Mo Rocca. Who invited you?

Oh what the heck, I'll step in it ...

First of all, I never knew Rocca was gay.  I thought he was married - to a woman - and liked cats.  But I could be thinking of Dan Harris.  I've seen Rocca before and really liked him - he seemed like a lovable geek - totally nerd and unattractive.  Suddenly, last week, he captures the imaginations of Catholics across the country - because he was chosen to lector at the Pope's Mass in Madison Square Garden.  (I didn't watch it.  Papal Masses, lovely as they may be, are way too long.)

Online sites are claiming a Lavender Mafia conspiracy because Rocca was chosen to do the readings:  "When Rocca appeared on live news feeds last night as the lector for the Papal Mass, Twitter blew up with scandalous praise as everyone saw this as the Church's — and specifically Pope Francis' — acceptance of homosexuality and gay marriage." - CM

[Disclaimer: In the past, I've been reprimanded for using the term 'lavender mafia' - so be advised I am not suggesting one exists, or ever existed - I'm simply quoting the source.]

But somebody chose Rocca to do the readings - and Cardinal Dolan knows Rocca - and Dolan looked right at him.  What?  I don't know what was going on.

Elizabeth Scalia posted something on Aleteia defending the situation, offering a sort of 'salvo' for the story.  (I said 'salvo' - I'm kind of like a journalist using words like that, huh?)

Surprisingly, most of the comments on Scalia's post are less than supportive.   Scalia does her best to support the situation pointing out that Rocca most likely refrained from the reception of Holy Communion.  Readers think he should have refrained the office of lector.

On social media, I have read – but have not yet been able to confirm — that Rocca refrained from receiving Communion during the Mass. If that is true — and since no one ever knows the state of another’s soul — then there really isn’t much to say, except that one day last week a brother on a journey knew he was not fit to receive Communion. That’s more than many of us ever know.

Here is the last true thing: Nothing prevents a Catholic – any Catholic – from engaging in daily parish life, or from licitly participating in worship at Mass; we are bound only by the obligation to abstain from receiving Holy Communion, unless we are in a state of grace. 

Obedience to that obligation is a kind of witness in and of itself: it proclaims that while one might currently be holding to one’s own conscience, one recognizes something greater than even that — the reverenced respect due to the Real Presence of Christ Jesus.

Such obedience is, in fact, a worthy and admirable demonstration of humility; one to shame any Pharisee. - Aleteia

Once I was helping a priest friend prepare for Benediction

and he asked me to light the charcoal.  I did so with my 

cigarette lighter, and the transitional deacon - who already

eyed me suspiciously, almost audibly gasped and looked 

at Father as if to say: "Are you going to allow him to do that?"

Of course it was only about the lighter...

Right or wrong - Mo Rocca has pretty much been condemned.  Even though we don't know the state of his soul - he's a marked man and people have been scandalized.  Catholics now have another reason to condemn Dolan and criticize the Pope.

I'm a big sinner, a hypocrite.  I believe, accept, and embrace Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality.  I'm against gay marriage and homosexual activity.  I've lived a chaste and celibate life, but I wouldn't go near an ambo or volunteer at a parish near me.

I've given the same advice to others - and I've been derided by gay-Catholics for that as well.

Active participation - for me at least - is prayer and penance and fidelity to the duties of my state in life, taking care of widowers and orphan cats.  I'm working out my salvation with fear and trembling and I'm just hoping and praying I can die a good death and have a Catholic funeral.

Just saying ...

Maybe look for an organist job 

at a baseball park instead of the Basilica.

Song for this post here.