Thoughts from Trinity Church

A Word from Rome for Anglicans

2009-10-26T14:10:00.002-04:00

NOTE OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH ABOUT PERSONAL ORDINARIATES FOR ANGLICANS ENTERING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH , 20.10.2009

With the preparation of an Apostolic Constitution, the Catholic Church is responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion.

In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. Under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution, pastoral oversight and guidance will be provided for groups of former Anglicans through a Personal Ordinariate, whose Ordinary will usually be appointed from among former Anglican clergy.

The forthcoming Apostolic Constitution provides a reasonable and even necessary response to a world-wide phenomenon, by offering a single canonical model for the universal Church which is adaptable to various local situations and equitable to former Anglicans in its universal application. It provides for the ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy. Historical and ecumenical reasons preclude the ordination of married men as bishops in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Constitution therefore stipulates that the Ordinary can be either a priest or an unmarried bishop. The seminarians in the Ordinariate are to be prepared alongside other Catholic seminarians, though the Ordinariate may establish a house of formation to address the particular needs of formation in the Anglican patrimony. In this way, the Apostolic Constitution seeks to balance on the one hand the concern to preserve the worthy Anglican liturgical and spiritual patrimony and, on the other hand, the concern that these groups and their clergy will be integrated into the Catholic Church.

Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which has prepared this provision, said: "We have been trying to meet the requests for full communion that have come to us from Anglicans in different parts of the world in recent years in a uniform and equitable way. With this proposal the Church wants to respond to the legitimate aspirations of these Anglican groups for full and visible unity with the Bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter."

These Personal Ordinariates will be formed, as needed, in consultation with local Conferences of Bishops, and their structure will be similar in some ways to that of the Military Ordinariates which have been established in most countries to provide pastoral care for the members of the armed forces and their dependents throughout the world. "Those Anglicans who have approached the Holy See have made clear their desire for full, visible unity in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. At the same time, they have told us of the importance of their Anglican traditions of spirituality and worship for their faith journey," Cardinal Levada said.

The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. "The initiative has come from a number of different groups of Anglicans," Cardinal Levada went on to say: "They have declared that they share the common Catholic faith as it is expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and accept the Petrine ministry as something Christ willed for the Church. For them, the time has come to express this implicit unity in the visible form of full communion."

According to Levada: "It is the hope of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that the Anglican clergy and faithful who desire union with the Catholic Church will find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to them and consistent with the Catholic faith. Insofar as these traditions express in a distinctive way the faith that is held in common, they are a gift to be shared in the wider Church. The unity of the Church does not require a uniformity that ignores cultural diversity, as the history of Christianity shows. Moreover, the many diverse traditions present in the Catholic Church today are all rooted in the principle articulated by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians: ‘There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (4:5). Our communion is therefore strengthened by such legitimate diversity, and so we are happy that these men and women bring with them their particular contributions to our common life of faith."

Background information

Since the sixteenth century, when King Henry VIII declared the Church in England independent of Papal Authority, the Church of England has created its own doctrinal confessions, liturgical books, and pastoral practices, often incorporating ideas from the Reformation on the European continent. The expansion of the British Empire, together with Anglican missionary work, eventually gave rise to a world-wide Anglican Communion.

Throughout the more than 450 years of its history the question of the reunification of Anglicans and Catholics has never been far from mind. In the mid-nineteenth century the Oxford Movement (in England) saw a rekindling of interest in the Catholic aspects of Anglicanism. In the early twentieth century Cardinal Mercier of Belgium entered into well publicized conversations with Anglicans to explore the possibility of union with the Catholic Church under the banner of an Anglicanism "reunited but not absorbed".

At the Second Vatican Council hope for union was further nourished when the Decree on Ecumenism (n. 13), referring to communions separated from the Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation, stated that: "Among those in which Catholic traditions and institutions in part continue to exist, the Anglican Communion occupies a special place."

Since the Council, Anglican-Roman Catholic relations have created a much improved climate of mutual understanding and cooperation. The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) produced a series of doctrinal statements over the years in the hope of creating the basis for full and visible unity. For many in both communions, the ARCIC statements provided a vehicle in which a common expression of faith could be recognized. It is in this framework that this new provision should be seen.

