Holy Eucharist being "held hostage"

[nana3]

I agree with all those who say we really need to pray for this man. I am sure others who don’t make a mention of it agree too. He really needs prayers. We have his full name from the article and should pray for him.

I know someone who went to the Mass today on the campus and there were no problems. The nuns were there from the dioceses as well.

 

[Kevin42]

Perhaps having the Lord physically present so close to him will lead this man to repentance. May the Lord have mercy on this man, and on all of those receive the Eucharist every Sunday in a state of mortal sin.

 

[nana3]

Perhaps having the Lord physically present so close to him will lead this man to repentance. May the Lord have mercy on this man, and on all of those receive the Eucharist every Sunday in a state of mortal sin.

AMEN

 

[Phemie]

He had the Host in his mouth and now he has it in a plastic bag. Seems to me that moisture and the bag will cause the Host to become mouldy. At that point will it not cease to be the Body & Blood of Christ?

 

[LilyM]

He said he wanted to show it to his friend in the pew and then consume it. In some non-Catholic churches they eat their pieces of bread and little cups of wine while seated in the pew. If this person was from that background, he may not have seen anything wrong with taking it back to the pew.

No - he would’ve seen that people did NOT take the Eucharist back to their pews, and did at least consume it as they walked away - he certainly would’ve seen that they didn’t ‘show and tell’ it to others (what church does THAT?)

Sure but he didn’t steal anything. He was given something. I don’t know how the law would look at it, but morally it seems different. It would be like if a priest gave a passerby a blessed Rosary and then that passerby used it for a profane purpose (like how some singers wear crucifixes in music videos that may not conform to Catholic values).

No. The priest, as he had every right to do, assumed that people who come to Catholic Mass will be polite enough to educate themselves about who can and can’t receive Communion (after all, other denominations have closed communion as well) and thus that people who came up would be Catholic and receive properly.

And communion on the tongue? The man PUT IT IN HIS MOUTH AND THEN SPAT IT OUT AGAIN. Which he quite likely would’ve done if he’d received on the tongue.

 

[Fergal]

OK, here is what first crossed my mind…

if a mouse gets into a taberacle and eats the consecrated bread…does it recieve the body of Christ? NO!..This guy is nothing more than a mouse. No faith…no believe…and he does NOT hold Christ hostage by any means.

On the other hand…how much uproar would there be if he was keeping a Quran buried in an outhouse?

Now this is bordering on something very serious. Are you saying that the Real Presence of Christ is in the Consecrated Host only when those who believe receive Him?

This is a nonsense. After the consecration christ is really truly and substantially present in the sacred species until the sacred species no longer exists. i.e. dissolve it in water or consume it.

If the mouse eats the consecrated host of course it has eaten the body of Christ, but it has not received as we would receive filled with faith and love; it has simply eaten it.

Christ is being held hostage because of the fact that he is holding a consecrated Host in his possession without proper permissions.

 

[Nohome]

An update: The Eucharist has been returned.

Cook, who was raised Catholic, said he decided to bring the Eucharist home after a church leader tried to physically pry it from his hand. Cook broke Church rules by failing to consume it immediately during communion, and then removing it from his mouth once seated.
Cook said he just wanted to show the Eucharist to a friend he brought with questions about Catholicism before consuming it. But outraged Catholics across the globe didn’t believe him, and suspected he intended all along to steal the Eucharist, and bloggers sent out e-mail messages damning him to Hell.
“I am returning the Eucharist to you in response to the e-mails I have received from Catholics in the UCF community,” Cook wrote in a letter to the church. “I still want the community to understand that the use physical force is wrong, especially when based on assumptions. "However, I feel it is unnecessary to cause pain for those who are not at fault in this situation.”
Cook said some threatened to break into his dorm room to rescue the Eucharist. Brinati said the Diocese of Orlando didn’t condone those threats, but was happy Cook had a change of heart and returned it.

wftv.com/news/16806050/detail.html?rss=orlc&psp=news

Personally, I can respect his concern/protest about student fees funding a religion. That said, I would think his actions would be considered a hate crime. There are right and wrong ways for one to make their point. Clearly, his actions offended a lot of people.

