CANTERBURY & ROME? Cardinal Kasper's words . . .

IT'S WHAT WE HAVE SAID SINCE 1992 - and the so-called "liberal catholics" (sadly, both Anglican and Roman!) consistently told us we were wrong.

Well, yesterday at the Lambeth Conference, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that the Catholic Church believes its position on both sexuality and the ordination of women is “deeply rooted in Scripture.”

According to ZENIT, he went on:

“A clear declaration from the Anglican Communion [on sexuality] would offer us greater possibilities to provide a common testimony on human sexuality and matrimony, a testimony painfully necessary for the world of today.”

He also said that the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate “substantially and definitively blocks a possible recognition of Anglican orders by the Catholic Church.”

The cardinal recalled Church teaching that the practice of ordaining only men comes directly from Christ, and the Church is not in a position to change it.

As a result of women’s ordination, “full, visible communion, as the objective of our dialogue, has taken a step backward, [so] that our dialogue will have less defined objectives and, therefore, its nature will be changed.

“Though this dialogue can still produce good results, it will not be supported by the dynamism that comes from the realistic possibility of the union that Christ demands of us or of the common participation at the table of the one Lord, which we desire so ardently.”

Never mind all those Anglicans and all those Roman Catholics who have prayed, worked, and dialogued towards reunion, or those of us who were ordained into a church that had already solemnly and publicly committed itself to the vision of the Malines Conversations and reiterated by Pope Paul VI, that is, that as Anglicans we would be "united but not absorbed."

Never mind that even Archbishop Robert Runcie, who on a number of occasions described Anglicanism as a "provisional way of being Christian", signed a declaration with Pope John Paul II as recently as 1989:

" . . . Against the background of human disunity the arduous journey to Christian unity must be pursued with determination and vigour whatever obstacles are perceived to block the path. We here commit ourselves and those we represent to the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the confidence that to seek anything less would be to betray our Lord's intention for the unity of his people."

The extreme liberals in the Anglican Communion have destroyed the dream. Not OUR dream. Along with our leaders back then, we believed - and still believe - it to be the dream of Jesus himself.

The damage has been done.

We must still believe and pray toward unity, because that is what God wants. Sadly, it will not happen until well into the future, contrary to the expectation of those - on both sides - who inaugurated the ARCIC talks.

Anyway, for old times' sake, here are some of the memories:

PENTECOST 1982:
Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Robert Runcie entering Canterbury Cathedral together.

PENTECOST 1982:
Praying together at the nave altar.

PENTECOST 1982:
Having signed the declaration . . .

". . . We are agreed that it is now time to set up a new international Commission. Its task will be to continue the work already begun: to examine, especially in the light of our respective judgments on the Final Report, the outstanding doctrinal differences which still separate us, with a view towards their eventual resolution; to study all that hinders the mutual recognition of the ministries of our Communions; and to recommend what practical steps will be necessary when, on the basis of our unity in faith, we are able to proceed to the restoration of full communion . . ."

The entire document is HERE.

How many CHURCHGOING Anglicans does Lambeth represent?

A lot of things have been said over the last few months about just who represents whom in the Anglican world. GAFCON, for example, is pilloried by the media and the leadership at Lambeth as a "breakaway" movement.

But, is this right?

Already some journalists are beginning to realize that while the Lambeth Conference might have a large number of bishops in attendance, those bishops actually represent a SMALL MINORITY of the world's Anglicans.

I have done some informed arithmetic, and the result is surprising.

When provinces such as Nigeria count "Anglicans" they mean those who actually go to church. In the First World the number of "Anglicans" includes those who are "C. of E." but who never darken the door of a church, many of whom are plainly not even "believers" in any real sense of the term. Now, I'm not saying that they don't matter, that we don't love them, that we don't have a ministry to them, or that they're they're not distantly related to us.

What I AM saying is that we should compare apples with apples, so as to avoid the figures being skewed (and perhaps grossly exaggerated) by the inclusion of "non-practising" or "nominal" Anglicans in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, increasingly in South Africa, and even, I'm told, Brazil.

In Australia, for example, there are just under 4 million Anglicans, according to the last census (2006). But we know that the National Life Church Survey puts attendees on any given Sunday at 180,000. (Even that figure is skewed in terms of the real picture when the disproportionate chunk of Sydney Diocese is taken into account!)

