbing. Here in the antipodes lapsed catholics who disagree with the Catholic Church just don't go to Mass. They stay in bed or go to somewhere that is sympathetic to their lifestyles.
I would be interested to know:
1. Are these people regular attendees at Mass or do they just show up en masse at certain Masses to agitate? (The latter would put them in the "Catholics for choice" category of those who keep the label for political ends even though they have abandoned the faith).
2. If they are regular attendees, why don't they leave and go to a sympathetic church?
3. Do all "purps" support the rainbows, or are there "purps" who believe what the church teaches on homosexuality and that the rainbows should get out (and vice versa)?
4. Are there any yellow sashes who jump up and insist the priest says the old rite?
5. Do any of these people find it just a teensy bit contradictory to try force their views and insult the Sacrament in the name of toleration?
Posted by: James at May 16, 2005 12:22:39 AM
Nothing at our parish. Of course it was the noon Mass at Blessed Sacrament in Seattle so that's not too surprising.
Posted by: Mark Shea at May 16, 2005 12:37:46 AM
Perhaps all of the married and use-contraception-but-otherwise-obedient catholics should wear grey sashes (because it can't be so black and white can it?)
Posted by: James at May 16, 2005 12:42:26 AM
Nothing by us in Salt Lake; not very shocking. However, back when we were in Chicago, there was a time when Cardinal George seemed to be having run-ins with the Rainbow Sashers every other week or so, though it probably wasn't that often. He wouldn't give them Communion with the sash on. They would get irked and complain to the press. George would get exasperated with the press. Lather, rinse, repeat. I was surprised to see the nationwide press treating the sashes as some ultra-new phenomenon.
Posted by: Sonetka at May 16, 2005 1:03:28 AM
I don't agree with the positions of the Rainbow Sash movement, but I don't think denying them Holy Communion is the right way to respond.
The Church ought to respond in love, not deny Christ to people who are struggling with the faith.
The problem with denying communion is that the situation risks descending into an unholy squabble at the point of communion.
God Bless
Posted by: Chris Sullivan at May 16, 2005 1:09:43 AM
Two things....
1) "the married and use-contraception-but-otherwise-obedient catholics"
Can you say narrow gate?
2) "The Church ought to respond in love, not deny Christ to people who are struggling with the faith."
When the Church denies communion to these people it is an act of love. To allow someone to take communion who is in an obvious state of mortal sin (assuming these homosexuals are living the gay lifestyle) would be an awful thing.
Posted by: Keith at May 16, 2005 5:15:30 AM
"To allow someone to take communion who is in an obvious state of mortal sin (assuming these homosexuals are living the gay lifestyle) would be an awful thing."
Actually, the obstinant persistence in manifest grave sin in this case is heresy not "gay lifestyle".
Posted by: Samuel J. Howard at May 16, 2005 6:02:14 AM
The Rainbow Bash people continue to act as thugs and louts in their sacreligious antics in order to gain empathy, I suppose, from those undecided Catholics who need the mainstream media to help them with their thinking, along with the likes of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Christian compassion focuses on loving the person of each human being. It is not compassion when it allows, covertly or openly, behavior that more apprpropriately belongs in a biker bar late on a Saturday night.
A church is not clownish street theater.
Following the example of Jesus in his cleansing the Temple of those engaged in desecrating it, these boorish grandstanders in the house of the Lord, need to be given the opportunity to cease and desist in the behavior or be escorted out the doors even to the point of being bounced out on their ears.
Posted by: John Hetman at May 16, 2005 6:48:06 AM
Hello Chris,
Given how disrespectfully many apparently acted around the Eucharist, I wonder where you *do* draw the line on reception of the Eucharist.
I don't believe there's a single Church Father or Apostle who would have given them communion under the circumstances.
Largely for the reason Keith gives.
Posted by: Richard at May 16, 2005 7:43:46 AM
I haven't been Catholic for very long, and in my parish we learned to receive on the tongue. Others receive in the hand, and it never really bothered me who does what. The Church allows both. However, I can't help but notice that if all received on the tongue, much of the nonsense that went on re. turning around and handing the host to another person would be more difficult.
Posted by: Troll at May 16, 2005 7:47:00 AM
You know, the arch of LA statement really irks me because it persists in putting forward this fake argument that actively homosexual people are not welcome in the Catholic Church and that is just completely false. Every baptized Catholic and in fact any person, even a non Catholic, is welcome at any Catholic parish Mass at anytime.
What is the problem (which the LA archdiocese avoids totally) is that anyone living in a state of mortal sin needs to refrain from taking Holy Communion without first attending Confession and having the sincere wish to turn away from sin (see Galatians 5:19-20, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Corinthians 11:17 among other biblical references). People wearing clothing that is 'in your face' like a rainbow sash (or it could be an abortion rights t-shirt or maybe even carrying a placard extolling the virtues of adultery or birth control) meaning that their unmarried active sex life is on display and that it's more important than the reason that we all go to Mass. It is 'obstinant persistence in manifest grave sin' as Samuel says above.
Anyhow, I think the LA archdiocese is being a bit disingenuous with the statement they issued.
The description of Holy Communion that Amy posted is so very sad and tragic. I don't think it's going to get any better.
