A Petulant Rebellion

“Biden and company are servants of Baal”. ... “You cannot serve Baal and the Living God. Choose ye this day whom you will serve”?

From Crisis

By Jennifer Hartline

You must admit, it’s incredible. Even in a Church that has two thousand years of history, it’s incredible. The Catholic Church in America, the Catholic bishops and all the laity, are being lectured to about Church teaching by a bunch of heretics.

The bishops and priests of the Church are being chastised for even talking about Eucharistic coherence by people who brag about their defiance of Church teaching. The fathers are being spanked by petulant children.

The descendants of the Apostles are being scolded for injustice and yes, infidelity to the Faith, by the servants of Baal.

What’s more incredible is that this exasperating power struggle is of the bishops’ own making. Worse still, it’s a struggle they are losing. They could bring the whole fight to an end tomorrow if they had the courage.

Today’s fight may be centered around the Eucharist, but the real issue is more foundational.

When Congressman Ted Lieu gets on his Twitter soapbox and dares the bishops to deny him the Eucharist, the cat’s out of the bag. This isn’t a man of humble, deep faith rightfully asking for the Bread of Life. No, this is a proud man following another master, seeking to impose his will.

When 60 Catholic members of Congress send the bishops a public letter saying, “We solemnly urge you to not move forward and deny this most holy of all sacraments, the source and summit of the whole work of the gospel over one issue,” and then wrap it all up with this gem: ”…we have a claim on the Church’s bearing as it does on ours,” the plot is utterly exposed.

It isn’t love for the Eucharist or even a mediocre reverence. It is purely a desire for power. It all comes down to authority and obedience.

Ted Lieu, the members of Congress, and especially Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi will decide for themselves what the law of God says and means and what they are expected to do in response. They will determine the morality of every “issue” near and dear to them. They will determine what the Church’s correct response should be.

They will correct the Church when needed as well. The Church, as Christ’s Body on earth, has no authority over them. No doctrine or teaching will ever make demands upon them. They will deign to agree with only those “positions” of the Church that aid their desire for power.

It is a breathtaking audacity that says to Christ, “I will break Your laws with pleasure. Now give me what I want. I dare You to deny me.”

Lieu’s tweet, the “Statement of Principles” letter, Biden and Pelosi’s perpetual defiance, it all echoes a fallen angel’s fury: I will not serve. You cannot tell me what to do. You cannot tell me no.

Biden and company have been getting away with their petulant rebellion for so long that they feel perfectly entitled to demand Catholicism on their terms. Indeed, to demand the Lord Jesus Himself on their terms.

Now they have upped the ante with public proclamations of willful disobedience. They do not believe their conviction will be met with equal resistance.

This battle over Holy Communion is one the bishops should never have engaged at all because the matter is already settled. The Eucharist does indeed come with conditions that each Catholic must meet. Mortal sin is real and deadly. Far from being welcoming and pastoral, it is neglectful and cowardly for priests to allow souls not in a state of grace to eat and drink judgment upon themselves.

This “one issue” these defiant Catholics will not name directly is the ongoing slaughter of the child in the womb, which they champion with all their political might—seventy-plus million babies so far.

If the Catholic boy who drives his girlfriend to Planned Parenthood or helps pay for the abortion incurs latae sententiae excommunication for his actions, how much more those who have facilitated millions upon millions of abortions?

Biden and company are servants of Baal. There is no other way to describe it. No one works so tirelessly, so zealously, for something he believes is wrong. One only acts with such consistent dedication for what he loves, or at least that which benefits him.

When will the USCCB say with one clear, unwavering voice, “You cannot serve Baal and the Living God. Choose ye this day whom you will serve”?

It is this group of heretics who have made the Eucharist their weapon. They dare you, their pastors, to be as committed to your God as they are to theirs, and so far, their devotion seems stronger.

Does Baal determine morality? Do his servants decide what is Catholic?

Or will the shepherds of the Church finally arise and proclaim the unchanging, unchangeable truth? Will they speak with authority, without obfuscating or apologizing, for the good of souls?

We shall see.