In the years since the Council, some Anglicans have abandoned the tradition of conferring Holy Orders only on men by calling women to the priesthood and the episcopacy. More recently, some segments of the Anglican Communion have departed from the common biblical teaching on human sexuality—already clearly stated in the ARCIC document "Life in Christ"—by the ordination of openly homosexual clergy and the blessing of homosexual partnerships. At the same time, as the Anglican Communion faces these new and difficult challenges, the Catholic Church remains fully committed to continuing ecumenical engagement with the Anglican Communion, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

In the meantime, many individual Anglicans have entered into full communion with the Catholic Church. Sometimes there have been groups of Anglicans who have entered while preserving some "corporate" structure. Examples of this include, the Anglican diocese of Amritsar in India, and some individual parishes in the United States which maintained an Anglican identity when entering the Catholic Church under a "pastoral provision" adopted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope John Paul II in 1982. In these cases, the Catholic Church has frequently dispensed from the requirement of celibacy to allow those married Anglican clergy who desire to continue ministerial service as Catholic priests to be ordained in the Catholic Church.

In the light of these developments, the Personal Ordinariates established by the Apostolic Constitution can be seen as another step toward the realization the aspiration for full, visible union in the Church of Christ, one of the principal goals of the ecumenical movement.

The Jesus Prayer

2009-04-26T21:45:00.002-04:00

The Jesus Prayer (Η Προσευχή του Ιησού) or "The Prayer" (Euchee, Greek: Η Ευχή - the Wish), also called the Prayer of the Heart (Καρδιακή Προσευχή) and "Prayer of the Mind (Nous)" (Νοερά Προσευχή), is a short, formulaic prayer often uttered repeatedly. It has been widely used, taught and discussed throughout the history of the Eastern Churches. The exact words of the prayer have varied from the simplest possible involving Jesus' name to the more common extended form:

“Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ, Υιέ του Θεού, ελέησόν με τον αμαρτωλόν.”
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.”

The Jesus Prayer is for the Eastern Orthodox one of the most profound and mystical prayers and it is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice. Its practice is an integral part of the eremitic tradition of prayer known as Hesychasm (Greek: ἡσυχάζω, hesychazo, "to keep stillness"), the subject of the Philokalia (Greek: φιλοκαλείν, "love of beauty"), a collection of 4th to 15th century texts on prayer, compiled in the late 18th century by St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite and St. Makarios of Corinth. The monastic state of Mount Athos is a centre of the practice of the Jesus Prayer.

While its tradition, on historical grounds, also belongs to the Eastern Catholics and there have been a number of Roman Catholic texts on the Jesus Prayer, its practice has never achieved the same popularity in the Western Church as in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Moreover, the Eastern Orthodox theology of the Jesus Prayer enunciated in the 14th century by St. Gregory Palamas has never been fully accepted by the Roman Catholic Church. Nonetheless, in the Jesus Prayer there can be seen the Eastern counterpart of the Rosary, which has developed to hold a similar place in the Christian West.

(reprinted From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Prayer for our new president

2009-01-19T15:41:00.002-05:00

As we move to the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States of America the following prayer from the Book of Common Prayer reminds us all of the need to ask God's blessings during this special time in our country.

For the President of the United States and all in Civil Authority

O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this State and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

May God protect and keep our outgoing and incoming presidents and their families in His all encompassing love. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

An Open Letter to Trinity Parish

2009-01-02T13:34:00.001-05:00

The year 2009 is now upon us and as we look to the future we experience both hope and fear. After a seemingly endless election cycle, we now have a new president whose very campaign was about hope. As Barack Obama prepares to take office our prayers are with him that indeed this might be the time when together we shoulder the difficult tasks ahead.

Worry, doubt and fear assail us as we consider those daunting tasks before us. Can we, as a people, actually pull together and build and rebuild where necessary? The question of deep concern to everyone is where will 2009 take us?

It is thus amazing to me as your rector to observe the tremendous and heartfelt generosity of all of you in Trinity Parish. Despite the gloominess of the future and the financial crises of our personal and corporate lives, you have reached out to many people in need. You have fed the hungry, you have ensured people have clothing and you have given Christmas to children who would have had nothing! Many of your have experienced personal moments of pain in your own lives and yet you still keep giving of yourselves to the Lord’s work.

As Dollie and I enter our sixth year in Lumberton, we are proud to serve with you in this special calling God has laid upon us. We pray that God will continue to open doors of opportunity for our service together. May the blessing of God Almighty, +Father, Son and Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you always! Amen and Amen.

