Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Eucharist Document USCCB

I've gotten through the Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper”: On Preparing to Receive Christ Worthily in the Eucharist.
After reading the document it is much harder to see a justification for refusing to list contraception explicitly as a grave matter that would prevent the reception of communion. Hard to understand when an extensive laundry list of other sins are given:
Objectively, certain thoughts, actions, and omissions entail grave sinful matter. As Catholics, we are obliged to form our consciences regarding what constitutes grave matter in accordance with the Church’s teaching. While it is not possible to make a complete list of thoughts and actions that involve grave matter, they would all be serious violations of the law of love of God and of neighbor. If we follow the order of the Ten Commandments, some examples of such thoughts and actions would be
• Believing in or honoring as divine anyone or anything other than the God of the Holy Scriptures
• Swearing a false oath while invoking God as a witness
• Failing to worship God by missing Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation without a serious reason, such as sickness or the absence of a priest
• Acting in serious disobedience against proper authority; dishonoring one’s parents by neglecting them in their need and infirmity
• Committing murder, including abortion and euthanasia; harboring deliberate hatred of others; sexual abuse of another, especially of a minor or vulnerable adult; physical or verbal abuse of others that causes grave physical or psychological harm
• Engaging in sexual activity outside the bonds of a valid marriage
• Stealing in a gravely injurious way, such as robbery, burglary, serious fraud, or other immoral business practices
• Speaking maliciously or slandering people in a way that seriously undermines their good name
• Producing, marketing, or indulging in pornography
• Engaging in envy that leads one to wish grave harm to someone else
It would almost make one believe that the sin was specifically omitted.

Going through the Married Love and the Gift of Life document now, but I probably won't finish it before I have to go to work. So I'll post on it tomorrow.

No comments: