![](\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_dmDaLWNETzg\/Sw1Nzqxwl2I\/AAAAAAAAAiw\/VN7ihMB7wN4\/s1600\/padrebarnes*.jpg\")
<\/a>First, let me be clear that what follows is my understanding <\/i>of what Father Barnes said. Please credit me <\/i>with any misunderstanding.<\/i> The good padre <\/i>has enough on his plate; he shouldn\u2019t have to answer questions about something stupid a parishioner wrote in a blog!<\/p>\nSecond, Father barely mentioned the Catholic cause of the week, Providence (RI) Bishop Thomas Tobin\u2019s request that Congressman Patrick Kennedy refrain from receiving communion because of Kennedy\u2019s outspoken support for abortion. But it was clearly his personal focus.<\/p>\n
Each morning, while referring to readings and to the martyrs honored by the liturgical calendar, Father suggested that there are many ways we can err as Catholics. Tuesday, he referred directly to the Tobin-Kennedy affair only at the beginning of the homily, saying that we must be neither \u201claissez-faire\u201d nor \u201cgleeful\u201d\u2014two common responses, one on either side of the current issue. Sure, it is wrong for cafeteria Catholics (my term, not his) to say, \u201cAw, heck, what\u2019s the big deal? Give the guy communion!\u201d But it is just as wrong to exult in the sins of another, as many do when they say of Kennedy or anyone in his position, \u201cHa! Serves him right!\u201d To conclude his homily yesterday, Father asked us to meditate on the Vietnamese martyrs, Andrew Dung-Lac and companions. They call us, he said, to a far higher moral position than either the laissez-faire or the gleeful.<\/p>\n
Today, Father put a different spin on the matter, referring not to Tobin or Kennedy by name but only to the teaching authority of our bishops. He urged us to recognize that in the Catholic Church the bishops have such authority and that we must listen. <\/i>To me, this was a ringing endorsement of Tobin\u2019s position, although Father never said so explicitly. Instead, he asked us to consider again that we can err on two sides. On one side are those who are so\u00a0assimilated to our secular culture that they not only don\u2019t support the Church on social issues but are even embarrassed<\/i> by the position Tobin has taken. On the other side are those who, when not gleeful at Kennedy\u2019s embarrassment, are railing stridently against him and all those who support abortion. Father Barnes\u2019s best line of the two days was this: \u201cIt\u2019s very easy for Catholics to become talk-show hosts.\u201d<\/p>\n