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Posted on 04/06/2011 7:59:06 AM PDT by CedarDave
Many of New Mexico's Catholics were reminded during Mass last weekend that unmarried couples who cohabitate are living in "a state of mortal sin and may not receive Holy Communion."
Archbishop Michael Sheehan told priests to read the letter he wrote stating that only two lifestyles are acceptable: "a single life of chastity, or the union of a man and woman in the Sacrament of Matrimony."
The message stops short of directing priests to deny communion to unmarried people who are living together. Instead, Sheehan urges those "living in cohabitation" to abstain from taking the consecrated bread and wine during Mass.
"There are people who shouldn't be receiving communion who are," Sheehan said in an interview this week expanding on his letter.
"We still urge them to pray and to come to Mass but to refrain from Holy Communion until they get their marriage blessed in the church," he said.
The letter states there are three groups who are living contrary to God's Gospel: those who cohabitate, those who have had only a civil ceremony with no previous marriage and those who have had a civil union after being divorced.
The letter also pointedly says that the church opposes same-sex unions.
"They are in great spiritual danger," Sheehan wrote. "At the best — and this is, sadly, often the case — they are ignorant of God's plan for man and woman. At the worst, they are contemptuous of God's commandments and His sacraments."
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
The letter was read at all Masses last weekend in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The letter is posted at www.archdiocesesantafe.org.
Glad to see at least one Church official is standing firm unlike so many on the east and west coasts that overlook church rules and give Communion to those divorced, in same-sex relationships or that openly support abortion policies.
(For ABQ Journal articles requiring a subscription, scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the article for free after watching a short video commercial.)
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AND if these folks went to Confession, they would be told they cannot receive absolution until they end the sinful sexual relationship and then return for Confession.
Want to spice up your sex life? Try it God’s way and experience the Truer Joy.
I am a Lutheran pastor, and I do not commune those who are shacking up outside of marriage. By continuing to shack up, that is, by its very nature, impenitence. It’s not that they are sinners—we all are that, and the Sacrament is meant for sinners. The problem is that they are openly unrepentant. I tell these people they need to repent, and, over the years of my ministry, many have. Some have not.
Yes, yes. It’s not about Jesus; it’s all about the religion. Follow our our rules, not Jesus’ rules.
It makes me sick.
Hi CedarDave! Long time no post! Thanks for this article from the “land of enchantment” from the home of the NCAA’s men’s b-ball championship. :)=^..^=
God Bless that bishop.
Three cheers for Archbishop Michael Sheehan!!
They could go to confession and tell the priest what is happening. The priest then could make an appointment to talk with both of them in private.
Those are Jesus' rules. Try reading your Bible sometime.
Did you see the post from the Lutheran minister above?
It’s not about the Catholic Church. It’s about keeping the Commandments and keeping marriage holy.
Wouldn't the same be true of people who divorce and remarry?
Now there may be secret, hypocritical, impenitent sinners who come to the altar, and I would not know that, the impenitence being hidden. But cohabitation, by its very nature as a continuing choice, is impenitence. Furthermore, it is public impenitence, it is publicly known. It is scandalous and shameful, disturbs the flock, and disgraces Christianity in the community.
Honoring and keeping sacred the holy estate of marriage is not some manmade rule. It is God’s commandment. (The Sixth Commandment.)
Mark 10 tells us that a man who divorces and remarries is committing adultery against his former spouse. Likewise a woman who divorces and remarries. So how can anyone living openly in an adulterous lifestyle with a second spouse be repentant?
Good! For one thing, even leaving aside the moral issues, nothing fights child poverty and even abuse like having the parents MARRIED to each other. One of the things popular culture ignores about marriage (the real kind, not the gay parody) is that it improves the life not only of the parents but of their children and, ultimately, of society.
This statement from this Archbishop comes as no surprise, since this is Lent and the call to repentence.
AMEN!
Can I get that out to PROTESTANT ministers as well?
It needs to be SHOUTED from ALL pulpits!
"GO; and sin no more."
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