Dollie and Fr. Roger+

News about Lambeth

2008-07-23T16:22:00.000-04:00

Media discovers that Anglican divisions are not that new

By Ecumenical News International
22 Jul 2008

When the first Lambeth Conference opened in 1867, only 76 of the Anglican Communion's 144 bishops accepted an invitation by the Archbishop of Canterbury to attend because of disagreement among them about the way the church was shaping-up in British colonies - writes Trevor Grundy.
The impetus for the 1867 meeting came from the Anglican Church in Canada, concerned about the activities of the British-born bishop of Natal in South Africa, John Colenso. He was tolerating polygamy among African converts to Christianity, and questioning traditional doctrines about the Eucharist and eternal punishment.
When this year's Lambeth Conference opened in Canterbury on 16 July, many senior leaders of churches in Africa had absented themselves because of the issues of gay bishops, same-sex partnerships, Christian rights for lesbian women, and women bishops.
"For decades, women, gays, polygamy and venereal disease have divided the attendees," commentator Christopher Caldwell wrote in the Financial Times newspaper on 11 July. "At this year's conference, the bishops are expected to clash over the ordination of Gene Robinson, a non-celibate gay man, as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003."
Hundreds of journalists from all over the world have been accredited and some of them say there's only one "real" story around - that about Robinson. He has not been invited to the conference but will be in Canterbury to lobby for homosexual men and women. His story has already been prominent in television footage, radio airwaves and print columns.
Some senior church leaders say there is a danger that the "issue" of Robinson might hijack the conference which is called every 10 years to discuss matters of concern for the churches that make up the 77 million strong Anglican Communion. Were the issues around Robinson to do that it would be a tragedy, some senior church leaders told Ecumenical News International.
"I think that some Anglicans are bored with the issues that are dividing the Church," Bishop Nick Baines of Croydon in southern England told ENI. The Dean of Southwark, the Rev Colin Slee, added, "They want to get on with the real job of addressing social needs."
The 2008 Lambeth Conference was in June preceded by a meeting in Jerusalem of about 1000 senior Anglicans, many of them Africans, including almost 300 bishops, who set up a new global network to fight for what they called traditional biblical Anglicanism. The meeting, called the Global Anglican Future Conference, was widely seen as an "alternative" Lambeth Conference.
Following the Jerusalem meeting, bishops from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda are boycotting the 16 July - 3 August Lambeth Conference, along with several US bishops, and Michael Nazir-Ali, the bishop of Rochester, in southeast England.
Still, the Anglican church in Malawi has said it will attend the Lambeth Conference, despite its opposition to homosexual bishops, because it says it believes in dialogue rather than boycotts. South African bishops will also attend.
If full Christian rights are eventually given to homosexuals within the Anglican Communion, an exodus of clerics and like-minded members of the laity to the Roman Catholic Church is expected.
Asked how he felt about disunity in the Anglican Communion, the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, said: "We really don't rejoice at all. It diminishes the standing of Christianity."
[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.]

Lambeth Conference 2008

2008-07-15T17:30:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Lambeth Conference 2008 in Canterbury in England. The dates of the conference July 16th - August 3rd. Anglican Bishops gather every 10 years to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury and discuss important issues facing the world-wide Anglican communion. Please keep our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel, 3rd and all of the Bishops in your prayers during this important meeting. Fr. Roger+

The official website is: http://www.lambethconference.org and here is the welcome by the Archbishop of Canterbury,

Welcome to Canterbury for the 2008 Lambeth Conference. It is a real blessing to greet you as we begin our work together, and I pray that these days spent in reflection, prayer, discussion and fellowship will bear fruit in the life of the entire Communion in which God has called us to minister.
The chief aims of our time together are, first, that we become more confident in our Anglican identity, by deepening our awareness of how we are responsible to and for each other; and second, that we grow in energy and enthusiasm for our task of leading the work of mission in our Church.
Our ministry takes place in the context of a needy and divided world, in which there is both deep fear and great suffering. Jesus Christ says again and again to his disciples, 'Do not be afraid'. These are words which I hope will echo for us each day as we meet and talk here. But they will sound in our hearts only when we have our eyes fixed on the reality of Christ's unique saving person and on the world-transforming power of his resurrection.
Our Bible studies will help us concentrate on these things, as we are led through the Gospel of St John, reflecting on what Jesus says about himself. Our Communion is living through very difficult times and we are bound to be aware of the divisions and conflicts that have hurt us all in recent years. But, as the Lord says (John 16:35), it is in union with him that we shall find peace.
And that peace will be what makes the difference in our common life as a Church. More than that, it will be what shapes our whole engagement with the world. We do not offer a peace that is simply the result of the world's processes, but the peace of the Son's union with the Father in the Spirit, the eternal but ever-moving outpouring of love in communion. As we receive this and live our way into it, our whole vision of how the world is to be transfigured will change and develop.
In our Bible study groups and in the 'Indaba' groups that will meet daily, in which we hope everyone will feel able to give full voice to their aspirations and concerns, it is this vision that we must keep fresh. May God help all of us to be open to his leading and open to one another in Christ as we seek his will. God bless you in the days ahead. Remember that you are welcome here in Christ's name, welcome as a precious gift to the whole fellowship. May we be one so that the world will believe.
+Rowan Cantuar:Archbishop of Canterbury

