Well, if he's coming back in only 40 days, maybe I won't bother to get the vaccine! Just kidding; trying to laugh a little!
I'm glad you've got the inside track! Maybe I should have asked Moses for advice earlier; then I wouldn't be spending my time with all these posts!
Terry you need to also take into consideration that the powers that be continually shift the goalposts. At the moment double jabbed are considered vaccinated. But Fauci says a third booster jab will be needed. In Israel they are even talking about a fourth jab. Where will they draw the line? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/us/fauci-covid-boosters.amp.html
IN ISRAEL BEING VACCINATED MEANS TAKING THREE SHOTS https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ws...-vaccinated-now-means-three-shots-11630426257
You think it is perfectly legitimate to force people to undergo experiments with their RNA? My question to you is this: Do you realise this here is a Catholic forum, we believe in God and He has given us free will.
Well, let's call a spade a spade: You are about to cave in to pressure. That's what is comes down to, beyond the spiritual fluff, if you are honest to yourself and to us. To be clear, I am not arguing against the fact that you are caving in. It is weakness, I am weak, too. Whether I will be able to resist the vaccine pressure, God knows. All that I am saying is, let's call a spade a spade. What is the point of opening a thread, dressing it up with spiritual fluff, creating suspense, only then to say publicly: 'Look, I am caving in. I can be successfully coerced.' How can this sort of pressure that is being imposed on us possibly come from God? For the record, my prayers remain with you, I remain sympathetic to you. I admire you and your family, your ministry. If I will be successfully coerced, which God may forbid, I will probably not try to sugarcoat it to myself or others. I will simply admit: the pressure has overwhelmed me, I have lost. Still, I am fighting. I have no intention of caving in. GOD BLESS!
Well Michael, I appreciate your honesty; Does this mean you were hopeful that my purported rejection of the shot without counting the consequences had a sort of noble ring to it; that I would bite the bullet and live more frugally in order to take a stand against the System? But at that point, I re-considered the consequences on others and my promises to my bishop to focus energies not in the parish, but in chaplaincy. Share with me how you perceive that my exit now will better serve the Kingdom of God. I will agree on this, that what appeared to be a certain conviction to resist the vaccine vaporized in just two days after more prayer and a more exacting examination of consequences. One might say I was prematurely tooting my horn. I now regret sharing the process. Peace.
Thank you for your kind response Mario. I hope we can stay on good terms and won't take personal offence, division is what the enemy is all about. That said, I cannot see how caving in to coercion serves the Kingdom of God. It serves the prince of this world, the kingdom that is the current world order. It increases the pressure on those who continue to resist. For that reason, one might even call it betrayal on the children of God. Padraig has said on this forum, some months ago, something along the lines of: 'It is impossible to bring about good by choosing an evil, even a perceived lesser evil. It never works. That's what the Soviets thought, but it never works. In the end, all that is left is extreme evil.' I will, likely, be faced with a similar decision soon. I may have to quit my job. I am the only breadwinner in my family. I don't know how I will decide. We have some rental income, I may try to go out self-employed, I may never actually get fired. I don't know. We are still in the early stages of the roll-out here. My intention is to stay strong. I need to up my prayer life again, I have fallen off my horse. I am sorry that you regret sharing the process. It seems you changed your mind in the middle of it. But nevertheless, I appreciate your honesty. I am not sure if you have firmly gone ahead yet. There may still be time. "If you tolerate this, then your children will be next." God bless you muchly, and your family and your patients.
Hey Mario, Don't regret considering the effect your decision would have on others. Don't regret obedience. Don't regret sharing the process. It is good for your humility! If caving to the pressure means putting others before yourself and valuing obedience...well, admit you caved! Always keep in mind the Church has given guidance that Catholics can in good conscience choose to get the vaccine...The consistent teaching under 3 Popes.
As a matter of interest, if the Bishop were to mandate that Communion is to be withheld from the unvaxed would you also urge priests to obey him? I ask this because I read or heard (can't recall where) that some priests had raised this as a possibility. Given the USCCB's reputation for being the religious wing of the US Democratic party, I could see some Bishops giving the proposal serious consideration.
Whatever, Denial of Holy Communion to the unvaxed would be abhorrent to me. We have a good Bishop here; it is out of the question.
I didn't think that you would support it, nor was I implying that your own Bishop would issue such a mandate. Anyway, I suspect that it would be a violation of Canon Law. I'm afraid that some priests have proposed it and considering the reputation of quite a few Bishops, I wouldn't put it past some of them to issue such a mandate. I'm curious to know whether Non Sum Dignus would support it. Shepherds can be swayed by pressure from well connected or wealthy sheep.
Whatever, Mario is a deacon and he says he made promises to his Bishop to serve in chaplaincy. That is where I think the issue of obedience lies. Mario, correct me if I’m wrong.
I have stated before that I believe any mandate to vaccinate would be wrong. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/...cfaith_doc_20081208_dignitas-personae_en.html
I'm aware of that. As far as I know, ordination requires a promise of obedience to the Bishop. My question wasn't addressed to Mario.
What if the Bishop were to instruct his priests to withhold Communion from the unvaxed? Would those priests be bound to obey? I don't believe they would because I think there's probably something in Canon Law giving them an avenue of appeal. Disobedience could see them removed from active ministry, perhaps leading to the closure of a parish if there's no replacement available. So, should the priest obey the Bishop for the sake of the greater good of the parish? Wasn't the Communion on the tongue issue an example, albeit not such an extreme example, of what can happen where a Bishop or priest takes it upon himself to invent new rules for administering the Sacraments. Wasn't there a ruling from the Vatican saying that the faithful shouldn't be denied Communion on the tongue? Or was there a subsequent ruling which reversed that?