However, to get a true comparison, let's subtract from 75 million the estimated number of "nominal" Anglicans:

24 million (Eng)

3.8 million (Aust)

3.2 million (others in New Zealand, USA, Canada, South Africa, Brazil etc) and you get . . .

44 million Anglicans who actively identify with their church on Sundays.

Of those, 39 to 40 million are the "Global South", AND WERE MOSTLY REPRESENTED AT GAFCON.

Only 4, maybe 5, million come from liberal "First World" Anglicanism.

So . . .

39 million (GAFCON) as against 5 million (Lambeth).

That should put the Lambeth Conference in its place!

So . . . WHO are the "breakaways"?

World Youth Day - A Blessing for Australia!

Apart from the mean-spirited whingeing miserable "liberal" Catholics who with the aid of the ABC (our national broadcaster) are still trying to adapt the Church to their memory of the 1960s (supported loudly by liberal Anglicans, other liberal protestants and the anti-religion faction in our society), the people of Sydney in particular, and Australia in general, overwhelmingly found themselves swept up in the spirit of the World Youth Day celebrations.

Sydney is my home town, although I haven't lived there for 28 years, and I was so proud and excited that the breathtaking beauty of its harbour and other landmarks has been seen by the world in a new way. The city itself became a stunning sacred shrine for the most amazing experience of the Stations of the Cross, televised to an estimated half billion people around the world.

I managed to view the telecast of the Mass celebrated by Cardinal Pell at Barangaroo on the shore of the harbour, as well as most of the Stations of the Cross. Those responsible for the liturgical planning have to be congratulated for seamlessly blending the old and the new. The juxtaposition of modern music, hymns and even Gregorian chant was skilfully done, and the altar arrangements and ceremonial (there and in the final Mass) made it quite clear that "catholic-lite" is becoming a thing of the past!

The pilgrims themselves represented the breadth of the Catholic Church, and demonstrably ranged from those with charismatic renewal backgrounds to communities who worship with the 1962 Latin Missal, and everyone in between. But clearly, as Cardinal Pell once quipped, "These days it's hard to find a so-called 'progressive Catholic' under 50!" On the whole, the youth who have remained or who have been evangelised in recent times want the REAL Gospel, the REAL Faith and the REAL Jesus!

And that's who Pope Benedict proclaimed. He didn't patronise the youth by dumbing down what he had to say. Indeed, some admitted to the media that they would have to re-read particular addresses in order fully to digest what he was saying. But the pilgrims from all over the world expressed their love and affection for the Holy Father throughout the week. And they were reverently and expectantly hushed as he spoke to them of their role in the Church and the wider community over the decades ahead.

The Traditional Anglican Communion had at the very least two official pilgrims. Ray Eyles, a professional media man and retired TV producer from our Mermaid Beach parish covered World Youth Day for The Messenger, and recently ordained Fr Stephen Hill from Patmos House (slightly more youthful than Ray!!!) took time off to be part of it all.

In St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (19/7/2008)

Randwick Racecourse, Sydney (20/7/2008)

Randwick Racecourse, Sydney (20/7/2008)

Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, the Altar (20/7/2008)

Pope Benedict gave a number of addresses, including the following:

At his welcome by the young people at Barangaroo, Sydney Harbour (17/7/2008):

"Dear Young People,

"What a delight it is to greet you here at Barangaroo, on the shores of the magnificent Sydney harbour, with its famous bridge and Opera House. Many of you are local, from the outback or the dynamic multicultural communities of Australian cities. Others of you have come from the scattered islands of Oceania, and others still from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. Some of you, indeed, have come from as far as I have, Europe! Wherever we are from, we are here at last in Sydney. And together we stand in our world as God’s family, disciples of Christ, empowered by his Spirit to be witnesses of his love and truth for everyone."
Click HERE to read the whole address.

At his meeting with a group of disadvantaged young people of a rehabilitation community (18/7/2008):

". . . All through the Gospels, it was those who had taken wrong turnings who were particularly loved by Jesus, because once they recognized their mistake, they were all the more open to his healing message. Indeed, Jesus was often criticized by self-righteous members of society for spending so much time with such people.

“Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?”, they asked. He responded: “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick … I did not come to call the virtuous but sinners” (cf. Mt 9:11-13). It was those who were willing to rebuild their lives who were most ready to listen to Jesus and become his disciples. You can follow in their footsteps, you too can grow particularly close to Jesus because you have chosen to turn back towards him. You can be sure that, just like the Father in the story of the prodigal son, Jesus welcomes you with open arms. He offers you unconditional love . . ."
Click HERE to read the whole address.

