“I have every reason to believe that when I was a young man, if I had desecrated the Eucharist my parents would have held me down while the priest pummeled some repentance into me.”

Same for me Patrick.  Then my Dad God-rest-his-soul would have taken his turn. However, He would have been merciful enough to first let the priest give me last rites :)

The old timers had no tolerance for disrespect of any kind, most especially for that directed at Our Lord.

Yes, throwing the Host on the floor is a grave act of desecration, as it would be for one to just as easily spit it out of one’s mouth.

But what do we call it when someone uses the Eucharist as a tool to advance one’s arguments about liturgical preferences?

Apparently Brother Gabriel didn’t smack hard enough.

Bender,
Liturgical preferences? What are you talking about?

No ambiguity here! Straight forward application of a backbone driven message! I’m sure that a session of interpersonal counselling would have had the same results.

Bender, ????

Given a choice between receiving the Eucharist on my knees and on my tongue, or compelling priests and ministers to watch every communicant and slap and expel blasphemers forcibly from the church when they disrespect the Sacrament… I’ll take the knees and tongue anytime.

Too bad our theology of the Eucharist is too enlightened for that.

Kudos to the priest. A brave, potentially consequential act. He could be charged with assault, certainly in this country and probably in Spain. Hopefully not, but it’s possible. I wouldn’t recommend making a policy of this response because provocateurs might start coming to Mass and desecrating the Blessed Sacrament in order to provoke priests into slapping them, and then slapping them back with charges and lawsuits. But on a case by case basis, as a prudential decision in the moment, I have no objection to the priest’s act, and I think it could potentially be the best thing for the young man in question.

Amen, Patrick!  Couldn’t agree more.  I am glad to know there are priests with enough passion and fire to defend the Lord in a public way, right in the moment of offense.  Clearly that guy had an agenda of his own that was unholy, and the priest was right to do what he did.
Bring back the ol’ school.

Mr. Greydanus, had this happened here it would be possible that the kid in question would be countersued for disruption of a religious service.  Same with any potential provokers (agents provocateurs?) But I’m not sure what the laws in Spain are like.

When I was in high school the son of a professional boxer was a year ahead of me.  He mouthed off to one of the professors and the Dominican priest who was the principal hauled him into the office.  The parents were called and while sitting in the office the principal told the parents what happened.  The professional boxer father turned to his son and asked if he had done what the principal described. He said, “Yes.”  The father jumped up, pulled his son out of the chair, and pushed him against the wall, telling his son he would never do that again.  The principal (who was rumored to have been a kid-gloves champion several years earlier) pulled the father off the boy.  The father was so strong the 12” thick brick and mortar wall shook and terrified the secretaries in the next room.

Not only did that make a difference to the young man; it sure impressed everyone of us students! 

I don’t think we should use corporal punishment with young children.  However, young adults and older, like the young man who desecrated the Eucharist, are another matter.  Reasoning with him was probably not going to work.

Love your take on the event, Mr. Archbold. The Catholic Church is the church of chivalry, where men defend innocent victims—in this case the Victim.

Bravo for the Priest! 

I was once at Mass when a Mother/Son went up to receive the Eucharist.  It appeared to me that they weren’t Catholic, though I didn’t know for sure.  The boy was probably 6 or 7 and the Priest wasn’t sure if he should receive.  The mother signaled to the Priest that he could.  The Mother/Son came back to the pew, and the boy, after receiving the Eucharist in his hand, began the sit there and play with it.  I watched for about 20 seconds and as time went on, I became filled with righteous indignation.

That is not simply a piece of bread, IT IS JESUS HIMSELF.  Defend him, we must!

I did something completely uncharacteristic, I went over to the woman and informed her (quietly afterall it was just after communion), “Ma’am he needs to consume that or you do. It is not okay for him to play with it.”  She looked at me like it was none of my business.  Then, the boy consumed it. 

Promptly after that, she stormed out with her son in tow. 

If she would have stuck around after Mass I would have discussed it further with her—hoping to educate or enlighten her.  I am sure she left feeling like Catholics are truly un-welcoming.  However, I would offer that it was she that was presumptuous.  If I went to another church for service, I surely wouldn’t receive communion—not having an understanding of their beliefs, etc.  Our culture is an entitlement culture, and I’m sure she felt like since she was there, she was entitled to communion.

The reason for my courage?  The Holy Spirit.  I am sure the same is true for this priest.

Defend Jesus, we must, sometimes with unwelcoming words or actions.

The young man may be ignorant When the parents do not take interest in the religious teaching of their children, they grow in ignorance One who believes that the host is not a piece of wafer, but the real body of Christ, will never do such a blaspheny Present day parents and even some priesrs do not take religion seriously as they are all surrounded by the materialist and pleasure culture. Let us parents teach our children our religion.

What I think about this is truly unimportant.  But Jesus said we must turn the other check.  Then Jesus showed us how to do it during His passion and death.  If this young man had done this 2000 years ago, Jesus would have loved him, let him beat Him, and even died in hopes of saving Him. 

However, since I do not know all the facts and circumstances, the Spanish priest may have had some extenuating circumstances that might explain his behavior.  But it is hard to understand it.

Matthew A. Siekierski: You may be right. I’ll leave legal implications to those better equipped to discuss them.
 
Steve: If someone slapped the priest’s face, I would expect him to turn the other cheek. If someone accosted a priest trying to forcibly take the Eucharist from him in order to desecrate it, I think the best response would be that of St. Tarcisius, defending the Eucharist without striking back.
 
When it comes to a communicant desecrating the Blessed Sacrament, though, I think the question Jesus would have us ask is: What is best for the person’s soul? A slap to the face is widely recognized as a sign that one has committed an egregious act of disrespect. It is a direct appeal from the emotions to the emotions; rather than talking things over, it says “This is something you shouldn’t even have to think about. It should be unthinkable.” This could well be the best thing for the young man’s soul, and in that case I think it is in keeping with Jesus’ will.

Steve,

Jesus did not “turn the other cheek” when the money changers made the temple a market place.

Jesus used force to make His point.  It was THAT important.

As a parent I have said to my children many times “I love you too much to allow you to behave that way.”

We correct those we love.

‘The priest slapped the young man across the face and dragged him from the Church and loudly pronounced him a “blasphemer.”
There are different schools of thought on this.  Some will undoubtedly say that the priest should have counseled the young man on exactly what is wrong with what he did.’

Sounds to me like the Priest did counsel the sinner.

Our Lady of Good Counsel - reward that Priest in Heaven!

Really Christ-like behavior. You should all be quite proud. Don’t you have some pedophiles to protect instead of hitting the suckers that still believe in your middle eastern bed time stories?

I mean if you want to love Jesus that’s fine but I think the one true god can defend himself. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, and just because you’re a priest doesn’t mean you aren’t a sinner.

As to the larger question the writer raises, in grade school, I had the Dominican nuns and if a nun got it in for you, you were personna non grata for a full school year.  In high school, I had the Christian Brothers.  A brother would slap you or smack you, but the next day, you’d start out with a clean slate with him.  I much preferred the Brothers.

