Communion Denied to Activists

Communion in the Christian Church is a solemn and serious ritual. Scripture admonishes the believer to not take the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner. Last Sunday was celebrated as the day the Holy Spirit was given to believers. To commemorate this day the Catholic Church takes Communion. Unfortunately a group known as the Rainbow Sash Movement comes to church to accept Communion while wearing a rainbow sash as an indication of their pride in being homosexual.

Homosexuality is condemned along with other activities as sin in the scripture. The foundation of Christianity is the forgiveness by God for repentance of sin. Jesus made himself the sacrifice for sin that we may be free from its bondage. To partake in his grace we must acknowledge our sin. Without doing so we cannot enter into repentance. To use the celebration of Communion as a forum to highlight a descent with the teaching of scripture falls under the heading of doing so in an unworthy manner.

It is for this reason that these people were denied participation in Communion at the Roman Catholic Cathedral in St. Paul, Minn as well as other Catholic Churches. Cardinal Francis Arinze has called for Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul to not offer Communion to these protesters as well he should. The members of the Rainbow Sash Movement claim it is not a protest.

"When Archbishop Flynn and Cardinal Arinze say it's a protest, I say, 'But you guys aren't the ones wearing it -- we are, and we see it as a celebration,' " McNeill said. "The premise of the sash is that gay people are part of the Catholic community, part of the people of God. We are there proudly celebrating Mass."...

... Beginning in 1997 in England, some Catholics have worn the sashes over their left shoulder to Mass each year on Pentecost, the day on which the New Testament says the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus's disciples. Because the holiday is a celebration of God's gifts, "we think it is an appropriate time to celebrate the gift of our sexuality," said Brian McNeill, a rainbow-sash organizer in Minneapolis.

Call it what you will it remains a sin and should be condemned not celebrated. What has always perplexed me is efforts by people to conform the Church to their views rather than seek a group that already believes as they do. There is nothing that prevents people from forming a religion and worshiping as they choose, they just won't be recognized as Christian. They can even call it Christian if they want, the Church won't accept them as such, but so what, they don't accept the Church as it is. The problem they face with the Christian church is it is founded on the scriptures and the scriptures are clear. If you choose to call yourself Christian you must repent from sin. To do otherwise is to place a barrier between yourself and God.

The reality is they want to silence any criticism of the life they live. If it were otherwise they would leave the Church and form their own group and be content. Yet they prefer to flaunt their behavior. God loves them as He does all sinners and wishes to bring them to an understanding of His mercy. I wish that they would accept His call. Until they do they should respect the practices of those in the Church and leave them worship as they will, unmolested by the protests of the Rainbow Sash.

Christian Carnival at Nerd Family
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