To the pilgrims gathered for the Vigil at Randwick Racecourse on the Saturday night (19/7/2008):

"Once again this evening we have heard Christ’s great promise – 'you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you'. And we have heard his summons – 'be my witnesses throughout the world' – (Acts 1:8). These were the very last words which Jesus spoke before his Ascension into heaven. How the Apostles felt upon hearing them, we can only imagine. But we do know that their deep love for Jesus, and their trust in his word, prompted them to gather and to wait; to wait not aimlessly, but together, united in prayer, with the women and Mary in the Upper Room (cf. Acts 1:14). Tonight, we do the same. Gathered before our much-travelled Cross and the icon of Mary, and under the magnificent constellation of the Southern Cross, we pray. Tonight, I am praying for you and for young people throughout the world. Be inspired by the example of your Patrons! Accept into your hearts and minds the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit! Recognize and believe in the power of the Spirit in your lives!"
Click HERE to read the whole address.

Homily at the Final Mass at Randwick Racecourse (20/7/2008):

". . . this power, the grace of the Spirit, is not something we can merit or achieve, but only receive as pure gift. God’s love can only unleash its power when it is allowed to change us from within. We have to let it break through the hard crust of our indifference, our spiritual weariness, our blind conformity to the spirit of this age. Only then can we let it ignite our imagination and shape our deepest desires. That is why prayer is so important: daily prayer, private prayer in the quiet of our hearts and before the Blessed Sacrament, and liturgical prayer in the heart of the Church. Prayer is pure receptivity to God’s grace, love in action, communion with the Spirit who dwells within us, leading us, through Jesus, in the Church, to our heavenly Father. In the power of his Spirit, Jesus is always present in our hearts, quietly waiting for us to be still with him, to hear his voice, to abide in his love, and to receive 'power from on high', enabling us to be salt and light for our world.

". . . Dear young people, let me now ask you a question. What will you leave to the next generation? Are you building your lives on firm foundations, building something that will endure? Are you living your lives in a way that opens up space for the Spirit in the midst of a world that wants to forget God, or even rejects him in the name of a falsely-conceived freedom? How are you using the gifts you have been given, the 'power' which the Holy Spirit is even now prepared to release within you? What legacy will you leave to young people yet to come? What difference will you make . . ."
Click HERE to read the whole homily.

Finally, I was not the only one to have been deeply moved by the Holy Father's Angelus Address following the Mass. Here it is in full:

"Dear Young Friends,

"In the beautiful prayer that we are about to recite, we reflect on Mary as a young woman, receiving the Lord’s summons to dedicate her life to him in a very particular way, a way that would involve the generous gift of herself, her womanhood, her motherhood. Imagine how she must have felt. She was filled with apprehension, utterly overwhelmed at the prospect that lay before her.

"The angel understood her anxiety and immediately sought to reassure her. 'Do not be afraid, Mary…. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you' (Lk 1:30, 35). It was the Spirit who gave her the strength and courage to respond to the Lord’s call. It was the Spirit who helped her to understand the great mystery that was to be accomplished through her. It was the Spirit who enfolded her with his love and enabled her to conceive the Son of God in her womb.

"This scene is perhaps the pivotal moment in the history of God’s relationship with his people. During the Old Testament, God revealed himself partially, gradually, as we all do in our personal relationships. It took time for the chosen people to develop their relationship with God. The Covenant with Israel was like a period of courtship, a long engagement. Then came the definitive moment, the moment of marriage, the establishment of a new and everlasting covenant. As Mary stood before the Lord, she represented the whole of humanity. In the angel’s message, it was as if God made a marriage proposal to the human race. And in our name, Mary said yes.

"In fairy tales, the story ends there, and all 'live happily ever after'. In real life it is not so simple. For Mary there were many struggles ahead, as she lived out the consequences of the 'yes' that she had given to the Lord. Simeon prophesied that a sword would pierce her heart. When Jesus was twelve years old, she experienced every parent’s worst nightmare when, for three days, the child went missing. And after his public ministry, she suffered the agony of witnessing his crucifixion and death. Throughout her trials she remained faithful to her promise, sustained by the Spirit of fortitude. And she was gloriously rewarded.