“Don’t you have some pedophiles to protect instead of hitting the suckers that still believe in your middle eastern bed time stories? “

So much bigotry in one sentence.  Can’t you feel the love?

I would have been disowned. My bags would have been packed and I would have been shipped out. I think the priest did correctly with the slap. One of the problems facing parents is the government taking away parental rights. To me this falls in that line. The priest is the spiritual father and sometimes a quickly delivered simple punishment is better and more effective than any “Now Johnny, do you know why it was wrong to…” bs speach from anyone. We always laughed behind the backs of those people. Swift punishment, not always corporal mind you, but swift and direct was always more accurate. Wishy washy sing song speaches are a joke. Action and consequence works best. If you do A then you have to endure B.

The Sisters tolerated absolutely nil, nor my parents. I was slammed on the head with a book b/c a student at a desk next to mine hadn’t done her homework…never moved a muscle, said nothing to my parents…just took 2 asprin.  I’m making light of my experience, but as another pointed out very wisely, today this could lead to legal action. 
Why has respect nearly disappeared?

Two things regarding the slap. First, Spanish culture is Latin culture and Latin culture has its macho thing. Second, any man worth his salt knows what to expect from another guy when you deliberatly offend and attack someone he loves. And, what kind of guy can’t take a slap when you know you did something to deserve it.

Another two points in general. Pacifist philosophy is a moral evil. Christ and His Church has taught this since the beginning. Not only should the man who committed the act of desecration have been slapped but he should have been arrested and had the book thrown at him.

This Sunday my daughter saw a young boy of about 12 remove the Eucharist from his mouth.  She approached and said sternly.  Put It back.  He immediately did so.  If she had not seen him who knows what would have happened.  She is a no nonsense young woman who I am very proud of.  I don’t want to know what would have happened if he didn’t comply with her wishes.  Yes.  There are those of us out there who are willing to defend our Lord in His most vulnerable state and I raised one of them.  Nothing can replace corporal punishment.

Put me in with the slapping crowd.
As far as liturgical preferences, it’s far easier to desecrate the host (check youtube for videos) if you can walk out of the Church with the Host in your hand. Yes, folks could spit it out (and I’m all for consequences here), but some of the desecration is more difficult if communion on the tongue is the only way to receive.
When my daughter and I attended Mass at Penn State a few years ago, we saw a young man try to leave with the host. We stopped him in the aisle, and he pretended to consume the host but put it in his pocket. Sadly the priest did not seem to care much when informed. I have no idea why the young man wanted to leave with the host—Frat pledge prank? Something worse? But suffice to say, this sort of thing is all too common and I only wish we had more priests like the one in Spain.

Good for the priest. There is an epidemic of Eucharistic desecration going on. I constantly hear stories of the Host being thrown on the floor or slipped inside the missals. Seriously, communion in the hand has been an unmitigated disaster. Restore the alter rails and make communion on the tongue mandatory. Bring a sense of reverence and respect back. Also, enforce a dress code for crying-out-loud, I’m tired of seeing flip-flops and daisy dukes at mass.  Enough of this nonsense.

In my Anglo-Catholic parish, we kneel and the rail and receive both elements at the hands of the priest and on the tongue. We do not have “in the hand” problems.

I don’t have a problem with this. I doubt this priest makes a habit of hitting kids. This was a righteous anger, spontaneous in the moment.
Being harshly disciplined here is better than being harshly disciplined later in hell when it is too late to repent.

A real man of God, I must say!  Viva el padre!  The analogy of the temple merchants is a good one.  Yet, it was just the HOUSE of the Father.  IT is not just a symbol representing the LORD, IT IS THE LORD!  Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!

To Steven, When the Jewish Temple was being desecrated by the selling of goods, did not our Dear Lord have righteous anger and turned the tables as well as using a wip to drive them out? Our Lady is appearing and her message is one of sadness at the desecration as well as the reception of her son while people are in a state of mortal sin. 
The priest should be commended.  Do you not realize that in certain demonic cults a right of initiation is to desecrate the Eucharist? Funny how the Satan worshippers believe in the Eucharist but only 30% of Catholics do

I recently watched a Deacon in our parish lovingly and carefully clean up a host that had fallen on the ground during Mass.  It was beautiful to see the care with which he performed this act. 

Defend Christ in the Eucharist.  We must.  It is a sign of our faith.  Without works, faith is meaningless.

Awe. Some. I’d do it, too. Fear not what sinfull mortals do: they’re only human beings, destined to croak. Wish we had those kinda priests here. Alas, they’re too thinking whorizontal. Awesome. Now, I guess, the piglets are gonna arrest him for violating his civil-liberty, as if the powers of church/state have no control anymore. I guess that’s why the Trinity made the Abyss: only 2 realms after our demise… and 1 of ‘em ain’t too cool.

The young man knew exactly what he was doing.  That is why he did it.  The priest has my support, the problem today is there isn’t enough corporal punishment administered as needed.

The young man knew what he was doing and he intended to offend.  The slap is what he deserved and what we need as Catholics to show our defense of our Lord’s body.  The act of calling him a blasphemer was an accurate assessment of his mind.  God bless the brave priest. It is not bread, it is our Lord’s body, the same body that suffered on the cross for us, the same body that opened the gates of Heaven for us.
We must stand up in many ways.  This act was one of them. Just like we care for the poor, the homeless, the sick and dying as we stand with Jesus.

Bravo to Fr. Jimeno. If I had the money I’d fly out to his Church every Sunday and make it my home parish.

Stop Communion on the hand!  I’ve seen too many people take Holy Communion back to their pew.  This has been going on for years.  The Novus Ordo is a terrible anxiety ridden experience for me because of this.

The reason we are seeing so much disrespect in all aspects of life is that too many parents didn’t have the guts to smack a kid across the face.
All those who whine and complain about corporal punishment obviously never got any.  Anyone who got a good slap when deserved, rarely if ever had to get slapped twice….at least for that same offense.  I am not inclined to violence, but this particular offense required that slap, and I am heartened to hear that a priest had the sense, and outrage to do what needed to be done.  Its high time we started standing up against these blasphemous acts and respond to them appropriately.

The Body and Blood of Christ must be respected at all times.  Even a demon dare not do what this man did.

The Blessed Sacrament in the hand is one of the biggest blunders made by Vatican 11. I will never watch the disrepect at Communion time. When I have I could not believe it. We have lost respect for the True Presence of
Jesus Christ. There is no more awe. We were taught as young people in grade school the priests hands were the only hands ever to touch the the Blessed Sarament. I served Mass till I was 24, the week before I got married and when I carried the paten if Jesus would drop on that paten my hand would shake. Today we have acting priests running around handing out Jesus Christ like we did as kids with Necco wafers when we played Mass.
We took confession night and made Saturday a Mass of convenience doing away with confession. I guess cofession isn’t necessary anymore, no confessions but one hour on Saturday morning and the whole church goes to Holy Comunion. Hey, I don’t think we would have a problem again kneeling to receive our God or to spend a little more time receiving from the hand of the priest who transformed the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It is scary where we have headed. NO respect. Give me the Nuns who watched your every move and busted you when you needed busted and the parents who you prayed to God were never told of what you might have done wrong. I love it the old way.

