The Subject Remains On My Heart

 

Three times now I’ve used this graphic when I’ve thought of how God can create a live, beating, heart from stone:

And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you;
and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh,
and will give them an heart of flesh:
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances,
and do them:
and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
(Ezekiel 11:19-20 KJV)

Almost a month before my “Earnestly Contend For The Faith” blog yesterday, I read this article where the question headlines: “I dare you to deny me Communion.”And lived with this, where the author:

“ . . . raises the question of why he remains in a faith with which he fundamentally disagrees on almost every issue. Yet Lieu not only retains the title of Catholic, but like many others, he seeks to change the church to match his lifestyle and the ideas of the times.”

I am not a Catholic and have no interest in denying Communion to anyone who adheres to how the Bible says to partake of it:

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. (1 Corinthians 11:23-29 KJV)

Yes, the emphasis is mine, not biblical. But, when the Bible tells me that doing something in error brings damnation, I think I should give it serious thought. The previous verses address head coverings – deemed today to be a cultural change and not necessary within a number of Christian denominations. The Catholic Church changed their response to this years ago.

However, the Catholic Church has not changed its position on abortion, which impacts receiving Communion:

According to church teachings, those who do not receive Communion in a state of grace commit a mortal sin, which is eternally damning if not confessed in the Sacrament of Penance before death.

Given this context, priests are doing Catholics like Biden a favor when they refuse to give them Communion, because they are ensuring these individuals do not commit the additional grave sin of sacrilege.

The article quotes a Representative who is Catholic, who tweeted earlier this year:

“Dear @USCCB,I’m Catholic and I support: -Contraception -A woman’s right to choose -Treatments for infertility -The right for people to get a divorce -The right of same sex marriage. Next time I go to Church, I dare you to deny me Communion.”

(USCCB is the “United States Conference of Catholic Bishops who jointly exercise pastoral functions on the behalf of the Christian faithful of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Isands.”)

Now I wish to go beyond the article and state my own non-theological position that the Bible was inspired by God to be used as a guide, not changed to fit current situations.

Mankind has followed a wide path that enters a broad gate so often in the past:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 KJV)

As a Christian, I share a blog that praises God, His son, and the Holy Spirit as presented to us as One, the same God worshipped by Jews who affirm:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7 KJV)

It each individual’s responsibility to accept or deny God, no one can do that for any other. It is, however, my responsibility to share what I see in Him – an omnipotent entity capable of created our universe who gave of Himself in the plan He designed. I intend to keep doing that when I sit in my house (including computer time), when I’m out with others, when I lie down, and when I rise. Please come back and read more – and diligently teach children.