"Dear young people, we too must remain faithful to the 'yes' that we have given to the Lord’s offer of friendship. We know that he will never abandon us. We know that he will always sustain us through the gifts of the Spirit. Mary accepted the Lord’s 'proposal' in our name. So let us turn to her and ask her to guide us as we struggle to remain faithful to the life-giving relationship that God has established with each one of us. She is our example and our inspiration, she intercedes for us with her Son, and with a mother’s love she shields us from harm."

Let's all pray for the pilgrims, that, empowered by these days of conversion, celebration and spiritual renewal, they will, as Pope Benedict said, use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to build the church and world of the future.

Mary of Magdala

Mary Magdalene belonged to the inner circle of the Lord’s disciples. “Magdalene” indicates the place of her birth, Magdala, a town in Galilee, on the west shore of the Lake of Tiberias.

At a time of great need in her life Jesus healed her of evil spirits and disease. In fact we read that he had driven seven demons out of her (Mark 8:2).

I don’t really want to buy into the age-old debate as to whether or not Mary Magdalene was the prostitute who received new life from Jesus, or the one who in loving thanksgiving for sins forgiven poured rare perfume worth $35,000 (i.e. 300 days’ wages) over his feet.

We DO know, however, that Mary Magdalene spent the rest of her life serving the Lord.

She was one of the women who travelled with Jesus around the countryside, supporting his ministry with her own funds (Luke 8:1-3). She was part of the tiny sorrowful community at the foot of the cross, close to Jesus as he died. When most of the other disciples fled, she followed as the body of Jesus was taken to the tomb and watched as the stone was rolled into place (Matthew 27:55-61).

Mary Magdalene hurried back to the tomb on Sunday morning with spices and perfume to care for the body of Jesus. That’s when she found the stone rolled away and encountered him, risen from the dead, in the garden. She carried the Easter message to the other followers of Jesus, becoming the “apostle to the apostles” (John 20:1-18).

Here is part of the famous homily on St Mary Magdalene by Pope Gregory the Great (590-604), taken from today's Office of Readings:

"She longed for Christ, though she thought he had been taken away When Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and did not find the Lord’s body, she thought it had been taken away and so informed the disciples. After they came and saw the tomb, they too believed what Mary had told them.

"The text then says: The disciples went back home, and it adds: but Mary wept and remained standing outside the tomb. We should reflect on Mary’s attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained. She was still seeking the one she had not found, and while she sought she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for him who she thought had been taken away.

"And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him. For perseverance is essential to any good deed, as the voice of truth tells us: Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved. At first she sought but did not find, but when she persevered it happened that she found what she was looking for. When our desires are not satisfied, they grow stronger, and becoming stronger they take hold of their object. Holy desires likewise grow with anticipation, and if they do not grow they are not really desires. Anyone who succeeds in attaining the truth has burned with such a great love.

"As David says: My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God? And so also in the Song of Songs the Church says: I was wounded by love; and again: My soul is melted with love. Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek? She is asked why she is sorrowing so that her desire might be strengthened; for when she mentions whom she is seeking, her love is kindled all the more ardently.

"Jesus says to her: Mary. Jesus is not recognised when he calls her “woman”; so he calls her by name, as though he were saying: Recognise me as I recognise you; for I do not know you as I know others; I know you as yourself. And so Mary, once addressed by name, recognises who is speaking. She immediately calls him rabboni, that is to say, teacher, because the one whom she sought outwardly was the one who inwardly taught her to keep on searching."

O ALMIGHTY God,
whose blessed Son did call and sanctify Mary Magdalene
to be a witness to his resurrection :
Mercifully grant that by thy grace
we may be healed of all our infirmities,
and always serve thee in the power of his endless life,
who with thee and the Holy Ghost
liveth and reigneth one God,
world without end. Amen.

Go HERE for a Canadian sermon on St Mary Magdalene.

Go HERE for a great set of resources to help you get your head around the Da Vinci Code and other fanciful nonsence regarding St Mary Magdalene.

And, finally, from her blog, details of Amy Welborn's book on St Mary Magdalene:

DE-CODING MARY MAGDALENE – TRUTH, LEGEND AND LIES
Amy Welborn

Are you interested in an objective examination of the life and lore of Mary Magdalene, a narrative that isn't agenda-driven or saturated with ideology?

Do you just want to learn more about Mary Magedalene's identity and role in Christian spirituality, literature and art?

