Good news on the $2000 sale of the Eucharist/ Ebay

[Brother Adam]

From a longer email I received from the knights of columbus gentlemen who purchased the Eucharist on Ebay:


"Apparently the seller has had a change of heart.
The seller asked me if
I wouldn't mind canceling the eBay purchase of
the Eucharist, So
instead of me spending $2000 for the Eucharist
and then giving it to
the church, the seller will not sell the
Eucharist, but instead, give
it to the Catholic Church himself. Now that’s an
answer to prayer!"

Praise God!

[photosynthesis]

what kind of weirdo would sell the Eucharist on ebay?

[MC Just]

Wow! That's great!

[Dudette]

That's awesome!

[thicke]

Behold the power of prayer! Maybe he'll convert. Wouldn't that be cool!

[Lil Red]

that's great!

[Catholictothecore]

This is good...but I feel slightly hurt. At least he had a change of heart.

[traichuoi]

sign this petition to Ebay!!!

[url="http://www.PetitionOnline.com/bbsdofj/petition.html"]Sign Petition Here[/url]

[Catholictothecore]

I signed...and that quote of Papa Ben's is to true (sadly)

[Ash Wednesday]

I never thought I'd say this, but bless the man for his change of heart.

[Brother Adam]

The complete email:

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner,
but as you can imagine,
I have been flooded with emails.

However, so as to ease your fears, I am a very
devout and traditional
Catholic and a 3rd Degree Catholic Knights of
Columbus member. So I
take my Catholic faith very seriously. And
although money is tight for
me, I could not take the chance of this host
falling into the wrong
hands.

So I did what I needed to do to protect the
Eucharist, I
committed myself to the seller that I would
purchase the Eucharist at
the buy it now price of $2000, thus ending the
auction. Once I received
the Eucharist I would then give it to the Church.

However, due to all the prayers coming in from
devout Catholics like
yourselves from all over the planet, the ending
has changed.

Apparently the seller has had a change of heart.
The seller asked me if
I wouldn't mind canceling the eBay purchase of
the Eucharist, So
instead of me spending $2000 for the Eucharist
and then giving it to
the church, the seller will not sell the
Eucharist, but instead, give
it to the Catholic Church himself. Now that’s an
answer to prayer!

Your emails of kind words, suggestions, concerns
and prayers were all
very much appreciated.

But I wasn’t the only one who prayed and stepped
forward to protect the
Eucharist with my purchase. Everyone of
you who emailed your
concerns and offered up your prayers, along with
thousands of other
Catholics all over the planet in horror of what
was happening also
prayed. Miracles happen when we pray. And this
surely was a Miracle the
way it all turned out. All of you played a part.
I truly believe all the
prayers offered, helped to bring this
situation to an
acceptable close.

It’s unfortunate though, for once the Eucharist
was listed on eBay, it didn’t matter whether or
not it was sold, in fact, the seller could have
had
second thoughts and had it immediately pulled.
But still, it would have been too late, for now
the damage had been
done. Already we’re seeing copycats looking for
easy money at Our
Lord’s expense. I ask you, as you prayed before,
please
continue praying for this sacrilege to stop!

Again, Thank you for your support and your
prayers. Please note the
following Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jim Wharton
Director of Communications
Diocese of Sioux City
712-233-7556


DIOCESE REPORTS RESOLUTION OF EUCHARIST
E-BAY ISSUE

CONSECRATED HOST RETURNED TO CHURCH


April 15, 2005 - Sioux City, IA: The Diocese of
Sioux City is pleased
to report that the much-publicized sale of what
was purported to be a
consecrated host on E-Bay has been withdrawn by
the seller.

Earlier today, Monsignor Roger J. Augustine,
administrator of the
Diocese of Sioux City, met with the seller and
was advised that the
sale would not be consummated. According to
Msgr. Augustine, the
seller deeply regretted the effort to sell the
Eucharist and extended a
personal apology to him, the Diocese and any
others who had been
offended by the E-Bay listing. Because the
transaction never
materialized, there was no money exchanged or
received.