Hooray for the priest!  We need all men and women to know when to take a stand and act.  Enough of pc nonsense.

I agree with Alan! If I could afford it I would fly to this church every Sunday and make it my home Parish!

And then there’s St. Mary’s in College Station, Texas, where the pastor asked folks to bring their cell ‘phones to Mass so they could register.  Not on the level of desecration, of course, more like bongos and felt banners.

Preists have a Holy obligation to protect Our Lord in his most Holy vulnerable state… nothing more needs to be said !

Well, what a mixed bag of opinion. I’m not sure what would have happened if I’d disrespected the host but both my parents were firm believers in corporal punishment. So were my teachers. That would have been all well and good except I got smacked when I had done nothing wrong. Worse, my father used to smack me for crying, when the reason was that he had belted me in the first place. Then he’d say, “Now shut up for Christ’s sake, or I’ll smack you again”. This made me angry enough to wish out loud that he was dead, but as you may imagine, that got me into double trouble because Mum and Gran were too dumb, stupid and pissed to understand or accept that my lowlife father brought it on himself. Seriously, how can one keep the 4th and 5th commandments when one’s father won’t keep the 2nd or the 9th?

I think it might have been too rash a bit…....BUT…... This kid will always remember this and one day might even become a priest. Especially when he realizes his offense! Never doubt God! Sadly, we as a nation need a little wake up call (like a smack). We are so spoiled and need to be set straight and not coddled!

That might be true. By the way, I hope no-one got the wrong idea about my dad, he’s not that bad really, although by his admission he’s not very religious.

I think things have gone to far in the direction of too much tolerance. I say that because I have a dear friend who goes to the Episcopal Church with another friend….and sawthis friend of hers take the host and stick it under the pew. Now…my friend is TOO tolerant of that lady….and just hopes and prays she won’t do it again. Well….things are swinging back in the direction of using our common sense and standing up to things that are obviously wrong…as best we can. I could never watch my friend do that…without lovingly confronting her and laying down the law…meaning…..you do it again and I’m going to the Priest. That’s all.

Sometime when one is empowered by the Holy Spirit neither law, ethics, manners, politically correct behavior, shyness or embarressment will stop what God has intended for the accountablity of someone’s actions. Just look at St. Paul when he was struck from his horse. In God’s eyes it’s possible that this priest was just doing his job with a swift approval from the Holy Spirit. Who said that the Holy Spirit was meek. This priest was called and trained well by God. As for man, we are the weak and will think what we will. Even the priest may suffer the consequences for what God has encouraged him to do in this horrid case. Take up for Jesus, it may be your last chance.

Was the person that did this a “young man”....or “youngster”? There is a big difference and to use both is a bit manipulative…to me.

One last thing….it is so wonderful to know there is a Catholic Priest left in this world that does not need a backbone transplant!

There is very little belief in the Real Presence any more and this is the result. Watered down Roman Catholicism as a result of the 1960s “liturgists” and the lies taught about the “reforms” (reforms? give me the un-reformed!) of Vatican II.

Why do you think the Orthodox won’t re-unite with Rome? Have you ever saw how they receive Holy Communion????

The smoke of Satan has entered into the Church.

Before closing down for the night….I would like to know how the Othodox receive Holy Communion. Is it with a spoon?

Jewells - Good guess! What is your point?

SuzyCCC:<<<<I recently watched a Deacon in our parish lovingly and carefully clean up a host that had fallen on the ground during Mass.  It was beautiful to see the care with which he performed this act. 

Defend Christ in the Eucharist.  We must.  It is a sign of our faith.  Without works, faith is meaningless.
>>>

Amen SuzyCCC!  I recently posted this same anecdote on WDTPRS…but it fits:  A Chaldean Christian lady explained to me not long ago that from her tradition she could never touch the Holy Eucharist and if a priest dropped a Host that he would get down and lick It from the floor!

It is as you say:  We must act as if we believe!
kneelingcatholic.blogspot.com

Well Done Father,
the Holy such as St. Padre Pio have the same abhorrence for this,“Blasphemy of Blasphemies”.
I pray the shock of a public reprimanding due to the gravity of this great sin will cause this male and all others who read this; to ponder anew just Who they are receiving with such irreverance and disrepect.

Just think…the Lord loves us so much that He exposes Himself DAILY to being crucified all over again through these blasphemies…just to be with us! Just think about that and your reverance for the Holy Eucharist will increase each time you receive Him! Be an example to other communicants in the reverance of your reception of Holy Communion. As St. Francis had said, “Preach the gospel and, if necessary, use words!”

I am not a priest, and I have never personally witnessed someone disrespect our Lord that way.  I pray I never do because that person’s teeth will rattle the same way this kid’s did. Confirmation makes us soldiers of Christ, and that holy sacrament fills us with the grace of the Holy Ghost to defend the outrages and sacrileges against God, as in this case. I am so heartened to know that there are many Catholics who are willing to rise up and stand by this blessed priest.  May the holy mother of God, whose birthday we celebrate on September 8th, obtain for us the graces necessary to defend the Church against the onslaught of the devil.

Here is another (more disturbing) account of the incident from a Spanish news agency:  http://www.thereader.es/en/spain-news-stories/4442-Vicar-punches-congregation-member-over-blasphemous-actions.html

When I was a freshman at a local christian high school, I mouthed off in a very disrespectful tone to my religion teacher during class. He then asked me if I thought I was being funny. I stood up and hollered belligerantly, “yes!” He then came over to me and proceeded to wring my neck, asking me if I thought I was funny….I quickly changed my stance: “no!” This became what I remember, the real first day of my truly paying attention to the seriousness of our faith…that Franciscan brother taught me respect….With that said, I’m glad that the priest in Valencia made an example of the young man. Sometimes, good old fashioned corporal apologetics work quite well!

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!!!!

Let’s not have double standards or trying to be ‘politically correct’
madness and hypocrisy. If someone were to abuse the President or Queen or any Head of State, do you logically expect no repercussion?
Our Lord is the King of Kings & Lord of Lords with nobody guards, etc.
Is a slap really enough, and the priest be charged for showing his love and respect for Our Lord and also fulfilling his duties?
Those who think differently and condone the act of that idiot, need to have their mind scrutinized and examined.
In my Asian culture and upbringing, I strongly belief that when you spare
the rod, you’ll spoil that child permanently and there will be more troubles and problems in his adulthood.  Unfortunately governments have taken parental/teachers rights to discipline their children when young.

Thank you, Father,  for defending the Holy Eucharist!!  God bless you for being fearless.  The Catholic Church needs Priests like you with backbone to defend the Holy Eucharist against desecration.  As Pope Paul VI said: “The smoke of satan has entered the Church.”  If you have seen programs on TV España you KNOW the smoke of satan has infiltrated Spain, unfortunately.  Sadly, also England…..Cuba….Mexico….. Scotland….and….

The Priest should have given him a kick in the a** as well.