Posted by: Colleen at May 16, 2005 7:51:13 AM
Troll: you could be on to something because I was just thinking that if the parishes still had altar rails where we kneeled for Communion and received on the tongue, I cannot imagine people acting in the manner described above. There is something humbling about waiting patiently and then kneeling and receiving on the tongue that is absent in the filing up and receiving in the hand.
*not a critique of one method over another, btw - just an observation since I think this whole argument w/ the rainbow sashers is one of the absence of humility and the denial of sin.
Posted by: Colleen at May 16, 2005 7:57:09 AM
Here is an excerpt from the "message" I transcribed from St. Joan's website.
That is why we pray so differently today. Rather than petition, that is why we are inclined to be people of meditation, and reflection. Our world view has shifted radically, the view that saw God as out there forced Christianity into a sin/redemption model. We had broken our covenant with God, and God must punish us for our sins out of justice. We had to be redeemed, and Jesus was the one expiated for our sins. He was the victor over death and sin. The new world view is evolutionary, and sees us human beings as part of the unfolding of creation. We become the consciousness of matter and the world, and in this model we are co-creators with God in the mystical unfolding of life. God is the spirit who penetrates all of life.
You know the Genesis story is truly lousy history, but it's a great myth. Explaining that God is all encompassing love and that God makes everything very good. Just listen to Psalm 104: O God, you give us all food in due season. You feed everyone. If you give your breath, the world will live. If you ever stop breathing the world will die.
In the new world view in Theology we see the shifting horizons and not old boundaries.
It appears that sin is outdated and part of an old model.
Posted by: aquinasadmirer at May 16, 2005 8:06:22 AM
Troll,
You're right. While abuses can occur under the normal method of distribution, Communion in the hand is certainly not helpful in this regard.
Also, one priest distributing under one Kind with altar rails can distribute to as many communicants as 2-4 EMHCs delivering in lines.
Posted by: B Knotts at May 16, 2005 8:06:36 AM
The cornucopia of sashes reads like something out of a Christopher Guest mockumentary. The choices are endless -- would a pro-women's 'ordination' dissident of Scottish descent wear a plaid purple sash?
Keep it up, folks; you're well on your way to being banned outright, leaving you free to traipse about with your pretty sashes in someone else's place of worship.
The motto of American Catholics: 'My appetite is my identity.'
Posted by: Rich Leonardi at May 16, 2005 8:10:12 AM
Maybe Catholics who strive to adhere to doctrine could have their own special identifying accessory, too. How about hats or mantillas for the women and ties for the men? That should stand out.
Posted by: sharon at May 16, 2005 8:25:35 AM
No disturbances at 9am Mass at St. Joseph Church in Wilmette, IL, other than three of my children in the second-to-last pew.
Posted by: Stephen Joseph at May 16, 2005 8:45:37 AM
Are these people motivated by a spirit of humility or a spirit of defiance?
Posted by: John Heavrin at May 16, 2005 8:48:48 AM
I absolutely reject the suggestion that, somehow, just because I live with same sex attraction I am somehow unwelcome at my Catholic parish. Heck, I feel if anything more welcome because, in the case of SSA, the Church explicitly calls me to sainthood and expresses the confidence in me that I can make with the help of Christ and the sacraments. (CCC 2359).
Posted by: David Morrison at May 16, 2005 8:52:51 AM
I wonder, though, is it just the sash or is it the fact of what the sash represents that makes the difference.
I mean, if a priest knows that a person is a sympathizer or supporter of the cause, but comes up to receive communion without the sash, is it then o.k. to give him/her communion?
If someone wore the sash for the whole mass, but took it off just to receive communion and then put it back on, is that acceptable.
I only ask because it seems to me that if it is just the wearing of the sash that is the issue (and not the "heresy" underlying it), then it seems to me that the refusal to give communion to sash-wearers is as much a political statement as is the wearing of the sash to communion.
Posted by: Jimmy Huck at May 16, 2005 8:54:47 AM
Perhaps when the Sashers declare that they'll be
showing up en masse it's time to dragoon the
K of C 4th order to stand at the edge of the sanctuary
with their drawn swords to protect the
Blessed Sacrament (and the ministers) from
sacrilege and attack ; )
Posted by: Steve Cavanaugh at May 16, 2005 8:55:23 AM
Sharon: "Maybe Catholics who strive to adhere to doctrine could have their own special identifying accessory, too. How about hats or mantillas for the women and ties for the men? That should stand out."
That's how it should be. When I attend the Polish language masses occasionally, the church is filled, reverent, and almost everyone sings hymns that were not composed by those poor immitators of Barry Manilow: Haugen, Haas and Joncas, et al. People dress "up" for mass in the same sense as if they were going to serious affair. When the priest gives his homily, one can hear a pin drop.
The American masses are filled with older teens in ratty jeans; and the girls often look like sluts. Many of the the adults might as well be attending a White Sox game for their mode of dress, or cutting their lawns. And so many priests give their Reader's Digest homilies. On Pentecost, the priest had sound effects after reading the Gospel. He played a tape with wind blowing to get us "in the mood" for his usual nonsequiturs. Then, surrounded himself with bored and restless children around the altar during the Consecration.
So, Sharon, yes, we do need to start dressing as if we are going to something special--like a wedding--because, indeed, we are.
Posted by: John Hetman at May 16, 2005 8:56:19 AM