I wrote this book for you.

There's a great deal of material out there on Mary Magdalene, it's true. Some of the scholarly material is really fine, but too many of the books for popular audiences are informed by one ideology or another, or fall completely into fantasy.

In De-coding Mary Magdalene I stick to the facts - what we know about Mary Magdalene from the Gospels, and then how Christian tradition in both East and West continued to meditate on the figure of Mary Magdalene, seeing in her the model disciple - and weaving all kinds of fascinating legends around her as well.

Here's the bottom line: The Da Vinci Code propogates the lie that Christianity through the ages marginalized and demonized Mary Magdalene as a "whore" in order to minimize her impact.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Mary Magdalene was the second most popular saint of the Middle Ages. And do catch that word - saint - Honoring someone as a saint (feastday July 22) is a truly odd way of "demonizing" a person. Don't you think?

So - come meet Mary Magdalene - as she comes to us in the Gospels, as Christians imagined her through the ages as they contemplated her fidelity and discipleship, and how some contemporary interpreters get her so completely wrong.

Table of Contents

* Mary of Magdala
* "Why Are You Weeping?
* The Real Mary?
* Apostle to the Apostles
* Which Mary?
* The Golden Legend
* Touching the Magdalene
* To the East
* The Penitent
* Mary and the Mystics
* The Magdalene in Art
* Rediscovery

Go HERE to purchase the book.

Back again . . . in time for St Lawrence of Brindisi!

I do apolgise to those who look at this blog regularly for the absence of any posts over the last 17 days. When the blog began, it was as a vehicle of inspiration - something positive - and not a means of participating in the ongoing theological and political disputes among Anglicans. So over the last couple of weeks while these disputes have been to the fore, necessitating a good deal of reflection with others on the outcome of GAFCON and then the surprisingly rabid anti-catholic C. of E. GENERAL SYNOD, together with a surge of local pastoral matters, and my absence for some days, I've only today returned to the blog. In due course I WILL provide an article with links to some of the helpful responses to both Gafcon and the General Synod.

"WOE TO ME
IF I PREACH NOT THE GOSPEL "
(1 Corinthians 9:16)

Today in the Calendar we celebrate the work of God's grace in the life and ministry of St Lawrence of Brindisi. Born at Brindisi, in the kingdom of Naples in 1559, he was educated by the conventual Franciscans there and by his uncle at St Mark's in Venice. When sixteen, he joined the Capuchin Order at Verona. After further studies at the University of Padua (in theology, the Bible, French, Greek, Syriac, German, Hebrew, and Spanish) he was ordained to the priesthood. He taught theology, and he served as a military chaplain and linguist. (He was asked to lead the German army into battle against the Turks and did so successfully, carrying only a crucifix!)

In 1602 Lawrence was elected Vicar General of the Capuchins. He was a successful Diplomat on peace missions to Madrid and Munich. He preached powerfully in all of the languages he knew, and wrote a number of instructions on the Faith. Eyewitnesses say that Lawrence would kneel in prayer to write his sermons and that he journeyed on foot from one European capital to another, singing hymns to Our Lady.

In 1618 Lawrence retired from worldly affairs to the friary at Caserta. But he was recalled to travel to Spain so as to smooth out some problems with King Philip thereby averting a bloody uprising. This journey in the sweltering heat of summer exhausted him, and he died a few days after his meeting with King Philip at Lisbon on 22nd July 22, 1619.

Lawrence's main writings are his nine volumes of sermons. He was canonized in 1881, and Pope John XXIII proclaimed him to be a Doctor of the Church in 1959.

Here is a famous passage about preaching the Word. It is from the writings of St Lawrence, and is, in fact, included in the Office of Readings for today:

PREACHING IS AN APOSTOLIC DUTY

There is a spiritual life that we share with the angels of heaven and with the divine spirits, for like them we have been formed in the image and likeness of God. The bread that is necessary for living this life is the grace of the Holy Spirit and the love of God. But grace and love are nothing without faith, since without faith it is impossible to please God. And faith is not conceived unless the word of God is preached. Faith comes through hearing, and what is heard is the word of Christ. The preaching of the word of God, then, is necessary for the spiritual life, just as the planting of seed is necessary for bodily life.

Christ says: The sower went out to sow his seed. The sower goes out as a herald of justice. On some occasions we read that the herald was God, for example, when with a living voice from heaven he gave the law of justice to a whole people in the desert.