Such an offense against Christ is beyond the pale of any morality. Once I had to endure a person dropping the host on the floor, and the extraordinary minister then ( after host picked-up) placing her foot where the host landed. I ceased attending that church-parish. Another person( same church ) decided a Pyx could be a used powder compact with a sticker of Mary on it. No class at all.

Re. the above comment: “Don’t you have some pedophiles to protect instead of hitting the suckers that still believe in your middle eastern bed time stories? “

As the good bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska said concerning the homosexual abuse of young men (call it what it really is, it was not pedophilia). “It gives one pause to use a baseball bat or a shotgun.”

The effect is the same, no more abuse.

I suggest you read the Good Friday sermon by the Papal Preacher. Fr Cantalmessa. He spoke about the archaic root of primitive violence which was nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ. He was the final sacrifice of atonement against the shedding of blood to appease God. God accepted this final act thereby freeing man from violence and death. With this being said, why would anyone think that an act of violence against another, being a slap or any other assault upon a person is an answer?

I heartily agree with the priest’s action, too much disrespect anymore in church, it is about time someone did something! And I agree with the above poster about the kick in the behind too!

As an old time server, and still serving 46 years later, I have never seen anything like this before, I have served over 24,000 masses, but I believe that we go back, or maybe I should say a respective way to recieve Holy Communion at the communion rail. I blaine many priests who has told me, “oh I hate to do the tongue thing, oh I hate to have my fingers touch a wet tongue”. Give me a back, many priests are just lazy and don’t give a darn what they are doing. there are too many Lay extarordinary people giving Holy Communion too. see how they are dressed, in shorst, sandles, t-shirts, the priest should say something about that too, no respect on who is handling Christ, that too is a sin. I remember when only the priest gave Holy Communion out, what is it with all the lay people giving it out too. Are we in a race to leave mass!!! I believe in the Latin Mass and I would never go to a Novus Ordo mass again, too much playing around there for me, Oh and see how the people come to recieve Our Loard too, shorts, haltertop, they look like they are going to a picnic, please give me the Latin Mass any day.

A wonderful Priest.  How The Eucharist has been desecrated for several years.  Lay people handing out the Eucharist & dressed inappropiately many looking as their next stop is the beach.  We have lacked Cathechesis in Diocesan Catholic Schools.Carol

Sounds like we went to the same High School. Mine was St.Anthony’s in Smithtown,N.Y ,CLASS OF ‘66

I agree with what the priest did. Our loyalty to our dear Lord requires an act so swift as that of the priest. We must never hold back when it comes to defending Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament. After all, He died for us and did not think twice to do it for love of us. The priest loved that young man and if he hadn’t done what he did this poor soul could be damned in hell forever and the priest would have been responsible for the young man’s eternal demise. I shall pray that all catholics start receiving Jesus in the tongue and while He rests in the tongue we could tell Him how we love Him as we walk back to the pews. Receiving Jesus in the state of grace is more than winning the lotto jackpot. Why we are practically ushered into heaven each time we receive Jesus worthily in Communion! I pray for all those priests who have given me Communions in my lifetime (am 70 yrs old) and I praise God for all the men who have answered this holy call in life to help bring us to heaven. God bless the uncowardly…..

I appreciate his passion for the Eucharist, but I don’t recall Jesus backhanding anyone on the cross.

I think Jesus threw quite a hissy fit in the Temple for a very similar reason and he was not gentle about it at all.

I think Jesus threw quite a hissy fit in the Temple for a very similar reason and he was not gentle at all.

I agree w/ you wholeheartedly Pat. I’ve been slapped by nuns and yes, I had it coming to me and I, too did not repeat whatever behavior that got me that deserving slap. AND I didn’t go home crying to my Mom & Dad ... I would have gotten NO SYMPATHY.

When my children were in school, I wasn’t opposed to this type of correction and think it’d be fine for my grandchildren.

I have started lately to watch the kids in my church after they receive.  Usually I witness mild disrespect ( “mild” because the kids have no idea what they are doing).  I have also seen kids remove the Eucharist from their mouths, and not place the host in their mouth…etc (to which, I took appropriate action). I’m not sure if my watchdog mentality is the correct attitude or if I should remain in prayer…...
I think that we can’t leave this discipline to preists….the good ones are under attack for everything that they do.  Becoming physical should be left to parents and parishioners with sound judgement.  Jesus wasn’t slapping and punching his torturers…..He might have approved of the apostles taking a little action though!.....tough call

THE VICAR DID KICK HIS A—!
 
       
Vicar punches congregation member over ‘blasphemous’ actions
By: thinkSPAIN , Tuesday, September 7, 2010

A VICAR in the sleepy village of Ròtova (Valencia) caused a stir during mass when he became involved in a punch-up with a local resident in the aisle.

Víctor Jimeno, parish vicar for the Divina Aurora church, lost his rag when Rubén Costa, one of the organisers of the patron saint fiestas currently being celebrated, took the ‘bread’ out of his mouth during the service and broke it up in front of the vicar and trod it into the ground.

This act of blasphemy – as well as causing jaws to drop among the congregation – was too much for Pastor Jimeno, who punched Costa in the face.

Costa responded by belting him back, leading to a full-scale fist-fight by the altar.

According to witnesses, the fight ended when the vicar kicked the offender’s backside.

But the entire fiesta commission was thrown out of the church to cries of, “heathens!” from the vicar, who then apologised to the rest of the congregation.

“The vicar reprimanded him, saying he had torn up the body of Christ, or something like that,” says one boy in the crowd.

Víctor Jimeno was so badly affected by the incident that he had to be treated in hospital for shock, and the following day’s holy communion – on Sunday – was taken by another vicar.

In my case it would have been a Dominican nun together with a priest and then my parents. As a DRE I had an occasion to clean up after and chastize a teenager who was distributing the Precious Blood and was giggling so hard she spilled a portion of the cup. I immediately wiped up the floor and took over distribution. After Mass, she and I had a long discussion as to whether she was prepared to handle this duty and a research paper was assigned to instill the lesson. The girl is now in the convent. A slap will get attention and maybe do the job but sometimes knowing why something is terribly wrong is just as effective and maybe more so.

The problem for me and people hitting my children is:  Do I trust the goodness and judgement of the people in charge of my children?  The answer is often in the negative. 

I have witnessed teachers lie to get children they do not like in trouble.  I have witnessed a Dean of a High School who had proff of teacher misconduct towards children in a classroom, yet he run cover for the offending staff so he would not have to deal with and confront the adults involved.  It was easier to let the corruption stand and hurt the children rather than act as a moral leader.

So, no, I do not trust a blanket permission of violence against children by people I do not know.

I fully agree that people need to be taught to respect the precious body and blood of our Lord when they receive it.  I personally receive on the tongue, and I have taught my children (pre-communion ages) to ALWAYS bow at the cup as they pass by after receiving their blessing.

My question is:  where do we draw the line? After we receive communion, are we not supposed to go back to our pews, kneel and pray?  I am certainly not advocating EVER turning a “blind eye”, but I don’t want to feel like (or have others feel like) I am acting as an enforcer to ensure that everyone treats the Host with respect.