Three Ways to Know a Saint

2008-04-08T23:14:00.002-04:00

First of all, a saint’s life is not dominated by things. Jesus said it best, of course--you cannot worship God and mammon. In today’s lesson we read, “Blessed are the poor . . .” We might argue over what Jesus meant by that, but it is crystal clear in the teachings of Jesus that he considered material possessions a potential detriment to Christian discipleship. We’re in love with things, and those things are becoming a substitute for healthy relationships. Our love of things is stronger than our desire to serve God. A saint, first of all, is not dominated by things.

Secondly, a saint is not focused on himself or herself, but upon God and others. This is why the saint can be blessed even when persecuted--a saint is not obsessed with position in society or the approval of others. It is ironic, isn’t it? The more people sit around and think about whether they are happy or not, the more miserable they are likely to be. If they would just forget themselves, they could really find life quite fulfilling.

Saints don’t take much time thinking about themselves. Their focus is on God and their neighbors. A saint doesn’t have to go to Calcutta like Mother Teresa, or Africa like Albert Schweitzer. But neither are they a part of the “Me” generation. They take life seriously, but not themselves. They know that life is too short to sit around and fret over little things. A saint is an important part of his or her church. An important part of his or her community. This brings me to the third characteristic of a saint.

A saint leaves the world a better place because he or she has been here. I love the way Frederick Beuchner once put it, “In his holy flirtation with the world, God occasionally drops a handkerchief. These handkerchiefs are called saints.” What does it take to be a saint? First of all, you can’t be hung up on material things. Second, you can’t be in love with yourself. To be a saint is to focus on God and those around you with the result that you leave the world a better place.

Laetare Sunday

2008-02-29T23:08:00.000-05:00

Lætare Sunday

Rejoice, O Jerusalem...

The Fourth Sunday of Lent is called Lætare (Rejoice) Sunday, from the first words of the liturgy [Introit] above. Since it is in the middle of Lent, like Gaudete Sunday midway through Advent, Lætare reminds us of the Event we look forward to at the end of the penitential season. As on Gaudete Sunday, rose-colored vestments may replace violet, symbolizing, the Church's joy in anticipation of the Resurrection.

In England, this Sunday is known as Mothering Sunday, a custom that arose during the Middle Ages, because the Epistle for the day said, "But Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all" [Galatians 4:26]. The Church is "Jerusalem which is above."

On Lætare Sunday people went to Church where they were baptized (their mother church); and visited their own mothers, as well, often bringing gifts of flowers and simnel cakes (so-called because they were made with fine white flour, or simila.) There are many different recipes for this cake, but all are fruit-cakes covered with almond paste. Mothering Sunday reminds us of the American Mother's Day, although the latter is a holiday honoring mothers which was originated in the early twentieth-century, and though similar, it is unrelated to the Lenten tradition of Mothering Sunday.

A Lenten Poem

2008-02-02T23:40:00.000-05:00

Lenten Thoughts

Embrace each day with joy
Give thanks for gift of life;
Living in borrowed time
In simple joy, delight.

Beauty is everywhere
If we but dare to look
Within ourselves, others
Or sound of nature's brook.

Blooming flowers, bird's songs
In warmth of sun-filled day,
Kind words and warm smile
Laughter in children's play.

We are all sojourners
And life is but fleeting,
Long after we are gone
Bad or good deeds remain.

For we are truly dust
To dust we shall return,
Power, riches, and fame
We leave after sojourn.

So resurrected Lord
In Your divine wisdom,
Guide us simple mortals
Right path to Your kingdom.

by Victor P. Gendrano

Thoughts for Lent by Richard Bastable

2008-01-21T13:14:00.000-05:00

Lenten Disciplines

I’m writing this having recently returned from Ely where I attended a Selection Conference for training for Ordained Ministry. My head is awash with interviews, presentations and rather preoccupied with the pending result. However, as I begin to think about Lent coming upon us one aspect of it all seems particularly pertinent.

In our discussion group we somehow got on to the issue of all ordained clergy in the Church of England being required by Canon Law to say Morning and Evening Prayer, and whether or not this one a good thing. I was surprised (not least that some candidates had never heard of Canon Law!) that many of the candidates thought that it was unreasonable that the Church should make such demands on us. In our heavily individualistic contemporary society we resent that idea that anyone else should make demands on us or tell us what to do. We shy away from the idea of discipline because it all seems so terribly antiquated and unfashionable. I believe that as Christians we ought to be trying to reclaim discipline as a positive thing.