On other occasions, the herald was an angel of the Lord, as when he accused the people of transgressing the divine law at Bochim, in the place of weeping. At this all the sons of Israel, when they heard the angel's address, became sorrowful in their hearts, lifted up their voices, and wept bitterly. Then again, Moses preached the law of the Lord to the whole people on the plains of Moab, as we read in Deuteronomy. Finally, Christ came as God and man to preach the word of the Lord, and for the same purpose he sent the apostles, just as he had sent the prophets before them.

Preaching therefore, is a duty that is apostolic, angelic, Christian, divine. The word of God is replete with manifold blessings, since it is, so to speak, a treasure of all goods. It is the source of faith, hope, charity, all virtues, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the beatitudes of the Gospel, all good works, all the rewards of life, all the glory of paradise: Welcome the word that has taken root in you, with its power to save you.

For the word of God is a light to the mind and a fire to the will. It enables man to know God and to love him. And for the interior man who lives by the Spirit of God, through grace, it is bread and water, but a bread sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, a water better than wine and milk. For the soul it is a spiritual treasure of merits yielding an abundance of gold and precious stones. Against the hardness of a heart that persists in wrongdoing, it acts as a hammer. Against the world, the flesh and the devil it serves as a sword that destroys all sin.

Orthodox C of E Bishops in Rome Talks

This report is from today's TELEGRAPH in London. It has been known for some time that different configurations of Anglican Catholics (including the TAC) have been in serious conversation with Rome about the possibility of an "Anglican church in full communion" against the backdrop of the accelerating disintegration of first world Anglican churches under so-called "liberal" leadership.

"Senior Church of England bishops have held secret talks with Vatican officials to discuss the crisis in the Anglican communion over gays and women bishops. They met senior advisers of the Pope in an attempt to build closer ties with the Roman Catholic Church, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

"Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was not told of the talks and the disclosure will be a fresh blow to his efforts to prevent a major split in the Church of England.

"In highly confidential discussions, a group of conservative bishops expressed their dismay at the liberal direction of the Church of England and their fear for its future . . .

Go to the article HERE.

For an article I wrote two years ago about the TAC and Rome go HERE.

St Paul's world - not so different to ours

St Paul preaching in Athens (Raphael)

At his General Audience in Rome two days ago, Pope Benedict XVI began a new series of talks on the person and teaching of St. Paul. This first one deals with the historical background to St Paul.

"The Apostle Paul, an exceptional and virtually inimitable yet stimulating figure, is before us as an example of total dedication to the Lord and his Church, as well as of great openness to humanity and its cultures. It is just, therefore, that we reserve a particular place for him, not only in our veneration, but also in an effort to understand what he has to say to us, Christians of today, as well.

"In this, our first meeting, I would like to pause to consider the environment in which he lived and worked. Such a topic would seem to take us far from our time, given that we must insert ourselves in the world of 2,000 years ago. And yet, this is only apparently and partly true, because it can be verified that in many ways, the socio-cultural environment of today is not so different than that of back then.

For the rest of Pope Benedict's address, go HERE.

The YEAR OF ST PAUL has begun!

Today’s Mass is particularly important, for St Peter and St Paul are the great ancestors or forefathers of the Christian community, the “twin pillars” of the Church. Through their ministries the Church was first nurtured in the faith of the Gospel. You can read all about that in the Acts of the Apostles. In 64 AD a severe persecution of Christians broke out in Rome under the emperor Nero. This is widely believed to be the year of St Peter’s martyrdom. He was crucified upside down in the Circus of Nero, just below the Vatican Hill. (The present St Peter’s covers some of the area previously occupied by the Circus.)
Indeed, if you ever get to Rome, make sure you plan well in advance to visit the “Scarvi” (“excavation”) under St Peter’s Basilica, and tread the soil that was the Vatican Hill 2,000 years ago. It’s an experience you’ll never forget. The tours are for pilgrims rather than tourists, and numbers are limited. Before leaving home, read THE BONES OF ST PETER or THE TOMB OF ST PETER which will fill you in on all you need to know about the amazing 20th century discovery of the necropolis. (The first of those books is so well written it’s as riveting as a good detective story . . . except it tells a true story!) You can even go HERE for an interactive map of the Scarvi. St Paul, after exercising a remarkable ministry from his house in Rome (for much of the time under “house arrest”) was beheaded outside the city between 64 and 67 AD. His tomb, underneath the Basilica “St Paul’s Outside the Walls” has been rediscovered in recent years. For info on that go HERE. 

