A Tale Of A Good Shepherd And A Lost Sheep

Recently, Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island has clashed with the Catholic Church and Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Diocese of Providence regarding the congressman’s public support of a health care reform bill which supports public funding for abortions.

Congressman Kennedy’s public support for the right to choose abortion and his criticism of the Catholic Church’s opposition to the current health care reform bill is in clear contradiction to his claim that he is a practicing Catholic. At this juncture, the bishop would be negligent in not responding to, and caring for a sheep that has wandered from the flock into dangerous surroundings!

All of this has now made national news. Congressman Kennedy claimed in an interview dated November 22, 2009, that Bishop Tobin has forbid him to receive Holy Communion. You may read Bishop Tobin’s response to Kennedy’s claims here.

Catholics should be concerned not so much with the their ability to receive the sacraments, but with whether or not they are properly disposed to receive them. Christ’s sanctifying and saving grace is conferred through the sacraments when the recipient is properly disposed to receive that grace, i.e., receiving the Eucharist in the state of mortal is not the proper disposition toward receiving the Sacrament. The same goes for the sacrament of Confession (Penance, Reconciliation). The recipient asking to be absolved is not properly disposed to the sacrament if he or she is not sincerely contrite, and willing to repent and make every effort to avoid sin in the future.

Discussions on local radio talk shows has served to reveal that many professed Catholics, at least in and around the Diocese of Providence have much to learn about the Faith they claim to be practicing. A professed Catholic is not at liberty to pick and choose which Church doctrine he or she believes and follows, and what he or she does not believe, and thus does not follow. The Church has one teaching authority, the Magisterium, whose teachings are the true teachings received from Jesus Christ and passed on through apostolic succession over the centuries up to the present day.

We cannot profess the Catholic Faith and then do what we want concerning abortion, contraception, and reception of the sacraments etc.!

As Catholics, and I include myself, we need to spend much more time learning about and practicing our Faith, then on doing things that do little to enhance the quality of our life here on earth, much less our eternal life!

This is a wake up call for the Catholic Church. We are in dire need of better ways in which to educate the faithful and evangelize the truth. We need to pray more often and more fervently, not only for ourselves, but for our Holy Father, our bishops and priests and all the clergy and religious, all catechists, all political leaders, and everyone throughout the world who does not know Christ, or does not think that Christ is essential in their lives!

Let us pray for Bishop Tobin, that he remain close to our Lord, and continue to courageously and boldly proclaim and stand by the truth as he shepherds his flock! And let us pray for Congressman Kennedy, and all Catholics, whom have strayed and are wandering, that they may safely return home!

Blessed Imelda’s Eucharistic Miracle!

Blessed Imelda Lambertini, born in Bologna, Italy in 1322, was given the title, Patroness of First Communicants for good reason!

Even at the age of nine, Imelda had an extraordinary devotion to Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist at Mass and in the tabernacle. To receive Our Lord in Holy Communion became the consuming desire of her heart, but the Church at that time and place prohibited anyone under the age of twelve from receiving their first Holy Communion.

In expressing how she yearned to receive the Eucharist, Imelda was known to ask the question, "Tell me, can anyone receive Jesus into his heart and not die? "

The following miracle story illustrates how our Lord responded to Imelda’s intense desire to receive Him in the Eucharist, and is one that should remind all of us Catholics of how we should approach the Blessed Sacrament with the utmost reverence, and to receive the Eucharist only after being made worthy through the sacrament of Reconciliation!

Blessed Imelda was a pious child who begged her parents to allow her to become a Dominican when she was just nine years of age. Her parents, though saddened at having to be separated from their only child, recognized God's will for their daughter, and Imelda joined the nuns at Val di Pietra.

Her status among the nuns is unclear. She received the habit and participated in the life of the nuns to some extent. At that time, children were not allowed to make their First Holy Communion until age 12, but Imelda prayed continually that she would be able to receive Our Lord without having to wait so long.

When Imelda was 11, after Mass on the vigil of the Feast of the Ascension, the Sacred Host was seen suspended amidst a brilliant light above Imelda's head. The chaplain, who was immediately summoned, gave the Host to Imelda. Afterwards, the nuns left her alone to make her thanksgiving. The prioress soon discovered, however, that Imelda, who had been in ecstasy, had died shortly after receiving her First Holy Communion, so much in love was she with Our Lord in the Eucharist.

Blessed Imelda Lambertini was declared Patroness of First Communicants by Pope St. Pius X.