Mark 11:25
“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgression”
This was said to the Jews, who would stand in front of the presence of God in the second Temple in Jerusalem. The same position of praying, today, is seen often in the Maronite rite as they stand before the tabernacle with hands outstretched (orans position).
The advice of Mark is also augmented by another one in Matthew:
Matth 5:23 If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee;
Matth 5:24 Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.
These are two faces of the same issue; grudges damage man; and since God is in man, he is upset by divisions and has these things done to him.
The typical prayer directly to God argument pre-supposes that these passages in Mark and Matthew “stand” before an invisible God, and that there is no more temple.
I believe there is a psalm which I sometimes hear cited which says, “Against you alone O’ God have I sinned.”
There is an “invisible” church confusion with many so that the saying of Jesus about being “within” people can also be used to rationalize just making ammends to an invisible Jesus who doesn’t receive actual sacrifices other than “praise” anyhow.
They don’t see that their sins are still condemned in a temporal, physical way.
In contrast, The Catholic faith is a Sacramental one; we recognize that God is in union with the “least” in the kingdom often meaning even those whom would normally be assumed non-christian. God became man – means that to be forgiven by God also requires forgiveness by man. Otherwise, God within the other never receives forgiveness in
THEM.
When we damage Christs body here on earth; the sin can be forgiven – but the damage is still here, in the present body of Christ on the earth. IT is also, therefore within the person’s body who sinned – for everyone on earth shares in the communion which was damaged. We sin against God, therefore we sin against everyone including ourselves who are in union with God.
Although Praying to the invisible God can obtain a mercy or forgiveness, is does not change that the one sinning has been infected and is weakened – and that their weakness is a burden on their human community who also forgives them implicitly, but with real consequences to the health of the community.
A closed communion really reflects this aspect of healing more than whether or not a sinner is forgiven who goes to communion without confession after mortal sin. They who are that sick also sicken the body that bears their sin; and that is not just Jesus Christ in his glorified body in heaven, but us down here too.
Fr. Jim Stenge in Scappoose, once commented in a homily that a person could have perfect contrition, therefore BE forgiven of the Mortal sin – and then disobey the church and go to communion before confession; Going to communion like that is just disobeying the church in a disciplinary matter, and therefore venial sin.
Techinically, he is probably right – and yet he himself is quite ill in the body, and he never mentioned whether or not he understood that the mortal sin does not BECOME venial because it is forgiven, but that both the venial AND the mortal sin consequences are are added together into the union of communion.
God is with us – Emmanuel – means quite literally that he is HERE bearing what we do; and we can either let him bear it alone – or we can share his burden. That is why the priest on earth is a representative who helps people decide HOW to carry the burden of the forgiveness of sins; No mere man can carry it all alone; and when Chirst took on the sins of the world for all times – he took them on in Eucharistic form and in incarnational form in the
very bodies we have that are baptized on this earth in the still journeying form toward the final resurrection that has no more burden of sin.
I often hear priests substituting for Fr. Stenge saying “what a good priest you have” and so forth. Let me agree; but I worry for him on the same count. The greatest love seems to be to take all the sins of one’s neighbor on oneself; and perhaps he thinks that he is able to do this indefinitely – so that he teaches in his homily a didactic that is really a bit ignorant; (Not sinful); For it seems to leave the congregation ignorant – and he takes our place.
I do believe, that he may be very loving – but also self destructive. When one takes disease on their body, it shortens how long one will live. When he gives a mortal sinner communion, power still flows out of the priest. This is a great mystery, eg: that the Devil can even use pity and love of a priest to make them give more at the wrong time and less at the right.
I wonder why, the priests do not talk more about their Homilitic between each other than they do – it seems they are almost in competition with each other. The more of us who BEAR this sin together with Christ, the lighter the burden becomes. That is the meaning of the communion of saints. But merely cheering him on as a “good” priest may also be playing into the hands of a shorter life when the servants are few.
Most people I talk to about their conception of “direct confession” have no idea of an incarnational or fleshly dimension of accepting Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and savior. They don’t recognize the value and meaning that Jesus left us with a Eucharistic communion; to them God is still invisible and only invisible until he comes again. Glory Glory Glory is their chant, and yet they can’t see him.
