{"id":25809,"date":"2011-02-22T14:52:27","date_gmt":"2011-02-22T14:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/theanchoress\/?p=25809"},"modified":"2017-03-09T00:09:15","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T00:09:15","slug":"holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Eucharist, Humility and Flannery O"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My column at First Things<\/strong> this week looks at the story of Father Augustin Escobar, the California priest who recently had his priestly faculties suspended for concelebrating Mass with a Presbyterian minister. As few details had yet emerged as I was writing, I stuck to the question of closed communion<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

There exists an odd double-standard concerning Catholic observances and almost any other ritual. Culturally nuanced and sensitive Americans would never presume to attend a Buddhist<\/a>, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim or even Orthodox Christian celebration with an expectation of full participation, but when Catholics ask the same respect for their holiest sacrament, they are criticized for being unreasonable and \u201cexclusionary,\u201d and always there is a whiff of that dreaded word \u201cintolerance.\u201d Other cultures and religions are to be allowed their exclusivities with full respect, but Catholics who base their beliefs on Jesus\u2019 own words, and on reasoned theology and philosophy, tradition and supporting scripture, ought not expect the same courtesy.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s courtesy. Holy Communion is a great mystery of ponderous depth. People like to call it \u201ca meal\u201d and \u201ca banquet,\u201d and if it were only that, there would still be rules about reception. One does not go into a neighbor\u2019s house, open the fridge, and gobble down the food that has been prepared for a family event, with a careless, \u201cWhat, it\u2019s for everyone, right?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This morning Deacon Greg notes that Father Escobar has written what appears to be a very heartfully-felt apology to his parishioners and his brother priests<\/strong><\/a>: <\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the great hope for all Christians is that we shall be one body as Jesus has asked us to be, we are not there at this time and it was not my place to take actions which only the leadership of the Catholic and Presbyterian Churches can sanction at such time as they agree to do so. I promise to do all I can to make amends for my actions and I am willing to be obedient to Bishop Brown in whatever recourse he or those at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith judge to be appropriate for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope one day to be allowed to serve as a priest again, which I will certainly do with a great deal more humility since I see the confusion and anger my actions have caused,\u201d Fr. Escobar\u2019s letter concluded. \u201cI beg all of you to forgive me.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read further down and you will note that the people of St. Norbert\u2019s parish seem very inclined to do that. I pray this incident only makes the whole parish, and Fr. Escobar\u2019s fervor for his priesthood, even stronger.<\/p>\n

And since we\u2019re speaking of the Holy Eucharist, here,<\/strong> this might be a good time to read chapter one of Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, by Brant Pitre.<\/p>\n

My interview with Pitre is here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Reviews by Julie Davis<\/strong><\/a>, Rick Rice<\/strong><\/a>, Simcha Fisher<\/strong><\/a>, J. Carl Gregg<\/strong><\/a> (taking the Protestant view)<\/p>\n

Related:
\nMax Lindenman on Eucharistic Adoration<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA parish on fire!\u201d<\/a><\/strong>
\n
\nHeather King: Speaking of Flannery O\u2019 Connor<\/a><\/strong> (which I sort of was\u2026)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My column at First Things this week looks at the story of Father Augustin Escobar, the California priest who recently had his priestly faculties suspended for concelebrating Mass with a Presbyterian minister. As few details had yet emerged as I was writing, I stuck to the question of closed communion There exists an odd double-standard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,92],"tags":[323,335,4842,4850,4861,455,516],"class_list":["post-25809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communion-of-saints","category-eucharist","tag-catholic","tag-communion","tag-eucharist","tag-forgiveness","tag-jesus-christ","tag-mass","tag-priests"],"yoast_head":"\nHoly Eucharist, Humility and Flannery O<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My column at First Things this week looks at the story of Father Augustin Escobar, the California priest who recently had his priestly faculties suspended\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Holy Eucharist, Humility and Flannery O\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My column at First Things this week looks at the story of Father Augustin Escobar, the California priest who recently had his priestly faculties suspended\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Anchoress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-22T14:52:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-09T00:09:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/theanchoress\/files\/2011\/02\/Adoration-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Scalia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Scalia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/\",\"name\":\"Holy Eucharist, Humility and Flannery O\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-22T14:52:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-09T00:09:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b\"},\"description\":\"My column at First Things this week looks at the story of Father Augustin Escobar, the California priest who recently had his priestly faculties suspended\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Holy Eucharist, Humility and Flannery O\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/\",\"name\":\"The Anchoress\",\"description\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/author\/elizabethscalia\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Holy Eucharist, Humility and Flannery O","description":"My column at First Things this week looks at the story of Father Augustin Escobar, the California priest who recently had his priestly faculties suspended","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Holy Eucharist, Humility and Flannery O","og_description":"My column at First Things this week looks at the story of Father Augustin Escobar, the California priest who recently had his priestly faculties suspended","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/","og_site_name":"The Anchoress","article_published_time":"2011-02-22T14:52:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-09T00:09:15+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/theanchoress\/files\/2011\/02\/Adoration-300x199.jpg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Scalia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Scalia","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/","name":"Holy Eucharist, Humility and Flannery O","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-02-22T14:52:27+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-09T00:09:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b"},"description":"My column at First Things this week looks at the story of Father Augustin Escobar, the California priest who recently had his priestly faculties suspended","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/02\/22\/holy-eucharist-humility-flannery-o\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Holy Eucharist, Humility and Flannery O"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/","name":"The Anchoress","description":"Elizabeth Scalia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b","name":"Elizabeth Scalia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Scalia"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/author\/elizabethscalia\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}