Although their backgrounds, their lives, their conversions and the missions these apostles undertook were very different, they came together in Rome and witnessed to the Gospel of Jesus with the shedding of their blood. On the 29th June, Anglicans have tended to concentrate on St Peter (cf. the Book of Common Prayer), on account of the fact that in our tradition the 25th January (the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul) has been a "Red Letter Day". (In 2009, however, that feast will actually be celebrated by all western Christians on a Sunday because of the Year of St Paul!)

Twelve months ago, at the Basilica of St. Paul, near the saint’s tomb, Pope Benedict announced that today would usher in the YEAR OF ST PAUL. Speaking about the unity of the apostles St Peter and St Paul, and having referred to their differences and the tensions that were sometimes between them, he said: “A very ancient tradition which dates back to apostolic times claims that their last meeting before their martyrdom actually took place not far from here: the two are supposed to have embraced and blessed each other. And on the main portal of this Basilica they are depicted together, with scenes of both martyrdoms. Thus, from the outset, Christian tradition has considered Peter and Paul to have been inseparable, even if each had a different mission to accomplish.” 

Then focusing on St Paul, the Pope went on to say: “As in early times, today too Christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice themselves. He needs witnesses and martyrs like St Paul. Paul, a former violent persecutor of Christians, when he fell to the ground dazzled by the divine light on the road to Damascus, did not hesitate to change sides to the Crucified One and followed him without second thoughts. He lived and worked for Christ, for him he suffered and died. How timely his example is today!”

Underscoring the ecumenical dimensions of the Year of St Paul, the Holy Father said: “The Apostle of the Gentiles, who dedicated himself to the spreading of the good news to all peoples, spent himself for the unity and harmony of all Christians. May he guide us and protect us in this bimillenary celebration, helping us to advance in the humble and sincere search for the full unity of all the members of the mystical body of Christ.” 

We are united with these two Apostles in different ways: From their place in heaven their prayers continue to avail for us as we seek to live for Jesus and witness to the Gospel in our daily lives individually and as a community. They are part of that "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews. 12:1-2) praying for us and cheering us on as we, like them, "run the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and the perfecter of our Faith." Whenever we say the Apostles’ Creed (as at Evensong and in the baptismal rite), we profess the Faith that they handed down to us, and for which they uncompromisingly died. And as we do that we know that God is calling us to be EVANGELICAL, PENTECOSTAL CATHOLICS as they were, simultaneously sensitive and bold in our Holy Spirit empowered witness to the Saviour. (How long has it been since you actually led someone else to Jesus?) St Peter and St Paul continue to teach us the faith of Christ from the pages of Holy Scripture. The Gospel of Mark was unanimously regarded by the early Church to be a kind of digest of many sermons preached by St Peter at Rome (and very few modern Scripture scholars dispute this). On the other hand, nearly every Sunday we listen to a passage from one of the letters St Paul wrote to build up the life of the early Christian communities. Sometimes when the “Epistle” is read it is as if St Paul is taking us with him into the seventh heaven of revelation; other times he is ticking us off about our half-hearted following of the Lord; and just sometimes we hear him venting his wrath about things that were – and still are – wrong in the faith community! We offer today’s Mass seeking grace so to proclaim the Gospel with love, humility and confidence that our friends who do not yet believe will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, be filled with the Holy Spirit and incorporated into the Church of the Apostles in which St Peter and St Paul are the twin pillars, that great Community of Faith and Love, the Church of Jesus himself.

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A FEW EXTRA BITS ‘N PIECES . . .

St IRENAEUS OF LYONS (130 - 202) ON THE CHURCH OF ROME AND THE APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION: "Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops.

