The Heaven Express

You know this blog is not about Catholic theology, and I issue a caveat that “I may be wrong” whenever I try to speak as I believe the Church does, however every now and then something passes by which disrupts my peace, and I guess I need to get it out of my system. So I now issue to you one “I’m sorry” and "I may be wrong" in advance of the following words.

Recently a friend brought over a book and CD extract of a talk given by a Catholic priest. If he wasn’t a regular writer in the local diocesan newspaper I might quickly dismiss some of the things he wrote and said, and, to be honest, I did rather quickly dismiss one of his central points --- but my irritation did not go away, and so I sought further understanding. Could I be wrong on his point?

The priest’s talk began with a joke about the sacrament of Penance. You know, how priests sit around in Persona Christi – as Christ would -- in lounge chairs drinking scotch and smoking cigars as they listen to you confess your sins. Ha-ha. His story and the subsequent laughter reminded me of this story:

But flippancy is the best of all. Any (human) can be trained to talk as if virtue were funny. Among flippant people the joke is always assumed to have been made. But every serious subject is discussed in a manner which implies that they have already found a ridiculous side to it. If prolonged, the habit of flippancy builds up around a man the finest armour plating against the Enemy (God) that I know.
- The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis (Ch. XI)

The priest goes on to state that reconciliation does not occur in the sacrament of Reconciliation, but in the Church Community. He references Mark 5 where the woman is healed of her bleeding and sins by touching the garment of Jesus, and he states that to touch the Church community yields the same results. The Church is the Body of Christ, therefore it can forgive sins. He goes on to give examples of how someone in mortal sin with a sincere desire to receive the Eucharist cannot even have a mortal sin, since the desire to be united with the Body of Christ heals sins. He talks of people who have “nice” kids but they never go to Church. No problem, if you love them they are forgiven of any sins because they are “tied to the Body of Christ” through you. “You can bind and loose their sins. If you love them, they can’t go to hell.” He goes on to state that he wrote these “controversial” things in a recent book and since no bishop has criticized him, they must be okay with the Church.

My friend sincerely wanted to believe this, for her sake and those of her children. Our children often cause us so much heartache, and we want to believe almost anything which would help them, and we’d do almost anything for them. But some things, some pains, are not healed by wanting them to be.

There are lots of references to refute the “uncontested” beliefs of this man. I think the simplest I found is in a little book which pretty clearly states the teachings of the Catholic Church. It’s called the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It notes in paragraph 1461: “Christ entrusted to his apostles the ministry of reconciliation (Cf. Jn 20:23, 2Cor 5:18). Bishops and priests, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, have the power to forgive all sins ‘in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit.’” Then, in paragraph 1462 it notes: “Forgiveness of sins brings reconciliation with God, but also with Church.” Note the sequence there: Sacrament and forgiveness of sins, which brings reconciliation with God and Church. The priest in his book and talk had it backwards; he said that reconciliation with God and Church (the Body of Christ) brought about forgiveness of sins; the sacrament of Reconciliation had little to do with it.

Perhaps I am wrong; I said I am no theologian. I merely read a lot, and I have a pretty high IQ. I make mistakes, and I admit that I have constantly been growing in the depths of my knowledge of God and of his teachings, but never have I seen what I have learned as a truth turned around into an un-truth. If I can truly forgive sins and guarantee heaven to all whom I love, then let me say to all who read this and all people throughout the world: I love you!! So let’s close up all the churches and quit wasting the time there and move on with improving the lot of people while they are here on earth. By my love, I now declare we are all going to heaven --- or at least in this priest’s understanding, we all are.

A guy named Auguste Comte had a similar notion in the mid-1800’s; he called it positivism. It was to be the “religion of Humanity.” Comte noted that there is no salvation for man except in “community spirit and sense of duty.” Comte taught that the Catholic Church would evolve into something where all the rights of God would be transferred to rights of society. He saw a few brilliant scientists who would lead the world, explaining everything by “methods of persuasion” to achieve “mental regularity” --- everyone thinking the same, “enabling pressure to be brought on those who favored personal opinions.” Catholic social teachings would serve as a platform to teach everyone that their main responsibility is to each other. Then all ideas of rights would be wiped out, and led by the positivist leaders, all would exist in harmony, recognizing not rights, but duties to each --- as explained to them by their leaders. A virtual heaven here on earth, or as much as Comte thought there could be. He generated much discussion of his ideas, but in the end, not many followers. Comte’s ideas of “love everyone to eternal happiness” sounded a lot like those of the priest I noted.

Hmmm. I was led from thoughts about us not needing priests to confess sins, and us being the Body of Christ and just loving each other to heaven, to Comte’s thoughts. Looking at the words in the paragraph above again, and thinking on the situation of our society today, perhaps I should amend that line to say that Comte’s ideas did not generate many followers --- until now.

Oh, Good Grief!! Maybe I shouldn’t go back to read the last paragraph, but go all the way back to and read the top of this blog: Do Not Be Anxious. Worrying about one thing only led me to another; it seems once you start worrying about things, it can become endless. And so in closing, I repeat again, to any confused and disappointed readers: I’m sorry. Sometimes I just can’t help myself (Or would you say that I’m beyond help?).