Just as an aside, about 10 years ago I witnessed someone regularly receiving the Host and “splitting it in half” with his very young child.  I did approach the priest about this, and although he didn’t seem overly concerened, it was dealt with, because I never witnessed this again.  I still don’t believe the priest we had back then took it very seriously, and this is exactly why we have the problems we do today; there is NOT ENOUGH being taught about WHO and what we are receiving!

He should have been not only slapped, but beaten severely. This applies to also to all those who have pushed the corruption of Vatican II.

There is such a thing as righteous indignation.  Christ displayed it to the money changers at the temple.  If he became outraged at the deliberate desecration of His Father’s house, then why should we not become outraged at the deliberate desecration of that which is Our Lord’s body, blood, soul and divinity!  Those who decry its efficacy are invited to study our faith more so that they may have understanding instead of passing judgement from an uninformed position.  May this bold act draw us all closer in mercy and love for the Blessed Sacrament and one another.  (In response to the remark about pedophiles, we pray for our Separated Brethren and that they may know their denominations number approximately 45,000.  It is far more difficult to discover evildoers among them and bring them to justice from 45,000 groups, especially the transient ones.  The Roman Catholic Church has had a program in place for a number of years called VIRTUS to prevent ANY type of abuse FROM ANY ADULT coming into contact with children at school and at church.)  At certain times, the Eucharist can bleed on its own or from mishandling; either is a Eucharistic miracle.  This has been documented, not necessarily by the Church but from, medical communities who have also taken samples of a bleeding Host only to discover heart tissue and a common Middle Eastern blood type.  Christ said, “This is my body; this is my blood….”  It does not get any clearer than that.  This is why the Catholic Church protects the consecrated Host, has strict prescribed methods of handling/receptacles, who receives it and how it is received.  People have even been healed by partaking of Our Lord.  This is the source and summit of our faith.  “Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of time.”

Sometimes, the liberal pastors should have a seminar on the liturgies and Rites of the Roman Catholic Church. During the transposition of the Eucharist to the tabernacle, we have someone ringing the bell to announce that the Blessed Sacrament is passing by. Someone joked and sang Jingle bells, jingle bells. The pastor( a priest for over 25 years) and the deacon laughed. My facial expression indicated disapproval and the pastor reminded me that HE is the pastor , it is up to him to teach,” I am compassionate”. At funeral masses, he tells the congregation do what is convenient, sit stand or kneel as they wish during the CONSECRATION.
  I was an extraordinary minister of Holy communion and finding the consecrated host left on the altar or on the floor several times, I brought it to the attention. I stopped being one rather than be part of the abominations.

The priest was wrong to slap the young man in the face, and Brother Gabriel was also wrong to slap you. Violence solves nothing, I know people today who hate nun and priests because of the abuse afflicted on them in Catholic schools

GOOD ON THE PRIEST!

That young man who desecrated the Eucharistic Heart of JESUS, should be EXCOMMUNICATED. IF the young man has no faith in JESUS why the heck did he went up and receive holy communion for????

I am so grateful to have read this article and the comments.  I have learned a bit about the receiving of the Holy Eucharist from the time before it became less sacred.  I admittedly, did not understand the consecration to it’s fullest as a young lady, and now, I am trying to explain this miracle to my young son.  When I was younger, and still to many around me, it seems to have become “routine”  when receiving the Sacred Body and Precious Blood is anything but.  God bless Vicar Victor for his instict to protect our Lord.  Maybe It was right, maybe not, but he acted.  (I would have beat the stuffing out of that boy!) To the person who insulted our faith, the never straying faith of Christ, by straying from the point and picking at an old wound that hurts all Catholics, If you don’t understand our beliefs, you can’t preach on them.  Stay out of it.

Need more priests like him.

We need more priests and other kinds of leaders like this. Like the Gov. of Arizona and that sherrif too!

The protestant grandchild of someone being received into the Catholic Church presented herself at Communion, then took the Host back to her seat where she sat playing with it.  Without a word, I reached over, took it from her and consumed it.

This is what the United States lacks ... disciplining the children. Because of the lack of discipline and too much time out, they have become disrepectful, defiant and are quick to say “you can’t slap me”!.

We REALLY do need more priests, leaders and parents like this.

God bless us all.

Yes indeed. I remember THE time I sassed my father, I was maybe 6 or 7 or so, maybe older. After I picked myself off the floor I have since remembered that single occasion I ever sassed him. My introduction to having reached the age of reason.

On the other hand, my eldest (of four daughters) sassed and was the personification of insolence. Being the eldest, and protected and favored by their most permissive of mothers, the poison of course spread to her sisters, and now all share apostasy, and a family broken by divorce, civil and Catholic (annulment). Discipline matters.

Sara, you said “The problem for me and people hitting my children is:  Do I trust the goodness and judgement of the people in charge of my children?”

I think some clarification would be helpfull.  I don’t think anyone here is in favor of “people hitting thier children,” unless of course their child willfully desecrates the Eucharist.

The person slapped in this article was a “young man.”

All the references to being hit by Nuns and Brothers comes from a time when ALL SCHOOL teachers (secular or Catholic) used corporal punishment as a means of discipline.

My own humble opinion is this, I would agree that there are some people who have a violent temperment, and are abusive.(They should not be working with children anyway!)  But for most people who can remain professional, the punishment must fit the crime, and there is a time and place for a well deserved spank.  Dr. Dobson always said the the time for a spank, was when the child knows the rules, intentionally breaks one, stares you in the eye, and basically says “what are you going to do about it?”

Here is another account of the story from InfoCatolica summarized for me by Fr. Sotelo at the related post on Fr. Z’s blog

...

<<Fr_Sotelo says:

Diane:

I went to the link you posted and read everything in the original Spanish. This is what happened. Last Saturday, Fr. Victor Jimeno, pastor of the town of Rotova, Spain, offered Mass for the patronal feast of the town. Some young people came to Mass, one of whom had no idea what was going on. When this guy’s buddies got up to go to Communion, he went up also. Not realizing what the Host was, he took it out of his mouth and tossed it on the ground.

The parishioners witnessed this. The article doesn’t say it, but it would be customer in Spain for the faithful to retrieve the Host and consume Him on the spot. They waited for Mass to end and reported to Fr. Jimeno what happened. Then they showed the priest where the young guys were sitting and who it was they believed to have tossed the Host.

Fr. Jimeno yelled at the kid that he was a blasphemer and slapped him. It is reported that the wrong young man was slapped; feeling indignant since he hadn’t done anything, he punched the priest for slapping him. Then the priest kicked him in the hind quarters and tossed him out of church, by which time all the parishioners had filed out as well.

On Monday, the parents of the young man who had actually tossed the Host, but was not slapped, met with the pastor, the mayor, and everyone made their peace with each other and agreed to put the incident behind them. They do not want to publicize the name of the young person who was actually guilty of causing this problem.

Fr. Jimeno, meanwhile, after contacting the Archdiocese of Valencia, conducted or will soon conduct a special service of reparation for the sacrilege which was committed.

