Fr. Marcel Guarnizo, the associate pastor at St. John Neumann in Gaithersburg, is all over the internet for denying Communion to an active lesbian named Barbara at the funeral of her mother last Saturday. It would be interesting to see a video of the funeral. The mother apparently was supportive of her daughter's bad choices - sad but not surprising. So many parents would rather enable their children's sin and risk their loss of heaven rather than than risk alienation from their children in this world.
Obviously the daughter had to be flaunting her relationship. Otherwise, how would Father know she was a lesbian? Was she there holding hands with her lover? Did she talk at the wake about how grateful she was that her mother accepted their relationship? Was the "eulogy" for her mother (when the priest walked out) really a celebration of lesbianism? "Gays" tend to be narcissistic and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the entire funeral became all about celebrating the disordered relationship.
The comments on blogs discussing this have been the typical bash-the-Church, Jesus would never be so mean, Father is so judgmental and hate-filled, etc. ad nauseum. These folks have deluded themselves into believing that Jesus is the Pillsbury Doughboy waiting to give them all cinnamon buns on Judgment Day. That God might actually expect people to avoid the seven deadly sins or go to hell seems completely alien to them.
One wonders whether the folks who are so quick to condemn Fr. Guarnizo would expect him to be silent and do nothing if the lesbian had brought a can of black spray paint and started defacing all the statues in the Church. Such an act is NOTHING compared to the sacrilege of receiving Jesus, Body-Blood-Soul-Divinity, in the state of mortal sin. And since everybody in the Church apparently knew about this woman's lifestyle, the scandal would also have been mortally sinful and on the priest's head for allowing it. The Bible is crystal clear on the responsibility of the shepherds to blow the warning trumpet.
I want to publicly thank Fr. Marcel Guarnizo for his courage. We have all seen the hateful retaliation and "jamming" (viciously attacking) against anyone who disagrees with the homosexual agenda. (I have personally experienced it often in blog comments with the writers hoping I die a miserable death because of my "hate.") Fr. Guarnizo is in the crosshairs at present. Pray for him and you might consider going to the parish website and leaving a message of encouragement. Fr. Guarnizo speaks the truth against some of the greatest moral evils of our time. He deserves our thanks and admiration. Please fast and pray for him this Lent for those who vilify him. May they come to understand that he is trying to save them from the abyss.
Germantown - 40 Days for Life - Fr. Marcel from Michael Martelli on Vimeo.
