“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Praise the Lord!

Since (in the eyes of those who apparently control such things) I’m going to hell anyway, let me add to my list of “transgressions” by saying that I agree with how a Roman Catholic handled an issue.

(insert profound gasp here)

You are probably aware of “Wafergate” by now.  If you aren’t, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, recently attended the funeral mass of former governor-general Romeo LeBlanc.  When communion was served, Harper allegedly pocketed the communion wafer rather than consuming it.

In Protestant circles, this action would have been inappropriate.  But Roman Catholics, because of their belief in transubstantiation, would consider it sacrilege.  The incident was captured on (stunningly inconclusive) video and immediately the outcries against Harper arose, including accusations of anti-Catholic behavior by the Protestant Harper.

Only one minor issue — he didn’t pocket the wafer; he consumed it.

One of the priests involved in the service, Father Arthur Bourgeois, confirmed what Harper asserted when the accusations started flying — that he did consume the wafer.

Technically, Harper did break Catholic church law by taking communion as a Protestant.  And Fr. Bourgeois did note this.  He also implied that Harper followed the spirit of the law, and so did not condemn him for his actions.  And, Fr. Bourgeois even advised Harper on proper protocol for a Protesant in a Catholic service, should such an occasion arise again.

In short, Fr. Bourgeois did not conceal or back off of his beliefs, but spoke the truth (as he understood it) in love.

Hmmm — speaking the truth in love — almost sounds like a Bible verse.