Posted on September 7th, 2010

I cannot believe how many people here endorse violence. Assault charges should be filed against this priest, as they should have been against Brother Gabriel.

Doesnt anyone posting here and agreeing with the author read the Bible? Did Jesus defend himself with violence? Did Jesus order, “Draw your swords and fight for me?”

You can have the opinion that using violence is the right thing to do. That opinion makes you unChristian.

Main points of the story above…

- it involved a 21 year old man, not a boy. He was apparently visiting and ignorant. He went up for Communion with his buddies (who perhaps neglected to tell him not to present himself if they knew he didn’t know what was going on.)

- it did not happen immediately, and Father did not witness it. Others told him whom they thought did it.

- the wrong guy was smacked. The article states that the offender met with the priest and the mayor.

Patrica Fisher, you said ” chastize a teenager who was distributing the Precious Blood and was giggling so hard she spilled a portion of the cup.  After Mass, she and I had a long discussion as to whether she was prepared to handle this duty and a research paper was assigned to instill the lesson. The girl is now in the convent. A slap will get attention and maybe do the job but sometimes knowing why something is terribly wrong is just as effective and maybe more so.”

I think you handled the situation with the young girl perfectly.

The difference between her and the young man, is that she (through immaturity, I would imagine,) started giggling so hard she ACCIDENTLY spilled the precious blood.  The young man, on the other hand took the Eucharist, and THREW it on the floor.  An INTENTIONAL act of dessicration.  He deserved the slap, she did not.

Here is a link to Fr. Sotelo’s summary from the Spanish InfoCatolica news source (scroll up and down for Fr. Z’s post and probably over 100 comments by now.

Oops ... Forgot link…

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/09/ncreg-priest-slaps-young-man-for-desecrating-eucharist/?nomobile#comment-222937

Good for that Priest!!! I beleive that we should recieve on the tongue, kneeling! Where I live I feel like I’m the only person that recieves on the tongue. They don’t teach the kids either, they don’t even offer that option, to learn how to recieve on the tongue. Who did away with that altogether?

Bravo for the priest! Kick his a** C-bass!!!

There is an INDULT which ALLOWS communion in the hand because at the time catholics in the US were given it that way disobediently, since the indult priests have never clarified that the NORM is on the tongue.

For those who don’t understand the mass, please listen to Father Larry Richard’s sermon on The Mass Explained as well as the sermon on Confession.  Can be obtained for $1.00 for postage from the Mary Foundation.  Will open one’s eyes to the mass as prefigured in the Old Testament as well as to the seriousness of sin.

In total agreement with the priest!

Bender was making the point that this situation does not “necessarily” point towards a certain liturgical preference as receiving the Eucharist. Norm vs Indult. The question is not on the tongue or on the hand, but whether He is received in the Heart. Without heart reception, neither tongue nor hand make a difference. Pious action without the movement of the Holy Spirit in the heart simply Law. As I am sure you are familiar, Christ condemned the pious who had no life within them.
No offense to those who choose a certain way of receiving. I am sure we all agree.

The youngster got exactly what he should have! Some people have to learn the hard way.  That’s just the way it is.

I’m so proud to hear that a priest took such immediate and combatant action.  He is a foot soldier for Christ and he not only represented those words but showed them in a timely fashion.

Viva Espana! They’re not wusses about hitting folks when they need it. The boy deserved it.Thank God for that.
You know St. Nicholas got so angry at a heretic during one of the early church councils that he slapped some sense into him.

I was smacked on the bottom as a kid when I needed it, and have suffered no damage. Wish some of the parents in my parish would do the same.

I am completely with you slap away.  I don’t agree with wimpy strategies and I think that nowadays we are far too soft and tolerate too much disrespect.  I commend the priest, had he not done it and I was there, I probably would have done it for him.

Maybe I’m wrong….but when Glenn Beck said we need to hit our knees at least twice a day and ask God to raise up strong leaders for us again….maybe we are seeing the prayer answered. Even with the gov. of Arizona and that sherriff….and I wonder who else will be raised up to lead our nation and protect our values. I’m Catholic…but I sure think Glenn Beck has also been an answer to the prayers of Amricans that have been woried for years.

I recall a couple of stories about my Father. He was an Irish man who fought in the English army against Romul during WWII in Africa. And, he rarely talked about it. He later immigrated to America. While working in a plant, there was a big man who was verbally attacking the pope. He ended up getting into a fight with this man, who reportedly was much bigger than he.

I always grin at that one because his approach was not what Jesus would teach, and I’m sure he chewed on that humility for awhile later. But, I think he got sick of the abuses happening at that time as well as the many attacks on the Church and just reacted. He never mentioned it to me, I heard it from my mom. I often wonder if he left an impression on the man he fought with for verbally attacking the pope, however misgiuded his actions were.

He was later a member of the Legion of Mary in the local parish. And, was a Democrat until abortion became legal. He seemed to be more deeply hurt by abortion than anything in his life, and would say the Rosary daily.

Anyway, He was in the basement of a church on one occassion in the 70s and a young priest was having a discussion with parishoners. Somehow, the discussion turned to birth control and the young priest buckled a bit under the overwhelming support of popular parishoners who were saying there was nothing wrong with it. He immediately stood up and gave the priest a verbal lashing, saying what he was affiring was against Church teaching, and I believe he was ostricized from that point on by some of the parishoners. They tried to shout him down with threats. He ended up leaving but gave them all an earful on the way out. This is at least how I heard this story sometime later, though I wasn’t there.

I happened to see the priest many years later in another parish and he is now a very spiritual bishop who is a public-leading pro-life supporter. And, an ardent supporter of Perpetual Eucharist Adoration. Granted, this probably had little to do with my Dad and that night, but only God knows, there don’t seem to be too many that speak about the evils of abortion from the pulpit much anymore, at least where I live.

As a war veteran, he was not much for showing his gentle side, he had witnessed too much evil - the one word that would describe him is fierce. But, when it came to Our Lord and the Virgin Mary he was just a creme-puff.  He was tough on me and my siblings, but as I later realized, fair. It was only later in his life that I told him that I loved him, probably because of me needing to grow up, but I sure meant it. And, as he has been gone these 20 years, his example is strong and lives on, and I could sure use his help now with my teen-age son.

The moral of the story I think is that God does not discriminate on tough versus gentle love. He uses both to save souls, taking different paths, because he sees the big picture and how our lives will take shape. He plants seeds though example early on and then uses them later to teach. Perhaps, this courageous action of this priest will do the same. Time will tell.

We have no idea of the young man’s state of mind was.  What may appear to be an “admireable” act may not have been so on a closer look.  People don’t ordinarily take communion and spit it out.  There’s more to this story than meets the eye….

Sounds like his buddy who later got slapped by mistake had no problem punching the priest back. I wonder what his state of mind was.

... geeeeezzzz.. it was something to think about for us youngsters… maybe we’re really going beyond the morals of our church… sin, these days, had become part of the youth’s culture——because everyone is doing it…. let us pray for the youth of today…

We need more of that today.  Talking to some people just doesn’t make a difference sometimes.  I went to Catholic school as a youngster and believe me, the Nuns didn’t have a problem getting your attention.  I am a believer in not sparing the rod.  An occasional slap will let someone know you are serious.  This generation has had it too easy.  Bravo to this priest.

