Blasphemous Kentuckians

Kentucky is the home to the Kentucky derby, bourbon country, and now... female priests? While the Church treats all people as equal in God, it does not allow female priests. This has caused the Church to come under a huge amount of fire. However, there are good reasons for this.

Lady Blasphemy Herself

First: Christ instituted the Church with twelve male disciples. Does this mean Christ was sexist? No. Absolutely not. Christ did not choose men because he thinks them superior. Rather, Christ chose men as they held a greater amount of power in the time. In the culture around Christ, women did not have much freedom. They did not go out in public often, and were not treated equal to men. Why hasn't this changed? Well, Christ has further reasons for choosing men. God gave men and women different roles. While women have led in the past, they do not have as much of a seat in the Church. Rather, women have a different role. This role is not just to serve men, but it doesn't involve Church leadership, either. The Bible is structured with men in charge for reasons unknown to us. We don’t know why God designed it that way, but that’s the way he did. That means that, since God is perfectly good and infinite, the reason, whatever it is, is valid and true. Now why can’t roles change? Roles don’t reverse because if a woman is not purposed with a deed they ought not do it. You don’t get a dog to pull your carriage. You get a horse. You don’t power your car with a flashlight. It’s absurd. The same way, since women aren't necessarily purposed with leadership in the Church, they have no reason to serve in positions of “authority.”

Second: The Church is not at all oppressing women. No matter how many feminists say the Church is made to be oppressive, it is utterly ignorant of what it means to be Catholic. To be Catholic is to be in Communion with God. We are made to be close to God, and the Church is our instrument to do that. As such, all women and men are equal as children of Christ. Moreover, the Church isn't like a government. The Church does not give people power within it. Rather, the Church allows people to become larger servants. Being Pope isn't like being king. Rather, being Pope means being a larger messenger of God, a larger speaker to amplify his message. As Pope, your only extra ability is conveying God’s message.

Third: we are all priests in different ways. Just because women can’t be ordained as the “official” priests we call priests, does not at all mean they don’t participate in the common priesthood. Those who support priesthood for women are more than a little bigoted, as their heads are too big to realize that women are priests in the Church with different, but equal vocations. Just because you didn't go to a Catholic school as a child does not give you an excuse to butcher Catholic doctrine and call it true. Moreover, those who support ordination for women are just posers. They aren't Catholic, and never will be Catholic if they do not understand what it means to be a priest. Being a priest does not just mean leading a mass. Being a priest means helping with God’s mission of spreading the word. So, to any of you feminists who want women to be ordained, read a little about what priesthood actually is before you try to preach heretical blasphemy.

Miracle of Lanciano

The miracle of Lanciano is a physical miracle about the Eucharist as Christ. The priest who was blessing unleavened bread was unsure of the nature of Christ in the bread. As he blessed the bread, the bread became Christ and his flesh, and the priest had no more doubt. So what does this mean?

The Eucharist is Christ. Not necessarily in a physical way, but in a metaphysical way. WHile Christ is a human and not a loaf of bread, the part that makes Christ our savior is metaphysical in nature. This is because his nature as God is spiritual and transcendental, meaning it is above physical existence. Because of that, Christ can be instituted in the host as God himself. Further, the host being Christ is important for the sake of what it means. The reason for Communion is to be one with God. When we partake of Christ, we make him a physical as well as a metaphysical part of us. Furthermore, Christ need not be represented in his physical form. After the Ascension, Christ became totally metaphysical, meaning he doesn't need to be represented in a physical form. Because of that, he can be present metaphysically anywhere at anytime, including in the host during the celebration of mass.

The flaw the priest had in the miracle of Lanciano was that he was doubtful of the true divinity of Christ. Had he truly believed in the divinity of Christ, he would have realized Christ does not have to be physically present to be present. As such, the priest committed a theological error in doubting the nature of Christ as metaphysical when he didn't believe Christ could be a part of the Eucharist.

Catechumenate

What is the Catechumenate? What does it entail? Who does it entail? Is it good or bad? Does it relate to the Easter Vigil today? If it does it so, how does it relate to the Eastern Vigil today?

Catechumenate is a process that involves four steps. It is a process that allows all to partake in God. It is the process that allows you to learn and acquire faith, and once accomplished, eventually become a member of the Catholic Church. However, it is only offered to those who have never been baptised. In effect, by undergoing this process at its completion it allows one to experience the three Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. Once all these Sacraments have been completed these people are officially in full unity with the Church.

It is not a sin to have to have gone through it as one may have previously not been exposed to or had the opportunity to receive these blessings or the ability to have faith. Although, in participating and realizing and understanding the Church and the faith it requires to be in communion with it is comes to great benefit as you become in communion with God by doing so. It shows that in doing so there is not a rejection of God but rather an acceptance to God just as God intended when he sent Christ to reveal his message and convert people in faith and belief of God. Therefore, the completion of catechumenate is not a sin but rather the opposite.

This is similar to the Easter Vigil because those who believe and shown faith in Christ are once again, just like the original occurrence, showing their desire for Christ and realize the grace and sacrifice in which he experienced for our salvation. It is a reminder of the establishment of the Church and the purposes in which it was for. On top of that, it shows the step forward that is remembered at the Easter Vigil, the step forward and progress the Church made in order to further aim to accomplish the mission of God which continues today.

Sacraments and Human Nature

Human nature guides us toward God. Human nature, as cliched in a huge amount of movies, seems to make us want to be a part of something bigger. While this isn't labeled as God in common culture, that’s what it is. Christ is pouring out, offering, grace for us to have, and it is our nature to take it. Since we want to be closer to God, it makes sense that whatever helps us become closer to God would also be a part of human nature. As such, Sacraments are a part of our nature. Moreover, Sacraments reflect something that humanity has reflected for all of its existence: progress. Grace helps us become better as people, and closer to God. Just like we strive to be closer to God, humanity has strove to become better as a race, be it through technology or philosophy or anything at all. Humanity strives to become better, and Christ gives us the grace to be better than our sin.

However, there is one specific sacrament that is visibly ingrained into the human psyche. Matrimony. Throughout history, there have been thousands of different cultures, religions, and practices of people from different locations. One thing that remains constant is the desire for love and marriage. People want’ to find love; people want to be a part of a relationship. This makes no physical sense. Rationally, we do not love. There is no love we can fathom rationally because it is inherently an emotive thing. That means love, and the quest for love, brings us emotionally closer to those of the opposite sex and to God.

The Sacraments Correspondence to Humanity

Through the Sacraments humanity is able to reach closer to God. The Sacraments are about the relationships with God and with each other. They relates to the human nature because of their goal and what they accomplish through their fulfillment. They accomplish two major things that relate to the connection to the human nature: the relationships and togetherness in faith of God and each other it requires, and how it brings us closer to God and doing so by living or following what he instructed to us while he was on earth.

The Sacraments force a togetherness and unity upon you and others who participate in them. It brings unity and connection and it is accomplished through faith. From marriage to Baptism they both require an installation and a recognition of faith in God and with others on earth. By living with and in connection of people and pursuing the Sacraments one is living as they should in the human nature. The Sacraments keep one’s human nature alive and thriving both on earth and later on in heaven.

The Sacraments bring us into connection with God. They help us endure life and do so through faith and purity. The ultimate goal in life is to be with God in the end and that is done through a life of faith and purity, living as Christ intended. Through the sacraments we can accomplish a life of virtue living in communion and in a relationship with God as he intended for the human nature from the start.