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ means to follow in his way, to freely submit ourselves to his discipline. Can we maintain that discipline is a bad thing? Lent is a particularly good time to start thinking about discipline and how it can be a healthy thing. Most of the disciplines of the Church are not new ideas dreamt up by the hierarchy yesterday to try to keep us in check. They are ancient, tried and tested, hallowed customs that actually do us some good: regular prayer, receiving communion, going to confession, giving what we can to charity, supporting the weak and vulnerable, playing our part in our community. All these and many other such things help us to grow as Christians in the gifts of faith and love. We wouldn’t expect a plant to grow unless we watered it, sometimes it will need pruning to encourage new growth. We cannot expect to grow as people of God unless we come to Christ, the Living Water, regularly, and unless we rid ourselves of those things that hamper our relationship with him. These are aspects of the Church’s discipline too.

Jesus does not call us to be independent or individualistic, he asks us to be dependent on him and to become members of his community – the Church. He asks us to submit ourselves to his discipline because as our God and our Friend he knows and wants only what is best for us. During Lent the Church invites us to examine our relationship with Christ, to see how engaged we are in his discipleship. We might discover that we want to undertake a new discipline during Lent, sometimes this will be the traditional giving up of something, other times we might take something up. In either case it is important to know why we are doing this: we are seeking to deepen our discipleship.

Let us hope and pray that our Lenten disciplines will help us to draw nearer to Christ to be ready to enter into the Paschal Mystery of Holy Week and Easter with him, and that we will be able to reclaim discipline as a positive thing: the deeper engagement in our Christian discipleship.

With love in Christ Jesus,
Richard
Richard Bastable
One time Pastoral Assistant at St Pancras Old Church, now at Westcott House

Vision in the Church

2008-01-16T21:48:00.000-05:00

VISION IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT
In Proverbs 29:18 the writer says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The word “vision” was commonly used as the revelation of God’s will to the prophets. Prophetic vision was extremely important in Old Testament times as it gave people a sense of where God wanted to lead them. One of the darkest times in the history of Israel was when there “was no open vision” (I Sam. 3:1); at such a time the people “perish” or “are left to run wild.”
The New Testament church was born as a fulfillment to the prophet Joel’s words: “Your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). The church continues to move ahead when there are church leaders out in front dreaming dreams and casting a vision of the future for their members. A professor at the Harvard University School of Business recently said, “The task of leadership is change. Leaders inspire others to their best efforts in order to do better, to attain higher purposes. Leaders are not satisfied with the status quo. They are not satisfied with maintaining things as they are. They are idealists who believe things can be better.”
Indeed a church without a clear vision is one without purpose or direction. Yet many churches don’t take the time to articulate a clear vision for their church. Yes, the church is to be about evangelism, ministry, worship and discipleship, but vision more specifically communicates how the church leaders see their church accomplishing such in its local church context.

Edited by Phil Ware and Paul Lee.

Vision for the Future

2008-01-14T19:56:00.000-05:00

A family was driving through Kansas on vacation. Five-year-old Tyler was looking out the car window. “Boy,” he said, “it’s so flat out there, you can look farther than you can see.”
That’s a great phrase--“you can look farther than you can see.” Let’s talk for a few moments today about “looking farther than you can see.”

In our secular language, an epiphany is a new way of seeing or understanding. It is so appropriate that we should begin a new year with an epiphany, a new way of seeing, a vision.

Vision. Seeing in the world new possibilities. That is what I wish for each of us this day. The magi came searching. Their search took them on a journey of faith. When they found the newborn king they offered him gifts, gifts that represented the best that was in them. This is the kind of vision we need as we begin this New Year--a vision to build new lives and a new world.

The Prayer Matrix

2007-11-27T15:22:00.001-05:00

I ran across these thoughts on prayer today while sitting in doctor's waiting room to get my labs done for my appointment tomorrow. It's from the book, "The Prayer Matrix" by Dr. David Jeremiah, senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community church in San Diego, California. As he was struggling with cancer, he came to the realization that, "God has hard-wired the universe in such a way that He works primarily through prayer." The reason we pray is not to convince God to overcome his reluctance to help us but rather that he designed the universe so that he could work through our prayers to accomplish things. He points out that God doesn't give us what we want just when we think we want it but that we should take seriously the verse from James 4:2, "Yet you do not have because you do not ask."

Dr. Jeremiah quotes from Oswald Chambers; "Prayer does not fit us for the greater works, prayer is the greatest work." He points out that you and I can give our lives to a ministry of prayer and as a result touch many people, places and situations around the world.