Well done Father.
There’s too much ‘politically correct’ nonsense about not using corporal punishment let alone a slap. God commands children and young people be physically chastised and a wayward believer who sins against Our Saviour, if he were not punished by Our Lord, would not be one of his children. When people touched the Ark of the Covenant, even accidently,they were struck dead by God and those who received the Blessed Sacrament irreverently were punished by sickness and even death
(1 Cor:11.27-32). The consecrated Host is the BODY of the incarnate God, Jesus Christ Himself,no matter what liberals and heretics say. If I had may if this was a deliberate action this man would be in prison. Brian Gregory

I hope this will be lesson learned by the young guy who thrown the Body of Christ during the communion. Experiencing that kind of reaction from the priest will take an impact..that radical action seems really serious!

I pray for that young man.

Catholic….the stories about your dad bring tears to my eyes and oh how we so desperately need men like him in America now. We must pray for that and for leaders like him as well. I feel inspired to pray the rosary every day as he did. I wish I had known him….God rest his soul.

Communion on the tongue. I agree the priest acted correctly. This kind of behavior can not continue!

someone my want to inform the dope he excommunicated himself….........

Where I stand - excommunicate the culprit. The priest’s actions causes him to lose dignity - both personally and officially.

On a related note, my pastor says, “The Lord can take care of Himself.” The context was during my son’s first communion and the concern over the particles that are comprised when receiving Holy Communion by the hand. IMHO - the Lord can indeed take care of Himself, but we as stewards of His immense mystery must do due diligence to prevent sacrilege and to encourage devotion. So, maybe have a communion police to watch the communicants consume the sacred species?

GOOD FOR THE PRIEST.POPE PAULS MEMORIALE DOMINI NEVER LEGALIZED COMMUNOION IN THE HAND.MY QUESTION IS WHY IS JESUS SO ALONE EVRERY DAY IN THE TABERNACLE OR IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT.IF JESUS APPEARED TO THE SIGHT THE CHURCHS WOULD BE PACKED 24-7 TO PRAY FOR ALL THE SACRALEDGES THROUGH OUT THE WORLD.SOME PRIEST WONT TEACH BECOUSE OF THE MONEY BASKET.I AM GIVEN THE GRACE TO KNELLING AND ON THE TOUNGE.ONE PRIEST WHI IS IN 50S TOLD ME I WAS DRAWING ATENTION TO MY SELF I KEEP MY HEAD DOWN GOING BACK TO MY SEAT.I WILL CRAW TO RECIVE JESUS.I KNOW ONE THING THAT JESUS LOVES EVERY ONE HE FORGAVE US ALL FROM THE CROSS

Thanks Jewells, I appreciate your kind words.

God bless the good Padre!

If anyone has any doubts concerning the real culprits behind juvenile delinquince, let them listen to Bishop Fulton Sheen’s words on the subject. Those at fault are the parents that *didn’t* slap this brutish young male every time he needed it growing up. Violating the Most Blessed Sacrament puts this creature’s soul in peril, so a good strike was the best thing the priest could do for him. There are, as Dietrich von Hildebrand put it, ‘charitable anathemas.’

On another and obvious note, if someone had violated a mosque in some way (let’s say…spitting in it), the press would take the side of the Muslims that gave the culprit a good beating (if they stopped at that).

There is a spark of God’s Faith left in Spain after all, and may He strengthen his valiant minister in the coming media hailstorm.

Talk about reverance….or the lack of…I learned so much when I watched these four very short talks on youtube. Google…“Father Donald Kloster the Mass Youtube”...and find those talks. I learned things about our tradition…that I never knew! I was shocked that there is a reason for every little thing that takes place. Watch his talks….he is a great speaker and teacher….and teaches about the TLM in these talks and it is outstanding!

I was slapped by a Nun for talking in line, and just 5 feet from recess outside, however, I even felt like ‘’ I deserved it’’ in a way..I was talking to another! I receive Holy Communion on the tongue..St. Lucia , the FATIMA visionary stated ‘’ when people start taking COMMUNION in the hand , that is the beginning of the downfall of our Church’‘. I am all for descipline against des-respect….the world is sick with Tolerance! Amen.

In no uncertain terms I would have walked up to that priest and said,.......“wait here while I get the bat!!!”
Scientifically proven fact: age 13/14 to 21 the cerebellum is still developing in a child’s brain and the ability to reason right and wrong is foggy. However, a slap gets the attention, does no permanent damage and sticks in the mind for years to come(unlike “Johnny, that was not very nice!)

So, when is some priest going to walk up and slap the Pope for not helping those of us his
policies are destroying by supporting our spouses who violate our marriages, with their,
lovers and are allowed to receive communion?

NEVER, because there are no good priest with such commitment to defend both the
Eucharist AND a valid, sacramental marriage.

Karl,

Just exactly what “policies” does the Holy Father have that you believe allows unfaithful spouses to receive communion?

You are (of course,) 100% dead wrong.

This new fad of Eucharistic desecration is so bad, I just don’t understand it.

Recently I was at mass, and afterwards I looked on the floor and saw White particals on the floor. Upon closer inspection they were parts of the Eucharist deiberately broken up and thrown on the floor, I had no idea what to do! I couldn’t find my parish priest and I wasn’t going to just leave them there to get sucked up in a vaccum cleaner, so I gathered them up in a bit of paper and left them down by a statue of our Lord.

Was that the right thing to do? What would others have done?

After reading the various opinions and comments of many people, it bothers me that some are taking this issue too lightly, as if the good priest was wrong. The Eucharistic Lord, is Holy, there must be absolute respect, reverence and treated with dignity.  There can be no tolerance or compromise in any form just because the Lord is silent and not visible
to deserve any desecration. Let’s not be hypocrites and trying to be politically right with our arguments. When someone utters a negative word against the Prophet Mohammed or Pastor Jones’ attempt to burn the Koran, there was universal condemnation, even proclaiming a jihad against Jones by muslims. Global political leaders enjoined this chorus. I am not condoning this act, but what I want to emphasise is the double standards and the hypocrisy behind this saga. It’s OK for muslims to burn the Bible, attack christian churches, its priests, pastors, religious and the Christian community in Muslim countries, communists countries, and in all countries where Christians are the minority and most unfortunately in Western countries where Christianity is supposed to be the majority. Look at the recent monastery attack on the monks in Eqypt.  There was no outcry, the media didn’t bother to report.  Human rights advocates are silent, etc.  Where there is silence and people turning a blind eye or pretend to be deaf, this will be the downfall of Christianity. It comes down to Catholics being deserved to be treated this way, we need and must be enjoying persecution, humiliation, etc. Come on, be brave and stand up for Christ and stop this carnage of abortion, euthansia, divorces, same sex marriage, ordination of women priests, persecutions, harassment, imprisonment, etc. The 10 commandments and the Magisterium of the Catholic church is treated as garbage. Be counted, don’t be sucked in and be swayed by the majority’s idiosyncracies and stupidities.  Where is our Faith and Trust in God? Being silent when we see and know an act that is wrong is actually commiting a sin of omission. God bless that priest.

