Why don't Protestants Get It?

A reader asks

Andy, thank you for sharing your testimony. I would love to have you come and speak at our church. One thing I don't get. How can people who know so much about the Bible miss things like the Eucharist when it is right in front of their eyes in Scripture?

Good question. It reminds me of Marcus Grodi's reference to "the verses I never saw." What we mean is that even in reading through the Bible and having in-depth scripture studies we can still miss the obvious truths therein, almost as if we were looking past them. Now I don't think this happens intentionally. It seems to me that everyone brings to the Bible certain presuppositions, certain preconceived beliefs and assumptions, that effect how they read and internalize the words on the pages of their Bible.

For example, I had read through the Gospel of John loads of times, but had never been "hung up" on John 6 and the "bread of life discourse". I knew what it was. I had read it every time and had even preached from that passage a few times, but it had never occurred to me that Jesus was speaking of the Eucharist. Why not? Because my presupposition was that Jesus was speaking of something other than literal consumption of his body and blood, that "eat" and "drink" were metaphors for belief. Now let's examine that a bit.

You and I know that Jesus is here referring to the once for all sacrifice of His body, made present to us in the Eucharist. But it never occurred to me to put my own exegetical rules to this passage. I just kept on reading, content to remain in my assumptions. If I had applied my rules I would have seen the following (mind you: I am not pulling out any reference materials this morning, just a few of the things I should have noticed):

• "Eat" means "Eat". The only other possible meaning is "Utterly destroy and ridicule" in the context of war and natural disaster. On top of that, Jesus says "my body is true food". He is clearly not aiming for metaphor.
• In the immediate context there were people who left because they understood him correctly to mean consuming his flesh and blood. Jesus neither tried to stop them nor correct their "misunderstanding".
• In the context of John's writings, the power of God to transform substance and the wonder of the Incarnation point to supernatural workings of God in the physical world.
• In the context of the New Testament, devotion to the "breaking of the bread" and to the right understanding of the Eucharist are given great attention, particularly by Luke and Paul.
• The Church Fathers stand in unison in their understanding that here Jesus is referring to his literal body and blood made present in the Eucharist.
• Historical writings show that the Fathers and other early Christians stake their lives on the Eucharist, and many face death because of this belief.

Nowhere do we see anyone saying that this is mere metaphor. Good exegesis should have convinced me that my assumptions were wrong. Asking the natural rebuttal, "Jesus can't be asking us to be cannibals can He?" should make me realize that if Jesus is not literally breaking off fingers or inciting cannibalism but at the same time is saying literally that his flesh and blood must be consumed to have his life in us he MUST have a way to allow us to do this in a way that does not violate God's laws. This begs the question "how?" and the answer is transubstantiation. Even without the fancy vocabulary, the Christians received the Eucharist in faith, knowing that they were receiving Christ's body, blood, soul, and divinity and being brought in union with his life, death, and resurrection, even though their senses tasted and saw bread and wine.

The mind just gets trained to move forward. It's always easier to assume than to investigate and I think more often than not this is what happens. Thanks for your question. If your parish ever wants me to come out, have them pop over to catholicspeak.blogspot.com and we'll work out a date.

Was Shawn Michaels in Vision Quest?

So I was watching Vision Quest (a wrestling movie from the 80s - go figure) and I could have sworn that a young Shawn Michaels was one of Loudon's teammates. Doubt it was him though. Although, when he debuted with AWA in 1984, young Michael Shawn Hickenbottom was a mere 19. He could have been in the movie. IMDB is silent, as is Wikipedia. So it couldn't be true, right?

Anyway, Vision Quest is what you might call a niche movie. If you don't like wrestling (the real sport) then you probably wouldn't like Vision Quest. But amidst all the weirdness of that movie (not appropriate for kids, btw) there is a lesson to be learned. Actually, if you had a wrestling coach worth his coaching stipend he should have taught you this same lesson.

What lesson?

Redemptive suffering and the value of sacrifice.

What does it cost to be on the wrestling team? Not much. If you show up for practice you're on the team. But is it enough to merely be part of the squad?

What does it cost to be a starter - a varsity wrestler? It costs you something. You have to be able to beat anyone else trying for the varsity spot at your weight. That means learning the moves, practicing, and being good enough to beat your teammate. At some schools that feat is pretty difficult. But is enough to merely represent your school?

What does it cost to have a winning record? It costs a bit more. You have to be more careful about the fuel you put into your body. You have to maximize your time in practice to perfect your moves. You have to study your opponents and learn to exploit their weaknesses. But is it enough to have more wins than losses?

What does it cost to win a regional title? You have to be better than the 15-30 guys from the schools in your region. You have to be more careful about your diet. No wasted calories and no cheap weight loss tricks (that will get you killed in more ways than one). You have to train harder than pretty much everybody else on your team. Less dating and more training. But is it enough to have that regional title?