BEING

2007-11-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

I subscribe to an email "thought for the day." Today's thought really spoke to me as we approach this busy, busy time of year. Thought I would share it with you:

Our Fundamental Being
Evelyn Underhill
"We mostly spend [our] lives conjugating three verbs: to Want, to Have, and to Do. Craving, clutching, and fussing, on the material, political, social, emotional, intellectual, even on the religious plane, we are kept in perpetual unrest: forgetting that none of these verbs have any ultimate significance, except so far as they are transcended by and included in, the fundamental verb, to Be: and that Being, not wanting, having and doing, is the essence of the spiritual life."

A Day of Remembering

2007-09-11T08:07:00.000-04:00

At our service of Morning Prayer we placed a lighted candle on the altar in remembrance of the victims and their families of the tragedies that took place on September 11, 2001. It is easy to let this time slip past without remembering. We are busy and in all honesty it doesn't directly affect us. In a CNN poll this morning, people were divided in roughly thirds about the security of our country today. Approximately 1/3 felt it was more secure, 1/3 felt it was about the same, and 1/3 felt it was worse than before the 9/11 attacks. Even as the presentations before the Senate today seek to justify the current situation in Iraq, the debate increases about what course of action to take next. All of this discussion is essential. I just don't want to forget what this day means to so many who lost loved ones and the terror that was experienced by those who were on the streets of New York that day. I visited the site a few months after the event in the company of many priests and lay persons who worked to provide support in the aftermath. It was a humbling experience to hear their stories and to see the remnants of the devastation. May God be with all those who gave so much on this day and may God help us not to forget the sacrifices they made. I found this prayer for the day and would like to share it with you. God of the ages, before your eyes all empires rise and fall yet you are changeless. Be near us in this age of terror and in these moments of remembrance. Uphold those who work and watch and wait and weep and love. By your Spirit give rise in us to broad sympathy for all the peoples of your earth. Strengthen us to comfort those who mourn and work in large ways and small for those things that make for peace. Bless the people and leaders of this nation and all nations so that warfare, like slavery before it, may become only a historic memory. We pray in the strong name of the Prince of Peace. Amen. Fr. Roger+

Barbara Kingsolver Book

2007-08-23T13:08:00.001-04:00

Just wondering if anyone has read Barbara Kingsolver's new non-fiction book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." And if so, what did you think?

Prayers for the 10th Anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales

2007-08-23T10:32:00.000-04:00

The Church of England has published two prayers on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The prayers, written by the Archbishop of Canterbury, will be used at the memorial service at the Guards Chapel on August 31st. They will also be available for use in churches around the country.

God our Father, we remember before you Diana, Princess of Wales, and offer you our gratitude for all the memories of her that we treasure still. Her vulnerability and her willingness to reach out to the excluded and forgotten touched us all; her generosity gave hope and joy to many. May she rest in peace where sorrow and pain are banished, and may the everlasting light of your merciful love shine upon her; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Father eternal, unfailing source of peace to all who seek you, we entrust to your love and protection all for whom this anniversary of the tragic and untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales reawakens the pains of grief and loss. Comfort all who mourn, that casting all their cares upon you, they may be filled with your gifts – of new life, of courage and of hope; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the last sentence of this prayer especially be with all who mourn this day.

The Old Question

2007-08-22T07:56:00.000-04:00

One of the oldest questions in my mind is the one about evil. Where did it come from? Since I believe God created everything, and evil is a member of the set "everything," then mustn't God have created evil? I know this is logical, but it does not produce an answer I like. I believe that God has both mercy and judgment among His attributes, and that judgment -- when it comes down on you -- can seem pretty evil at the moment. But a loving God creating evil: that's just too much! So, the old question: did God create evil (cf. Judges 9:23 "Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem..." and I Samuel 16:14 "But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him..."), or did He just create the potential for evil by given us free will?

