‘Running Naked on the Golden Sands of Time…’

 

In the late ’60s, the Hippie movement centered in San Francisco was reaching its zenith. Being a Flower Child has lost some luster and has become a parody. There are some acolytes left and, like any other movement, it morphs into something more than wearing flowers in your hair.

As a student in a boy’s Catholic high school, we were encouraged to engage in a respectful discussion of ideas. Sometimes those discussions would occur in classes that had nothing to do with government or politics. Our teachers always kept an eye on the clock to make sure that these discussions did not take up the entire class time. They were aware that our parents were paying the bills, and they expected their sons to receive an education.

Even though our parents were paying the bills, the sign in the photo that is posted at the front door of one boy’s Catholic high school indicates there might be more than financial help required of parents to help their sons mature.

One discussion in our English Lit class ended with a reminder from our teacher as one student finished an eloquent statement of admiration for the Flower Children movement. He told all of us that we should have more ambition than just running naked on the golden sands of time.

There were other what I call reminders from our teachers. One student complained about the amount of reading required in our classes. He said all he wanted to be was a mechanic. The priest said there was nothing wrong becoming a mechanic, then said there was also nothing wrong with being a well-read and highly educated mechanic.

The priests and brothers that educated us had a great deal of experience in turning heathens into students. They knew better than to let the inmates run the asylum. There was nothing that we could do, or say that they hadn’t seen, or heard before.

This brings me to President Biden and receiving Communion. The media, politicians, and some Catholics are viewing this as a political decision by a majority of Catholic bishops. I would remind them that a Church that has been around for more than 2,ooo years has seen many Joe Bidens come and go. There was a Pope 700 years before there was a King of England. Abortion has been considered a grave sin and forbidden from the very beginning in the Catholic Church.

I suppose that libertines prefer company in committing sins. Catholics, regardless of whether or not they are politicians, should understand that there is a difference between Rite, and a secular Right.

Published in Religion & Philosophy
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  1. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Aggravated Leftie: You think I am sinful.

    Me: What of it? I think everyone is sinful. I confess my sins and try to do better. Doing so is a requirement for me to receive communion, and I’m not even Catholic. Joe Biden doesn’t. No cookies and juice for Joe.

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  2. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    A commentator, I think it was Michael Knowles, noted that not allowing Joe to partake in Communion is an act of compassion.  Receiving communion in a state of profound sin is a damnable offense in Catholic tradition.   A good shepherd keeps his flock from harm especially when they wander astray.

    • #2
  3. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    A commentator, I think it was Michael Knowles, noted that not allowing Joe to partake in Communion is an act of compassion. Receiving communion in a state of profound sin is a damnable offense in Catholic tradition. A good shepherd keeps his flock from harm especially when they wander astray.

    Yes, it is compassion. The concern is for his soul, his temporal office is not as important as his eternal destination.

    • #3
  4. Robert E. Lee Member
    Robert E. Lee
    @RobertELee

    Doug Watt:

    Abortion has been considered a grave sin and forbidden from the very beginning in the Catholic Church.

    Has it? Abortion as a political issue hasn’t been around but since the 1800s. Before that it was mere a women’s issue and not spoken of.

    • #4
  5. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Robert E. Lee (View Comment):

    Doug Watt:

    Abortion has been considered a grave sin and forbidden from the very beginning in the Catholic Church.

    Has it? Abortion as a political issue hasn’t been around but since the 1800s. Before that it was mere a women’s issue and not spoken of.

    It has:

    Given the revelation of the Old and New Testaments, with special emphasis on the mystery of the incarnation, the Roman Catholic Church has condemned the practice of abortion. Several examples of teaching which span the first three hundred years of our Church include the following: The “Didache” (“The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles,” c. 80 A.D.) asserted, “You shall not procure abortion. You shall not destroy the newborn child.” The “Epistle of Barnabas” (138) also condemned abortion. Athenagoras (177) in his “A Plea on Behalf of Christians” (a defense against paganism) emphasized that Christians consider as murderers those women who take medicines to procure an abortion; he condemns the killer of children, including those still living in their mother’s womb, “where they are already the object of the care of divine providence.” Tertullian, (197) in his “Apologeticum” likewise asserted, “To prevent birth is anticipated murder; it makes little difference whether one destroys a life already born or does away with it in its nascent stage. The one who will be man is already one.” In the year 300, the Council of Elvira, a local church council in Spain, passed specific legislation condemning abortion (Canon 63).

    It is not just the woman who is held responsible. Anyone who helps to procure an abortion, or performs one is in formal cooperation with an intrinsic evil. The very act itself excommunicates (latae sententiae) one from the Church, both the woman, and those Catholics who help her procure the abortion.

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  6. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    Good post Doug.

    There are also bishops who try to frame this as a political battle. Even among them, the lack of understanding of the faith is … I don’t know what word to use.

    We don’t need another document on the Eucharist, we need bishops to act as the successors of the Apostles that they are.

    • #6
  7. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    Good post Doug.

    There are also bishops who try to frame this as a political battle. Even among them, the lack of understanding of the faith is … I don’t know what word to use.

    We don’t need another document on the Eucharist, we need bishops to act as the successors of the Apostles that they are.

    Thank you. We need to support the bishops who are trying to right the Church, and more importantly trying to save souls, to include Joe Biden’s soul.

    • #7
  8. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    According to Wikipedia, the earliest fragmentary text of the Hippocratic Oath dates to 275. It begins with an oath to Apollo the Physician, Hygeia, Panacea and the rest of the pantheon so I think it’s safe to say that there was pagan as well as Christian opposition to abortion at the time:

    Similarly I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion. But I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art. I will not use the knife, not even, verily, on sufferers from stone, but I will give place to such as are craftsmen therein.

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  9. navyjag Coolidge
    navyjag
    @navyjag

    Brings back memories. Went to a Catholic  boy’s boarding school. At a monastery.  6:30 a.m. Masses every day. My knees still hurt.  But the priests and monks taught us useful stuff: math, English, history. And religion. Lots and lots of religion. But much of it was history. What was right; what was wrong. How truthful ideas survived. Good stuff.  

    • #9
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