The Eucharist detailed in the E-Bay auction was
given to Msgr. Augustine
and has been properly disposed of according to
the dictates of Catholic
Church law.

“As I said earlier this week, the Eucharist
represents the true presence
of Jesus Christ to Catholics,” said Msgr.
Augustine.“I am most grateful
that the seller agreed that it was in everyone’s
best interest to
bring this issue to a positive conclusion.”

The issue of the attempted sale of the Eucharist
has attracted both
national and international attention with e-mails
and fax messages
coming into the diocesan office from countless
communities.

Although this specific issue has been resolved,
the Diocese still has
differences with E-Bay and its policy governing
the listing of items
that are offensive to people of faith. E-Bay
officials contend they
see nothing offensive with the sale of such items
on their website.
Many Catholic organizations and individuals have
taken issue with that
policy and apparently are making their opinions
known to E-Bay
officials.

BASED ON EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED, I’VE DECIDED
TO OPEN UP A WEBSITE TO
PROMOTE POWER THROUGH PRAYER, AS MIRACLES REALLY
DO HAPPEN THROUGH THE
POWER OF PRAYER. THE WEBSITE WILL PROVIDE A
PRAYER NETWORK, LINKS TO
OTHER CATHOLIC SITES, IT WILL INFORM, OFFER
SUGGESTIONS, HAVE STORIES
OF INSPIRATION AND MORE. ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE
MOST WELCOMED. THE
WEBSITE HASN’T OPENED YET, HOWEVER, YOU CAN REACH
ME AT LINK:
power_through_prayer@yahoo.com. AND LET ME KNOW
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN
BEING ADDED TO OUR MAILING LIST.

AND FINALLY, I’D LIKE TO SUGGEST SPIRIT DAILY, A
WONDERFUL CATHOLIC
WEBSITE THAT PROVIDES A LOT OF CATHOLIC NEWS
UPDATES, ALONG WITH A FINE
SELECTION OF CATHOLIC BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.
THEIR LINK AS FOLLOWS:
[url="http://www.spiritdaily.com"]http://www.spiritdaily.com[/url].

P.S. For any of you that sent gifts of money to
help defray the $2000. cost of the Eucharist,
I'm sending all gifts back - but Thank You so
much for wanting to help out!!!

Thank you.
God Bless Us All.
William [Oz] Osborne

[cathgirl]

I signed the petition! That is just wrong to even try to sell Jesus at an auction. How sad He must feel.

[argent_paladin]

" Already we’re seeing copycats looking for easy money at Our Lord’s expense."

I knew that would happen. I wasn't sure that bidding $2000 was the best thing to do, even to keep it in safe hands because of the danger of spawning copycats. It's like negotiating with terrorists or paying ransom to kidnappers. It provides incentive.
Also, it gives publicity to these acts, increasing the likelihood of copycatters. I'm not sure what the best solution is, but I think that everyone should consider these possible consequences when giving advice. Thankfully, there are likely very few hosts from papal masses around, but the potential for fraud is very high. What is to stop someone who wants to make a quick buck from going out and buying or stealing some unconsecrated hosts and selling them on Ebay as souvenirs of a JP2 mass? Would we keep buying them from him for $2000 a piece?
The best thing is to force Ebay to ban hosts. But that poses problems. What if some convent that bakes wafers wants to sell them on Ebay? If its ok to sell unconsecrated hosts but not consecrated, how would we know and would Ebay care about the distinction? It is perfectly legal to sell communion wafers. It is a thorny issue and will likely get worse.

[Dreamweaver]

Thanks be to God that the seller had a conversion of heart. We must continue to pray that no other copy cats will try pulling similar tricks.

[Ave Maria Totus Tuus]

If the petition is still up everyone should sign it...

Prayer is an amazing thing...


+peace