God's Name

2007-08-16T22:06:00.000-04:00

How do you address God? This week a Dutch Roman Catholic Bishop floated the idea that we should start using "Allah" when speaking of God in worship. He said that it was a beautiful name for God and why shouldn't Christians use it as well. The local Imam took some exception with this suggestion and told reporters that the local Muslim community was not behind this and was afraid it would cause trouble between the two communities. It reminds us that the real question is probably not what God is called but rather what we believe about God that matters. Some people speak of God as "a higher power" and some as the "creator" and there are many other names that are used by human beings. Again, our faith is about our response to the being we usually call God not the name we use. Fr. Roger+

Collect of the Day

2007-08-15T10:39:00.000-04:00

O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

-------Book of Common Prayer

Feast Day of St. Mary the Virgin

2007-08-15T10:01:00.000-04:00

Today in the Anglican calendar of saints we feature the Blessed Virgin Mary the mother of our Lord. Sometimes we may be a bit timid in our thinking about Mary especially if we were raised in a Protestant church background. Afraid that maybe our Roman Catholic friends have gone too far in their devotion to Mary, some of us go in the other direction. I believe that her commitment and dedication to following God's will for her life provide the greatest example for all Christians to follow. When the angel approached her with the news that she would bear a son who would be called "the son of the most high" and "His kingdom will have no end," she asked, "How can this be?" The angel replied that "nothing will be impossible with God." Her response was one of acceptance for all that lay ahead even if she didn't completely understand. "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." I'm pretty sure Mary didn't have this scenario in mind when she thought about what her family life would be like. She was able to overcome her surprise and her doubts and give her life over completely to God. As later events would prove it wasn't the easy way of life that was laid out for her. She was among the women who stood weeping at the cross, I'm sure a most sorrowful experience. Through it all she remained a devout follower and believer.

Fr. Roger+

Working on Website

2007-08-11T17:44:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't been able to post anything this week. I have been rebuilding the church website. I will be back next week. Thanks. Fr. Roger+

Care of the Spiritual Life

2007-07-31T12:47:00.000-04:00

I was reading a newspaper article that appeared in the July 18th edition of The Robesonian. It was entitled, “Budding futures” and was by horticulturist Maureen Gilmer. She was writing about the care and feeding of roses during the hot summer months. She said, “If your roses tend to wane, perhaps it’s not the heat, but lack of attention, nourishment and pruning.”

That advice immediately brought me to the questions I sometimes have about the church in the summertime. Perhaps it’s too hot to have a spiritual life and so I look for an easier way. Isn’t there a shortcut to God that can bypass all this religion stuff? Is worship actually necessary for Christians when the humidity is above 90%? You’re assuming the answer is yes especially since the priest is writing this.

I do believe the answer is yes but not because I like to write down big numbers in the parish register so the Bishop will be impressed during his visitation. Rather, the advice of the horticulturist for the care of roses is also sound advice for our spiritual journey. Our spiritual life requires attention, nourishment and pruning even when it’s hot outside!

Attending worship, spending time in prayer, and reading the Bible and Book of Common Prayer are essential ways to provide the attention and nourishment our spiritual lives need year round. Confession is also a tried and true method for the “pruning” all of us can use from time to time. Despite the heat and humidity of August in North Carolina, your spiritual life can continue to grow. “May the Lord, Jesus Christ look upon you to keep you and bless you.”

Prayer

2007-07-28T20:57:00.000-04:00

It was mentioned to me this week that some of the people on our "prayers of the people" prayer list are also being remembered in the prayers of other churches in our community. Prayer seems to be one area where we share across denominational lines. It is interesting that in other areas people may question the beliefs or practices of a church but when it comes to prayer, all Christians seem able to understand that we can unite our hearts and thoughts.

Tomorrow's gospel is the prayer that Jesus gave the disciples and we now call "The Lord's Prayer." After observing the power of Jesus at prayer they wanted to learn how to pray in the same way. Another way of understanding this pattern of prayer is to use the acronym, "ACTS" or Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication or Intercession.

Adoration. Adoration is to adore God, to worship him and to fulfil the commandment to love him with all of our heart, mind and soul. Confession allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God which are displeasing to Him. Thanksgiving. We need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings. Supplication or Intercession. Finally we come to ask God for our needs and the needs of others.

Fr. Roger+

St. Mary Magdalene

2007-07-22T19:26:00.000-04:00

Today is the feast day of St. Mary Magdalene. She was honored in the early church as the first person recorded as seeing Our Lord after his resurrection. Later, some biblical scholars connected her to the unnamed sinful woman who anointed the feet of Jesus in Luke 7:36-50. Because of this connection it was thought that she was a prostitute and so she went from being one of the most honored women in the church to one of the most maligned.

Most Scripture scholars today point out that there is no scriptural basis for confusing the two women. Mary Magdalene, that is, “of Magdala,” was the one from whom Christ cast out “seven demons” (Luke 8:2)—an indication, at the worst, of extreme demonic possession or, possibly, severe illness. After her healing she apparently became a great supporter of Jesus' and the Apostle's ministry. She stood at the cross with Jesus mother and was a witness to the resurrection.