What about winning a state title? What about wrestling in college? What about an olympic medal? The stakes and required sacrifices increase with each level. It takes determination, discipline, and self-mastery. Your everything must be focused on the goal and that must direct everything you do. Everything else falls into place to align with the goal. There is no coasting and no letting up. But if the goal is good it is worth all the sacrifice.

What is our goal? Perfection. "Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." Holiness is a requirement to enter the kingdom (Hebrews 12:14). And we know that holiness is not just a word. It is a reality that we all need. Perfection in holiness can only come by living in the light of Christ and his grace. He will give us all we need - the training, the guidance, the ability, the steps to take, and most of all, the POWER - to get there, but we must pursue it. We must receive this free gift. It costs us something. It costs us our very lives.

Our heart, our treasure, our desire is to be Him and Him alone. That takes training. It can't be feelings. It can't be mere external piety. It has to be a growing relationship that takes precedence over EVERY facet of our lives. It has to probe us to the very core of our being and force us daily to reexamine our lives and retool in order to abide in the plan. Here's the best part though. It is doable. Jesus calls us to something we can attain. Many on the last day will be saying "Lord! Lord!", but we know that the path is narrow that leads to eternal life. May we stay on the right path, walking with and growing in Christ, abandoning every encumbrance and bring as many people along with us as we can.

Imah Firin' Mah Lazar! Booooooooooom!

Recording the podcast as I drive is not yielding the kind of sound quality I wanted. That's why I have you good people to talk to and help me work out the kinks. Don't worry though. As I retool, I'll be sure to post my works in progress. Don't stop the feedback and suggestions. Once we get a few more things in place we're going to be able to be more live and interactive.

Can I be secular for just a minute here? You all know that I LOVE to watch pro wrestling. I've watched the characters in the squared circle for as long as I can remember. Whether it was AWA, WWF, CCW, WCCW, ECW, NWA or whatever else I could find, I've always found entertainment and, yes, inspiration in the ring. I've also found frustration at the glaring lack of talent that exists today, most especially in the storylines. So let me rant just a bit here.

I remember years ago watching the Four Horsemen break Dusty Rhodes' arm before Starcade.



Oooh. Did you see that? Forget the grainy video and poor production quality. It was what it was. Bad guys chasing the good guys with a handheld recorder to send a message to all the other good guys. Don't mess with the Horsemen. This stable of wrestlers created some of the best storylines and feuds that I remember watching. They had some of the best talkers in the business, especially when Ric Flair was feuding with Dusty Rhodes. They knew how to work an audience and tell a story inside and outside the ring.

Fast forward to last night's Monday Night Raw. A wonderful story was arcing that had the heel, CM Punk, out of the WWE with the championship belt and no WWE contract, meaning he could go anywhere. They could have milked this for all it was worth and built a strong lead to a major PPV months away. Nope. Cheap cash in with one run in at San Diego Comic Con, culminating in Punk appearing last night after a new championship strap was given to John Cena (again). Gee, wonder who will be fighting at the next pay-per-view in a couple of weeks? What a waste of good talent. No patience. No writing skill. Just when I think things will turn around, more of the same old recycled stories. Only the names have changed.

Why am I so mad? Because I miss the stories. That was half of the fun of watching. That was why I stayed up late to watch Tuesday Night Titans.



I wanted the scoop. I stood in the magazine section at Winn Dixie and Kroger while Mom shopped for groceries so I could leaf through the wrestling magazines and find out what feuds were brewing. No more. Everything is microwaved, instant cash in, and predictable.

Of course there is a spiritual link. There's always a spiritual link. How often do we look for the easy cash in spiritually? How quickly do we succumb to the temptation to stop short on an emotional high from a nice little retreat or speaker, content to remain unchallenged and unmoved. The more I go through this journey of faith, the more I see that the journey is a challenge filled with hills and deep valleys. We need to invest in these struggles, especially when they cause us to look inside ourselves and face the realities we don't like to see. When the light of Christ shines on us and reveals our weaknesses the point is not putting a downer on our day. The point is conforming US to the IMAGE of CHRIST rather than our usual habit of conforming CHRIST to the IMAGE OF SELF.

There is no microwave zap that will make us the Christians we must be. We have to choose each day to live the faith and in fidelity to the truth of the Word, Jesus Christ. It is uncomfortable. It hurts sometimes. But by laying aside the things that encumber us and trip us up, we discipline ourselves and receive true peace and contentment that comes from holiness.

The Commute - Episode 1

Guess what? I started a podcast! I really need your help to make this work, so make sure to give me your suggestions for episode ideas, guests, and the like. This should be fun.