Nohome

 

[peregrinus_WA]

Stolen Eucharist Returned While UCF Police Stand Guard During Mass

Issue is still not over

 

[dbg]

from new article

“I want to thank the individuals who explained the emotional and spiritual pain my possession of the Eucharist caused them to experience,” he wrote. “They have demonstrated that the use (of) reason is more effective than the use of force.”

Cook said he still hopes to meet with the local Bishop to discuss prohibiting the use of force to recover the Eucharist. He also wants an apology.

This is good news and it is good that he was able to return the Eucharist while still being able to proclaim his understanding that “the use of force” is wrong. Hopefully, he will be able to “meet with the local Bishop” and receive both an apology and agreement to prohibit “the use of force to recover the Eucharist.”

I am alarmed to see from the new article (quoted by someone else above) that apparently many Catholics were willing to “break into” his dorm room to retrieve the eucharist. It seems ironic that they would do that given that the eucharist is associated with Christ’s passion and given that Christ told Peter to not use force to save him and healed the man whose ear Peter wounded. I shudder to think what may have happened had his dorm room been broken into while he was present.

 

[Ted_in_Charlott]

I am alarmed to see from the new article (quoted by someone else above) that apparently many Catholics were willing to “break into” his dorm room to retrieve the eucharist. It seems ironic that they would do that given that the eucharist is associated with Christ’s passion and given that Christ told Peter to not use force to save him and healed the man whose ear Peter wounded. I shudder to think what may have happened had his dorm room been broken into while he was present.

I was writing something similiar when my power went out.

As for the ones that felt they had to “take matters into their own hands” I would encourage them to be a little more kind or consider not serving. Who is to say that this “kidnapper” will not become a great saint of the Church if he is shown love mercy and compassion?

 

[CatholicCid]

I found it interesting that he wants to meet with the Bishop and wants an apology. Isn’t he actually excommunicated now due to sacrilege? If so, he might want to change his meeting to a confession.

As to the distrubution of funds, I assume he will now take other sacred items from other religions to prove his point? If the money is being equally distributed, I don’t think he can complain. The Church is most likely the Campus Catholic Center, and as such is given a portion of funds for student activities, just as other clubs are. If I’m not a chess player, does that mean the Chess club doesn’t deserve funds?
If the money is being unfairly distributed, which he does not say, then he might have a valid complaint. Otherwise, the case either becomes stop funding ALL student organizations, or continue to fund them.

 

[HollyDolly]

I’m not buying this guy’s reason for taking the host,especially if he is supposedly a catholic. Why pick on the Church, why not disrupt a protestant or other religious service if he doesn’t like college monies funding religious activities?Why not just have a picket sign and march up and down on the sidewalk in protest?
I think there is more to his motives than what is stated in the article.Glad he gave Our Lord back.

 

[MariaTheresa]

I am greatly relieved that this ridiculous behavior has been stopped. It is telling that this offender still wants an apology even though he has committed the offense. I think the woman who tried to stop him from carrying out the sacriledge should be awarded a Defender of the Faith Medal at the next available Mass by the Bishop if possible.

As far as vigilanty behavior , I believe I said “according to the Bishop 's directions”. I would not act outside the Church. However, I do not condem anyone’s outrage. I too am outraged.

I completely disagree with the offender’s request that “no force ever be used to recover the Eucharist’. Wow, should we apply that to other kidnapping cases and bank robbery and home invasion because this enlightened peron has decided that " the use of reason is more effective than the use of force”.?

Again, the Eucharist IS the BODY And BLOOD of JESUS the LORD.
He did steal it the momment he took it home and put it a plastic baggie. And yes, he most certainly needs prayed for.

 

[dbg]

I am greatly relieved that this ridiculous behavior has been stopped. It is telling that this offender still wants an apology even though he has committed the offense.

Even granted he committed some offense, it is also true that an offense was committed against him when he was physically mistreated AND when he received threats from Catholics (read the new article)

As far as vigilanty behavior , I believe I said “according to the Bishop 's directions”. I would not act outside the Church. However, I do not condem anyone’s outrage. I too am outraged.

I was thinking of your first comment (which I assumed may have been a joke) not your second which referred to “negotiations” I thought … and I was also thinking of what someone wrote in reply to your comment where he said that “Satire or not” he would be willing to make an attempt. In any event, in the new article, apparently many threats of vigilante acts were made as well as damnations to hell.

