A Meltdown of Epic Proportions

[_harmony]

My reference to Catholic wafers was a very fond memory I have of growing up Catholic.

Is eating the wafers somehow a bad thing?

Children are allowed to eat the sacrament bread, if any is left, after sacrament meeting is over.

[_RayAgostini]

Is eating the wafers somehow a bad thing?

Children are allowed to eat the sacrament bread, if any is left, after sacrament meeting is over.

Not at all, harm. We regularly went to the rectory to get the "leftovers", and the priests in charge had no problem with that, because it would be thrown out in the rubbish anyway. This was a gesture I really admired.

[Guest]

Sorry, but I don't know you from a bar of soap.

Perhaps you do not know me, but I do know you and many like you.

The only thing I've seen coming from you is lovey-dovey platitudes.

Yes, this lends support that you do not know me.

I'll give you the first rule of engagement with me

You may very well have your "Ray" rules, but I am Ceeboo, and as such, I decide what I post (and own it) and I decide who I engage (and for how long)

- don't insult me.

More irony? Indeed!

The insults, Ray, belong to you (whether you decide to own it or not)

My reference to Catholic wafers was a very fond memory I have of growing up Catholic.

You also lie?

Peace,
Ceeboo

[_RayAgostini]

More irony? Indeed!

The insults, Ray, belong to you (wether you decide to own it or not)

My reference to Catholic wafers was a very fond memory I have of growing up Catholic.

You also lie?

Peace,
Ceeboo

Nope, I lie not.

Here was my comment:

Nevertheless, enjoy you communion wafer. (We used to go to the priests' retreat to get the remains after they were "circled" out for the faithful at Mass, and they were delicious.)

And for that you judge me?

(I thoroughly enjoyed them.)

[_Ceeboo]

Hey again, Ray.

Sorry for the delay in engaging you again (I hope I didn't break any of your rules), I was on another thread offering more of my lovey-dovey platitudes. :)

Nope, I lie not.

Still running from yourself? (I see a pattern)

Here was my comment:

I read and understood your comment the first time.

And for that you judge me?

Deflection by design or just habit?

(I thoroughly enjoyed them.)

Yea, OK.


Peace,
Ceeboo

[_RayAgostini]

I read and understood your comment the first time.

Really? So you're a mind reader? You know exactly what was in my heart, and what motivated me to post that?

For me, this is actually a new development. You've judged me, based on what I posted on a message board, and you seem quite certain that your judgement is "right". Yet, I've never met you, never talked to you, and you wouldn't have the faintest clue of what I actually believe.

You've really come across as some kind of Dalai Lama. Well, guess what Ceeboo? You started the insults with your high-minded judgements, and I'm not going to let you off so easily.

Continue to hit your "enter" button, thinking that your every word will be worshiped.

When you finally get around to your senses, and actually talk to me, we may have many agreements in regard to Catholicism. But that's something you'll never realise as long as your pride gets in the way.

When you post on a message board, and make superficial and unwarranted judgements of me - expect a hurricane.

[_Chap]

Nevertheless, enjoy you communion wafer. (We used to go to the priests' retreat to get the remains after they were "circled" out for the faithful at Mass, and they were delicious.)

Not at all, harm. We regularly went to the rectory to get the "leftovers", and the priests in charge had no problem with that, because it would be thrown out in the rubbish anyway. This was a gesture I really admired.

Posters like me who come from the tradition of the Western Latin rite will be somewhat puzzled by what RayA appears to say here, and I think it may be helpful to appreciating the reaction of such people if I explain a distinction that is very important in that tradition.

Before it is used in the Mass, the unleavened wafer we are talking about is often referred to as an 'altar bread', and it is no more than a special kind of bread, with no sacred status whatsoever. You can buy it in a shop, or over the internet, and you can eat it any way you like. In some countries eating altar breads is even a seasonal custom, while others from different cultural backgrounds would be less comfortable about it, since it might lead to irreverence. But certainly it might even be an obligation to eat altar breads that were getting stale and could no longer be used, precisely because, as one enquirer on this Catholic board says:

When I was a sacristan I always consumed the broken/deformed/stale altar breads instead of throwing them away, so that no one would worry that there were consecrated Hosts in the garbage if they found them.

If on the other hand the altar-bread in question has actually been used in the Mass, its status changes to an extent that those outside the relevant religious tradition cannot easily conceive. It is now a consecrated host, to be treated with the same reverence as Christ himself, since it has mystically become his body in virtue of the words of consecration that have been said over it by the priest. (I am merely explaining here, not attempting to justify or persuade). The instructions as to how consecrated hosts not consumed during the Mass (which may for instance be kept to be used for giving communion to the sick who cannot attend Mass) are to be treated are extremely strict. See for instance Canon 939 and its neighbors here.

I therefore find it impossible to believe that the young RayA was given anything but unconsecrated altar breads by any priests he knew, if the priests he is referring to were Catholic priests, unless they were utterly disobedient to core elements in their training and discipline as priests. Even if they had been so bizarre as to treat consecrated hosts that way, the practice would soon have been reported to the bishop by some concerned lay person and would have been brought to an abrupt end.

I would say too that references to 'enjoying your communion wafer' will be perceived by many devout Catholics as deliberately irreverent mockery of a sacrament they regard with the deepest reverence. Now note please that I do not say that they have any right to be protected from such mockery. I merely say this to point out that Ceeboo's gentle reaction to RayA's jocularity on this topic is a sign of his charity and restraint if (as I seem to recall) he is a Catholic.

[_harmony]

All I know is that when someone tried to break into your Encyclopedia of Mopologetics website, you were plenty upset about it.

No, I wasn't.

You realize you sound exactly like Dan, right? Never able to admit to any sort of emotion in connection with this board.

[_Yoda]

You realize you sound exactly like Dan, right? Never able to admit to any sort of emotion in connection with this board.

Yikes, Harm! I think you just gave Scratch the ultimate insult...at least from his point of view! LOL

[_harmony]

You realize you sound exactly like Dan, right? Never able to admit to any sort of emotion in connection with this board.

Yikes, Harm! I think you just gave Scratch the ultimate insult...at least from his point of view! LOL

Just letting the chips fall where they may. :-)