Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek: Pastoral Incoherence

By Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek,  The Catholic Thing, July 3, 2021

Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek, STD has been a priest of the Diocese of Austin since 1985 and is currently pastor of Assumption parish in the city of West. …

The Church in America is in the midst of a controversy over so-called “Eucharistic coherence.”  The debate focuses on the duties of the faithful (especially politicians) in receiving Holy Communion and of the bishops in overseeing that reception.  While the issue is vital, it’s symptomatic of a graver, half-century-old crisis that, like many family dysfunctions, remains deliberately unaddressed: pastoral incoherence. Unless that root problem is acknowledged, Eucharistic coherence is destined to remain little more than a pious aspiration.

The pastoral life of the Church is succinctly described in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles and to the communal life (communion), to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.”  The fraternal sharing in those elements of the Gospel constitutes the “holy communion” that is the Church without which there can be no “Holy Communion” at Mass. …

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