I completely disagree with the offender’s request that “no force ever be used to recover the Eucharist’. Wow, should we apply that to other kidnapping cases and bank robbery and home invasion because this enlightened peron has decided that " the use of reason is more effective than the use of force”.?

You can’t compare this to a kidnapping case. You are delutding yourself if for example you think that US law or the law of any State would consider this a kidnapping and that he would be prosecuted for kidnapping. As for theft – that I’m not sure about since he was given the item he stole … and I don’t see how you would support a prosecution based on theft since according to your belief it is not a piece of property that was taken, but a person (or do I have that wrong? – please correct me). There was a similar (from a legal perspective I think) dispute once involving a man and woman in a non-religious matter, and a court sided with the woman who was said to have stolen what belonged to the man.

If a priest gives a blessed Rosary or other religious item blessed by him to someone and that someone uses it for what you would consider a blasphemous purpose, I don’t think there is any legal recourse. I suspect that the same is true here, but IANAL.

One good thing about being luke-warm when it comes to religion is that it makes you less likely to become inflamed when learning about things like this and less likely to engage in vigilante acts. And a bishop authorizing it would still make it vigilante. A bishop has no special authority under the law.

 

[MariaTheresa]

dbg,

I’m sorry, I don’t know what “but IANAL” means. Is it a typo or web chat lingo?

I didn’t think for a minute that he would be charged in a court of law with kidnapping. I don’t believe he was physically mistreated when this woman grabbed his arm in an attempt to rescue the Host.

I read the new article which said that he received e-mails damning him to Hell. Not sure about that. I would have to see the particular e-mail. for example, if someone said You are in danger of the fires of hell for what you have done etc , etc, that is just plain fact. But if someone said You are going to hell and I’m going to send you there, that is a criminal threat …big difference.

As far as the Bishop and vigilante acts, I don’t believe the Bishop would authorize people to act outside the law and the Bishop does not have any authority outside the law I know that.
However, I do believe a response stronger than praying quietly is in order in this type of situation.

As far as this example you cite:
“There was a similar (from a legal perspective I think) dispute once involving a man and woman in a non-religious matter, and a court sided with the woman who was said to have stolen what belonged to the man.”
I can’t comment because there is not enough detail.

Your point about piece of property vs. person in the eyes of the law is interesting. For Catholics, Person, in the civil law , I suppose property.

The point about being lukewarm about religion having a benefit , I would disagree. It’s like saying being lukewarm about your family helps you not get overly emotional if your child is killed by a drunk driver or some other tragic event occurs. This was a tragic event for Catholics.

Life is about being invested in the world around you. Loving and serving the Lord is first in that.

 

[mercygate]

Satire or not. If I was in Orlando I would be willing to go and attempt to get it back.

How about going to his house and holding round-the-clock adoration?

 

[Steeltemplar]

If we lived in a Catholic society, where the police might be able to retrieve the Eucharist, then I would think it a good idea for law enforcement to rescue it from the student. However, we cannot allow vigilante actions.

As to the use of physical force in the Mass itself, that was absolutely justified. The faithful have every right to defend the Body of Christ (and let us keep in mind that this is what the Eucharist is).

It is sad that this heretical young man would still be blaming others for the situation in which he is at fault.

 

[Steeltemplar]

I have a good question: Why is it that this man’s desecration of the Eucharist is not considered to be a hate crime? I guess that anti-Catholicism really is an accepted prejudice in our society.

 

[cazayoux]

No, you get an Adoremouse.

It will then get eaten by the Roamin’ Cat-lic.

Who will get chased out by the Church Dog-ma. (Who I have heard is a holy terrier.)

(OK, I’ll stop now).

hahahahahaha.
very clever…

 

[nana3]

How about going to his house and holding round-the-clock adoration?

At UCF, they have a gorup called the Catholic Knights. I know the young man who is the president. He goes to daily Mass at the near by parish and I see him there. His family is also very religious and in union with the Church. I am sure that he already has the entire Knights praying for this man and even had a hand in the nice emails. I don’t see him being one of those who would break into Cook’s dorm. I have known his family for years. One of their sons is going to be a priest. The family has 12 children. So this is a good solid Catholic family. They are in my homeschooling group. I am sure that he does have his Knights praying for them. I have met a few of them after Mass and they strive for holiness. It is so nice to see young people aiming this.