Yes, a black homosexual pope that lobbied big macs or a vegan
alternative as the communion token would be sweet and make more sense.
On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 10:41 AM, Judy Prince
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Ken, your first sentence reminds me of the answer I got from my 11 yr old
> neighbour when at age 12 and having attended an RCC church with her [me
> pretty much unchurched], I asked: "Why do you have to go up there and get
> that wafer?" Her innocent, confident response: "Because that's what we
> believe in."
>
> I'm a believer in what seems like the reasonableness of much of what Edgar
> Cayce "said" (in particular about reincarnation and karma) in his
> unconscious state and thus I am laughed at by all of my loved ones and
> friends. Such blanket ridicule leaves me thinking that most "analysing" of
> religious beliefs is as *intendedly* unhelpful as analyses of what poetry
> is. Cat chasing tail chasing cat chasing tail chasing.....
>
> Come to think of it, Cayce "said" that there're various religions because
> folks vary in their ways of understanding and applying beliefs. That
> relaxed me somewhat; wish it would derail the many vicious debates.
>
> I recall a born Catholic being logicked out of his locksteps when he was in
> his 40s back in the 70s [this was a bright intellectual man, BTW] by a
> persistent friend who eventually asked: "But why is it that the pope always
> must be *Italian*?" ;-)
>
> Judy
>
> On 8 February 2010 05:39, Ken Wolman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Judy Prince wrote:
>>
>>> I'm not getting why the Catholic church would insist that a person---any
>>> person---must eat wheaten bread. What part of the Good Book did I miss?
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Judy
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Judy, didn't you ever tell your kids "Because I said so"? So the RCC,
>> *Catechism of the Catholic Church*, paragraph 1412: "The essential signs of
>> the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the
>> blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pronounces the words
>> of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: "This is my body
>> which will be given up for you.... This is the cup of my blood...." It's an
>> unexplained "Because I said so." It's the flip-side of that hideous motto
>> "WWJD?"
>>
>> There was a vicious legal battle in the Diocese of Trenton (NJ) several
>> years ago in which the local priest refused communion to a 9-year-old girl
>> because she was a coeliac. The case was escalated to the Bishop of Trenton,
>> a man whose real name is John Smith. Bishop Smith upheld the paragraph
>> above. He did not have an option, actually. It presumes that wheat was used
>> to prepare the unleavened bread for the Seder that was the Last Supper. This
>> is probably true. What got to everyone in the area out of shape was the
>> unbending attitude. "She can receive the wine instead." The parents were
>> properly aghast. "We're not letting our 9-year-old drink wine." No wheat, no
>> bread, no Communion. No substitute wafers. No rice-cakes.
>>
>> What the parents did is not recorded, at least by me. They would not be the
>> first to go over to the Episcopal or Lutheran Churches, which would surely
>> allow Communion to a girl with that illness. Or they would not be the first
>> to withdraw entirely from the institutional practice of faith. Wounds of
>> that sort against a family are not easily forgiven, regardless of the
>> rationale used to justify them.
>>
>> Short answer: "Because we said so."
>>
>> Ken
>>
>> --
>> ----------------------------
>> Ken Wolman
>>
>> http://awfulrowing.wordpress.com
>> http://opensalon.com/blog/kenneth_wolman
>> http://wearethecure.org/friends/cids-memory-p-394.html
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Frisky Moll Press: http://judithprince.com/home.html
>
> "I can't read my library card." ---Jeff Hecker, Norfolk, VA
>
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