An important theme running through today’s readings is: dignity. We all have
dignity as children of God.
When God made the birds and the animals, it says that He brought them to
Adam, who named them. They were great, but “no helpmate suitable for man
was found for him”. A dog is sometimes referred to, of course, as a man best
friend, but a dog is not a human being. There is a difference in dignity between
them. Then God makes the woman from the man’s rib. St Augustine points
out that the symbolism here is one of equality. If the woman had been made
from the man’s head, she would have been superior to him; if she had been
made from his foot, she would have been inferior. Being made from his rib
implies equality. We can also say there is the idea here that they belong
together, side by side. Adam says:
“this at last [emphasis added] is bone from my bones
and flesh from my flesh!”
The dignity of man and woman is greater than that of the animals.
Let’s just now take a sideways step to look at something else related to the
issue of dignity.
The dignity of objects, versus the dignity of almighty God: bread and wine
have the status of ordinary objects. It’s often said not to waste food. If you
throw bread and wine on the floor, or in the bin, it’s a waste, but it’s not the end
of the world. Meanwhile, and you might be a bit shocked by this, if you were
to, as an act of contempt, throw a consecrated Host in the bin, or pour the
Precious Blood from the chalice down the drain, as well as being a very serious
sin, you would be automatically excommunicated. (Short pause to take that
in.) That would mean you couldn’t receive any of the sacraments until you had
had the excommunication lifted by going to confession.
Now I’ve just mentioned this, I need to say a bit more to avoid people tying
themselves in knots. Note I said as an act of contempt throwing away a
consecrated Host or pouring away the Precious Blood. The conditions for
automatic excommunication are quite narrowly defined. So if someone
receives in the hand and accidentally drops the Host, or even if a small piece
Curious about exploring things further? If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk