NOW WE SEE HOLY WATER, NOW WE DON'T

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Is there no end to the idiocy? My joy at dipping my hand into holy water yesterday afternoon was short-lived. Lo and behold, this morning holy water and fonts had vanished again.

This would appear to be Father's response to a letter to priests (not forgetting those 'lay pastoral leaders') of the Palmerston North Diocese dated June 11, from Cardinal John Dew who as we still lack a bishop remains the Apostolic Administrator. 

His instructions are for no holy water for at least a month - so no protection as we enter church from evil spirits, just hand sanitiser to protect us from imaginary Covid spooks and, infinitely worse for those faithful to whom Communion in the hand is an insult to our Eucharistic Lord, no Communion on the tongue either. On the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. 

Just how do Cardinal Dew's notions sit with the NZ Conference of Catholic Bishops who announced the very next day that "Level 1 matters" are "rightly for local people to decide"? How Mickey Mouse.

The bishops "discussed how Level 1 was working in their respective dioceses. They noted there were differences between some dioceses and even between some churches – for example, some churches allowed Communion from the Chalice, others did not. But they decided that such matters were rightly for local people to decide." 

Oh, fine. Pass the buck. So if "Communion from the Chalice" can be decided by 'local people' then Communion on the tongue can be decided by local people too. Or so you'd think.

But wait a minute. Just who are these 'local people'? The Parish Council? But that might not be meeting for another month yet. Which means in the interim, such decisions will be made by Father - vide the removal and then the next day the re-establishment of holy water fonts in my local church.

And what if the Parish Council is chaired by a control freak, or a health professional who firmly believes that were it not for Ardern's Lockdown 'tens of thousands' of Kiwis could have died of Covid - and might still, given the PM's dreaded 'second wave'? 

“You can do what you are comfortable with at a local level,” says the NZBCB. Oh, that's so nice. What we're comfy with. 

Whatever happened to "He that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me (Mt 10:38)? Since when has the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the Body of Christ who was crucified for us, been about comfort? 

I'm sorry to say that a friend, a lovely woman who'd come in to clean the church, copped it from me today. I mentioned that the holy water fonts which had been there yesterday were gone today. 

She said, "Well, I suppose we have to do what we're told". I'm afraid I vented on her, along lines which will be familiar to readers of this blog, like if we're told to do something morally wrong, we actually must not do it. It doesn't matter who tells us to do it, we must not. "We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). 

And although our bishops and priests haven't told their people they must receive Communion in the hand, to say they are forbidden the Bread of Life - the Bread by which we live spiritually - on the tongue (which is the norm prescribed by the Church) is tantamount to telling them to receive in the hand, a practice condemned by the Church right up until Vatican II. Nothing which is wrong for nearly 2000 years can become right simply because bishops prefer it.  

https://www.catholic.org.nz/news/media-releases/level-1-measures/  

A correspondent asks, "Who takes precedence, +Dew or the NZCBC? So does +Dew need to rescind his letter of 11 June?

Is the NZCBC now saying the Church is now a democracy down to the individual parish?  Can the parish now decide on Communion on the tongue, the Chalice?  Does the parish now override Church documented norms on communion on the tongue etc?  How does the parish decide, by the priest, by vote of laity, the Parish Council, or some parishioner who shouts the loudest about their virus anxiety?

This governance chaos is typical, right to the top.  Amoris Laetitia is a prime example.

God Bless and save our Church from demons who prowl though the world seeking the ruin of souls." 

On a more optimistic note, my friend who copped it today obviously forgave me because she went on to express doubts about the Lockdown and whether New Zealand actually needed it. Sounds like light may be breaking through the fog of panic whipped up by Ardern and her media lap dogs.

Corpus Christi Procession in Seville, Spain

"Lord Jesus Christ, eternal high Priest, you have committed to your priests the ministration of your sacraments; help them to do their part in your work with the unfailing gladness of genuine charity" 

- intercession, Evening Prayer 1, Divine Office for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.