In our own time the book and movie "The DaVinci Code" has named her as Jesus wife and that she bore his child. After Jesus death she supposedly escaped to France and eventually England where she died in old age. Maybe controversy will always be attached to her name but I wonder if she would even be concerned about it. Probably, she would point us back to her healing as the sign of the love of Christ for all of us no matter our situation.

"Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

Neighbors in the Church

2007-07-17T15:56:00.000-04:00

The previous discussion about the church is a helpful reminder to all of us who consider ourselves a part of the body of Christ. In last Sunday's gospel reading, the question was asked, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus laid out the answer in terms of action. The last person who would be expected to care actually did care and took care of the man beaten and left by the side of the road. How was the Samaritan able to do this? How was he able to even approach the Jewish man who was a sworn enemy?

St. Augustine said something that may help with understanding this. He said we should treat the neighbor as we wish him to become. ". . . each of us should consider everyone as we wish him to become, even if he has not become so. . . . We ought to deal with a person in such a way that he will cease to be an outsider. Regard him as your neighbor already, rather than as an outsider."

I believe St. Augustine was saying that when you regard everyone in the best light possible you make it as though they have already become your neighbor. Accepting them as they are may be another way of saying it as well. As we reach out into our community may our church be a place of acceptance.

We remember William White

2007-07-15T21:49:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, July 17 is the feast of William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania.

William White was born in Philadelphia in 1747, went to England in 1770 to be ordained deacon and priest, returned in 1772 and became first an assistant and then the rector of the Church of Christ and Saint Peter in Philadelphia. He served as Chaplain of the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1789, and then as Chaplain of the Senate.

In 1787 William White and Samuel Provoost, having been elected to the bishoprics of Pennsylvania and New York respectively, sailed to England and were consecrated bishops on 14 February by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and the Bishop of Peterborough.

William White was instrumental in developing the church government of the Episcopal Church. He served as the presiding Bishop for the first General Convention held in 1789 which among many items of business adopted the first Book of Common Prayer for the American church.

O Lord, in a time of turmoil and confusion you raised up your servant William White, and endowed him with wisdom, patience, and a reconciling temper, that he might lead your Church into ways of stability and peace: Hear our prayer, and give us wise and faithful leaders, that through their ministry your people may be blessed and your will be done; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A faithful servant

2007-07-14T12:59:00.000-04:00

In Sunday's reading from Colossians (Colossians 1:7-8), the writer mentions the person Epaphras. Delt with in just a couple of sentences, the words that describe Epaphras are quite interesting for people searching out what it means to be a person of faith today. Paul states that he is a "fellow servant" loved for the work he is doing for the congregation in Colossae. He is described as being "faithful" which means to me he is steady in the journey of faith, not necessarily flashy. Epaphras is someone you can depend on!

The second description of note is that he also spoke to Paul of the love of the people of the congregation in Colossae. In other words he gave them every credit for the great work they were doing as young Christians. He passed on all the good things about them. That is certainly a wonderful quality. Telling about others good points is a great way to build people up and build up a congregation at the same time. I'm glad Epaphras got two sentences in the Bible. He's just the kind of person we can all emulate.

One definition of the church

2007-07-11T15:46:00.000-04:00

The Book of Common Prayer (1979) catechism (page 854) states in answer to the question, "What is the Church?" that "The Church is the community of the New Covenant." My understanding of the new covenant is that it is a new promise or agreement with God that came into existence with the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Our relationship to God is restored. In fact the catechism points to that as the mission of the Church. "To restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ." Obviously, there is quite a bit of disagreement about what the unity with God looks like on the ground and even more controversy about what unity with each other in Christ means in today's post modern world. Given the Pope's latest thoughts on the subject and the response it received, we are not going to come to an agreement any time soon. Yet, I believe we need to continue to search out our understanding of the Church even if a common understanding seems farther away. Giving people the opportunity to strengthen their relationship with God and each other is still work of the church.

A real church?

2007-07-10T21:57:00.000-04:00

His Holiness Benedict XVI approved the release today of a statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It was a statement about the nature of the church. It pointed out that faith communities outside the Roman Catholic Church are defective because their ordinations are not in apostolic succession and thus cannot be called "churches." Several Protestant leaders have responded negatively to this as you might suspect.

The Pope has been going back over the results of Vatican II and publishing corrections to what he views as erroneous interpretations by previous theologians. When I was in seminary, we were all excited by Vactican II because we thought it would open up new relationships across denominational boundaries. Today's statements remind us that crossing denominational boundaries will probably not be successful at the denominational headquarters level. More likely it will take place on a person to person level as we share with one another as neighbors. Christ laid out for us the admonition that we should love one another. May God grant all of us that kind of love in these days.