Holy Communion Not For Sale!

Apparently, reports are coming out of the Philippines that priests (not all, but one is too many) are demanding fees before dispensing Holy Communion to public school kids. While the story doesn't confirm that this occurred, the Archbishop of Manila's words on the subject seem to convict them. “We priests, whom God have called to the custody of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, must see children, above all, not only the ones in the Catholic schools but all those in public schools, as the first recipients of the immense gift of the Eucharist, which God has placed in our consecrated hands...More importantly, [the fees] may put an additional burden on the poor families of these children, which could lead to the nonreception of this great gift of the self-giving God, and this is quite heartbreaking.”

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news06_july20_2006


Stories like this just make me shake my head. There's nothing like giving your enemies bullets to shoot at you with, and anti-Catholics love this kind of story. For them, it disproves the Church's validity. For me, however, it only confirms that there's something unique about the Catholic Church--its divine protection. In spite of 2000 years of humanity mucking up the Church's divine mission, it still survives and thrives because, as Christ said in Scripture, He would be with it until the end of the age and that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. Put quite simply, if Catholics haven't managed to destroy the Church with their arrogance, stupidity, infidelity, and corruption, nothing will. But I will not leave Peter because of Judas because to leave Peter is to leave the rock upon which Jesus built His Church. And to leave this rock is to enter the unstable sand of the world. The divine element of the Church preserves it and maintains its teachings the same as the day it began in 33 A.D. and for this, I am truly grateful to God. But geez, guys, CUT IT OUT!