Though she considers herself a devout Catholic, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi now has no right to receive the holy sacrament of communion after Cardinal Burke, the leading cardinal of the highest court at the Vatican, cut her off. Her unapologetic view on abortion as a right has caused this rift between her political/professional life and her personal/spiritual life.
Cardinal Burke said, “this is a person who obstinately, after repeated admonitions, persists in a grave sin — cooperating with the crime of procured abortion — and still professes to be a devout Catholic… This is a prime example of what Blessed John Paul II referred to as the situation of Catholics who have divorced their faith from their public life and therefore are not serving their brothers and sisters in the way that they must—in safeguarding and promoting the life of the innocent and defenseless unborn, in safeguarding and promoting the integrity of marriage and the family.”
It’s easy to point out Nancy Pelosi’s lifestyle contradiction with this issue. And the inconsistency in Fred Phelps and those in his congregation, Westboro Baptist Church, is clear. His church is famous for picketing funeral with signs that say the likes of “God hates fags.” But what about faith riffs in our own lives?
Our inconsistency may seem smaller by comparison, but they grieve the heart of God none-the-less. Often times they are secret. For example, statistics show that around half of the men in church say that pornography is a problem for them. And this number is on the rise for women as well. According to surveys, 80 percent of single Christians between the age of 18 and 29 have had sex outside of marriage. Divorce rates among Christians are almost identical to non-Christians. I recently overheard a conversation between some parents at a neighborhood get-together discussing how the Christian high schools have the worst behavior on the sports field.
God calls us to submit every part of our lives to him. Not compartments or slices.
In Cardinal Burke’s explanation of the court’s decision on Pelosi’s communion rights, he references Sir Thomas More who was beheaded because he would not separate his personal beliefs from his political actions. King Henry VIII left the Catholic church so that he could divorce his wife and start the Church of England, marry Anne Boleyn and rule over both church and state in England. Sir Thomas More, Chancellor during the first part of Henry’s rule, refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn as the Queen of England. More was executed for being loyal to his church and faith.
Changing our culture and individual lives does not come from trying harder to sin less, but rather by seeking to be near Jesus Christ. Will you submit all of yourself to him today?
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