No Eucharist for you

Conservative Republican law professor Douglas Kmiec, on being publicly snubbed by his own Church for the grievous sin of expressing support for Barack Obama:

Right there in that moment every Catholic good deed and good thought and good wish of love of neighbor that I once had seemed inconsequential and insufficient. Like a child feeling unfairly disciplined, but disciplined nonetheless, I pleaded with empty hand outstretched: "I think you're making a mistake, Father." His red complexion redder now, betraying righteous anger. His stretched hand over the top of the Ciborium, the container for the consecrated bread as if I was going to grab a handful and make a run for it, and then the pronouncement: "No, you are the one who made the mistake."

The Day I Was Denied Communion.

See also Emily Mills's tale of the Verona, WI music director fired from the Catholic Church simply because he happens to be gay.