The Commute - Episode 1:  Ping Pong Balls!
In the innaugural podcast, I try out my new equipment and discuss the last Harry Potter film, as well as what Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix can tell us about the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Don't forget to contact me and let's make this podcast the best it can be!

Review of Confession: A Roman Catholic App

"This app is a replacement for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Finally the Church is getting with the times!"

The minute I heard that I knew that it was up to me to save the world - with correct information. This was not the first time I had wanted to review an app, but this time I had people asking me what I thought. I decided it would be worth $1.99 (USD) to download the app and see for myself what everyone kept buzzing about.

Much to my relief, this app does not intend to replace the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Not that it could anyway. The Sacraments are tied to the Church and Reconciliation is a ministry of Holy Orders. It can't be replaced by electronic communication.

I helped with a news story about the app a few days ago. See how famous I am? Please note that any sins filmed being "checked off" are not necessarily mine or anyone elses. We had to put the app through its paces for the camera operator.

New Tool Guides Catholics during Confession : MyFoxMEMPHIS.com

Confession is probably the worst named app in the history of the world. The name lends itself to confusion as to its purpose. However, calling the app "Examination of Conscience: Get Ready to Go to Confession" might not be the most concise or appealing name either. Preparation for confession is exactly what this app is intended to help you do.

First, you take a minute to create an account. You can even password-protect the account to keep others from spying on the sins you need to confess. Next, you can customize your account with information such as age, sex, and vocation (married, single, religious, holy orders). Finally, you input the date of your last confession.

Once you've created your account, it's time for an examination of conscience. So far, the confession app uses the 10 commandments as a starting point, asking pointed questions at each commandment to help you examine your life. I appreciate that the app does not take a politically correct path and asks tough questions. After all, we are trying to examine our conscience so we can make a good confession, not intentionally leave out the things that make us uncomfortable, right? Right!

Once you have gone through all the commandments, you also have the option of asking custom questions. This is good if there are particular things you have been dealing with. A text box dialog box appears and you can use your touchscreen to type notes. Add as many items as you need. After all, this is for YOUR confession.

You can then take the confession app to the confessional with you. The app helps with the "script" for the sacrament, guiding you through the proper form, and explaining to you what the priest will do. Remember, this is not a sacrament replacement tool, it is a sacrament preparation tool! The sins you checked in your examination of conscience will be there for you to confess to the priest and you can even check them off as you go. I can't remember how many times I have made a thorough examination of conscience, only to forget one or more of my sins in my confession. It was purely unintentional I know, and I know that they are forgiven, but I want to make the best confession possible for the benefit of my own spiritual growth. This app helps keep them all there for you, as humbling as it may sound.

Once you have made your confession, the app also provides you with an Act of Contrition (several to choose from in the options menu, even Latin) to say at the appropriate time. When Father gives absolution and you leave the confessional to perform your penance, the list of sins is erased. You gotta love the spiritual reality symbolized there.

All in all, I see great benefits from this app. No more fumbling through the pews to find a paper copy of an examination of conscience. I've always got this with me. The examination of conscience is thorough, and I am told that the developers are planning to add more helps in the near future. I can also see how helpful this might be to someone who has been away from Confession for a long time and maybe has forgotten what to do. On another level, I even see a benefit for non-Catholics to use this app as a means of taking a deeper look at their own lives. Maybe it could also help people see the great benefit that the Sacrament of Confession provides.

Is it worth $1.99? Absolutely. Go to the App Store and download it.

Did I Ever Really Go Away?

It has been a LONG LONG time since my last post here on Blogger, but I am anxious to get started again. Having my blog hosted elsewhere for several years means I have a lot of material to transfer over, but fear not, I should have that working soon enough.

In the meantime, look for a new series of posts about spiritual warfare. Reading Dom Lorenzo Scopoli has given me some new perspective on spiritual combat and how I need to approach it as part of my Christian growth.

I wish I knew how to redirect all my visitors to this site to my new home at www.catholicdestination.com/andymcnutt. Unfortunately, I don't know how that is done. Please update your bookmarks as I would love to hear from my long time readers. Here is a post from my new blog.

Does Your Candidate Support the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church?

2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.⁷²

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.⁷³

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.⁷⁴

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.⁷⁵

God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.⁷⁶

2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,"⁷⁷ "by the very commission of the offense,"⁷⁸ and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law.⁷⁹ The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.

2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:

"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death."⁸⁰

"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."⁸¹

2274 Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.

Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual. . . . It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence."⁸²

2275 "One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival."⁸³

"It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material."⁸⁴

"Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity"⁸⁵ which are unique and unrepeatable.

Euthanasia

2276 Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.

2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.

Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.

2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.

2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.