Thank you GOD for anyone defending our Lord! Our so called civilized culture has no sense of right or wrong. We should teach our children as we were taught. When my Father was dying he received our Lord but was unable to swallow so my Mother took Him from my Father’s mouth and consumed Him herself. Seeing this, when my Mother was dying and unable to swallow I did the same. Maybe our children don’t see us doing the right thing often enough!!

I think it should have been handled privately. A physical attack on anyone is against the law. If the boy had been a grown man, would the priest have hit him and made a public spectacle of his sin? I think the boy should have been spoken to in private. Sin a personal matter between one person and God. 

If I was a member of that church and witnessed this outrageous action, I would be looking for another place of worship.

@ Jon
The “boy” was 21 years old.

What do you think the response would be if you were invited to another persons house for dinner, at some bread, chewed it up, and then intentionally spit it out on the floor?  Didn’t offer to clean it up, just left it there?  Is that acceptable behavior for a dinner guest?

Were you aware, Jon, that this type of desecration is on the rise in Europe?

This 21 year old knew exactly what he was doing! 

His intentional sin, done in public required a public redress.

Sorry, I had the impression that the young man was in his early or mid teens. I completely agree on the seriousness of his action. Obviously, the situation had to addressed in some manner. I just don’t agree with the way it was handled. I lived for many years with bitter feelings about the church for some very personal reasons. Thinking back to those times, I believe, if I had been that young man, my negative feelings would have only been reinforced by the priest’s actions. As far as I have come with those feelings, I still occasionally struggle with situations like this. I have seen my share of self righteous clergy who are among the worst of sinners when they think no one is looking. I am not saying the priest in question falls into that category but I also don’t know the young man’s history and motivation. Either way, I don’t think any meaningful healing or reconciliation will result from the priest’s action. Granted, the young man may never pull that stunt again, which is great. But, shouldn’t the ultimate goal be teaching, understanding and ultimately the salvation of the man’s soul?  It’s not going to happen that way. I must again respectfully disagree with the majority position on this issue.

After reading these posts, I’m amazed at the ability of some to excuse and pander to any behavior, who delight in turning the tables upside down. It is obvious the young man committed a grievous offense by desecrating the Blessed Sacrament. It is obvious that he needed not only to be taught what that means, but that the priest had a duty to defend the Sacrament. Yet, nevertheless, there are always those who wish to defend the perpetrator and to deny the basic rule of common sense. Wrong reason and weak apologism have become excessive in our society. I can’t help but wonder why so many identify with the wrongdoer and why they must contort their reason to make any and all excuse for sinful acts.

Its time for us to get down on our knees and pray for such souls that they may never do such a horrible thing ever. It was the duty of his parents to bring him up with good virtues, but the Priest had to set him right. this is what happens when the family is not in accordance to Gods will… Gay marriages, Divorces, Kids outside of wedlock, babies forced to be born in Petridish(IVF) in an unloved enviroment.what esle can we expect.. the kids are not respected , they are not taught to respect for life, how can they respect the live Jesus whom they cannot see? they are blinded by the worlds pleasures. May God change teh life of that boy and may he repent. and may the Priest be comforted by God himself,our holy Mother and all the Angels and Saints of all the humilation and trials he may have to face from this world.

This is the first time I’ve copied and pasted something here, but I thought this was on topic, and handled in a perfect way!

The People of St. James:

Defenders of the Most Blessed Sacrament!

The people of St. James showed their love for the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist in a way in which I will never forget. I am so proud of our people and their faith in Our Lord. Here is what happened.

During Mass last Saturday evening, June 19th a man entered the church with an evil intention: he came to steal the Most Blessed Sacrament during the Mass. Several parishioners saw him place the Sacred Host in his pocket after receiving in the communion line. They approached him telling him they saw his desecration and told him to consume Our Lord. He refused and became belligerent causing a scene in church. Many parishioners (including a few teenagers!) approached him and told him to consume the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Officers from the Belvidere Police Department arrived to assist our people with the disturbance. I asked him if he did indeed have the Holy Eucharist in his pocket. He lied and said he did not have the Host. After many minutes of lies and agitation toward the very patient and kind police officers he was given a choice: give us the Holy Eucharist and walk away or be arrested and searched. He further lied and treated the officers shamefully. He was then arrested, searched and the Holy Eucharist was retrieved and consumed by me on the spot. Further sacrilege and desecration was prevented that evening by the faith-filled and vigilant people of the parish.

The faith of the people of St. James was incredibly inspiring to me. Our Lord is the greatest treasure we have as Catholics and the people of the parish were ready to defend Our Lord’s dignity in the face of danger and threats. Dozens of parishioners remained after Mass witnessing to their desire that Our Lord Jesus Christ be kept from desecration. It was the best Father’s Day gift I could ever have received.

God bless you,

Fr. Geary

From the St. James Catholic Parish Sunday Bulletin

Submitted by Nancy W. and Patty

Hmmm…I don’t know.  Our generation was not properly catechized.  The Church is responsible for this kind of behavior.  If the bishops were deeply concerned about the souls of their flock, that their priests were properly formed, that sound doctrine was being taught at ALL of their parishes and schools, that priests were administering the sacraments generously and faithfully, that the faith was being properly transmitted to the next generation, we would have not only a different Church, but a different world.  We would probably have a young man who, in the state of grace, loving received Holy Communion every week, rather than spit it out on the floor defiantly.

Some people understand with words, and others understand with physical actions…so to say one is right and another isn’t is incorrect…both are right, and both are to be used, whenever deemed necessary.

This kind of priestly thuggishness goes far to explain why priests thought they could prey on the weak by abusing them outside Mass. That is as truly a sacrilege as anything mentioned in that article.

The NCR web site is impossible.  I’m looking for articles on Communion Rails.  Somehow I stumbled onto a “search” box that linked to several articles. I clicked to one of them, read and copied it to MSWord doc, but couldn’t get back to the other articles. That would be a logical option to offer. And, I can’t find the search box that got me there in the first place.

I’m frustrated.

Blessings to you.

Why not just go back to the good old days and burn that man at the stake? With all the lunatics on here, I remember why I became an atheist.

The good priest was right. It is not an office for the effete. We are members of the Church Militant and we will be triumphant only when our men begin to act like men again. If we raise them to be perpetual children, who is to blame when they act like it? Boys are designed to become men, and they must be tested. If you don’t test them, they will test you. It’s a pathetic specimen who is content to hang out at the mall with the girls. A slap on the face is good medicine for a bad kid. It’s used all over the world to bring focus to cloudy thinkers. Looking at some of the comments here, it’s obvious why rich countries (and their Bishops) become weak. Someday a fully grown version of that boy will be taking care of you in the old folk’s home. How do you think he will treat you? A renewal must start with training our boys to become responsible men and good leaders of a community. Sometimes leadership requires defending something sacred. A successful defense requires the confidence of a well-understood right cause and a strength tempered by testing.