"For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent authority - that is, the faithful everywhere - inasmuch as the Apostolic Tradition has been preserved continuously by those who are everywhere." (Adversus Haereses, Book III, chapter 3-2)

MICHAEL RAMSEY (100th Archbishop of Canterbury) ON THE THE APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION: "Faced by the spiritual perils, which Gnosticism typifies but which recur again and again, the Church appeals to the scriptures, which are slowly being formed into the Canon, and to the historic Episcopate which has taken the place of the Apostolate; and these are both facts which point the Christians away from what is partial or subjective, to Jesus in the flesh, and to the one universal Church. Both the Canon of Scripture and the Episcopate are “developments,” and it would seem highly arbitrary to select one of these and to call it essential, while rejecting or ignoring the other. It would be more reasonable to seek in both of them, through their close inner connexion and their place in the life of the one Body, the utterance of the Gospel of God." (The Gospel and the Catholic Church p. 63)

MICHAEL RAMSEY ON WHY WE LOOK TO THE AGE OF THE FATHERS: "Amidst totally different cultural scenes, calling as they do for new understandings, why do we look back to the age of the Fathers? We learn what we can from any and every Christian century, but we look back to the time of the Fathers because it tells us of the historical givenness of our faith and because of the continuing identity of the Holy Catholic Church. "It matters greatly that the Fathers took seriously issues about truth which are still with us. It matters that the God who is the world’s Saviour is also the world’s Creator, and it matters that this God does not send a sort of intermediary to bring salvation to the world but gives his own very self to unite humanity with himself. "But the appeal of Christians to history is not a mere journey into the past, for the past is living and its saints are near and with us in the family which unites earth to heaven and heaven to earth."Athanasius and Basil and Chrysostom, together with Ambrose and Augustine and Leo, are with us in this family. We share with them and with the Mother of our Lord and God in heaven’s own worship, and they are with us as we witness to our Saviour in a dark and stormy world." (from Glimpse of Glory) 

St AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO ON THE LORD’S PRESENCE IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT: "He walked here in the same flesh, and gave us the same flesh to be eaten unto salvation. But no one eats that flesh unless first he adores it; and thus it is discovered how such a footstool of the Lord’s feet is adored; and not only do we not sin by adoring, we do sin by not adoring." (Explanations of the Psalms, 98,9).

St THERESE OF LISIEUX ON THE LITTLE WAY - BY FAITH ALONE: "When I think of the good God’s statement: ‘I shall come soon and bring my reward with me, repaying everyone according to his works’, then I say to myself that He will find Himself wonderfully embarrassed with me, because I have no works! So He will not be able to repay me according to my works. Very well, then, I trust that He will repay me according to His works.” (Quoted by Hans Urs von Balthasar in Two Sisters in the Spirit - Therese of Lisieux and Elizabeth of the Trinity)

We WERE getting there . . .

One of the handful of blogs I keep an eye on is Father Hunwicke's Liturgical Notes. Father John Hunwicke is incredibly knowledgeable about most things, and he takes the mickey out of many of the PC movements of modern Anglicanism with just the right blend of ruthless skill, irony and fun. I nearly always agree with what he says!

Today Fr Hunwicke addressed the question of Christian Unity, reminding us of how excited we all were in the late 1960s and early 70s about the progress being made to heal the breach between Rome and Canterbury. Here is his masterly swipe at those who destroyed that godly movement, a movement that shaped the lives and vocations of those of us who responded to God at that time:

"At S. Thomas's this morning we had a Votive for Christian Unity. Whenever I say this wonderful old Votive the years fall away and I remember how it felt back in the 1960s, when Unity seemed to all of us both a divine imperative and a real possibility; when it seemed that the old divisions were crumbling; when we all believed it was inconceivable that anyone could be so wicked as to introduce new divisions; before the dark days came and foolish people were persuaded by the Evil One that not only are genderist deformations in Holy Order and in Liturgy right in themselves, but that they are so urgently right that their necessity transcends God's call to Unity."

Now THAT's telling it like it is! Take note, all you Aussie revisionists with your priestesses and now bishoppesses!

I wrote an article for New Directions Magazine on the same subject back in 2002: Shattered Dreams and Broken Promises.

There are still Anglicans from across the spectrum who believe that it is God's will for ALL Christians to be in full communion with the See of Peter, that the occupant thereof is the Primate of Christ's Church on earth (without, of course, losing sight of that day when the Lord's Church on earth will again breathe with BOTH lungs - East and West - together). Even at the GAFCON meeting this week in Jerusalem, though some of the evangelicals might have come from vigorously anti-papal backgrounds, there are enough bishops, clergy and lay people in attendance with a "Petrine" understanding of the Church's unity to leaven the lump at least as satisfactorily as in any other "cross-sectional" international Anglican gathering. I know that for a fact, and I'm not just referring to those attendees who might be considered stereotypically the "extreme" Anglo-Catholics!

Anyway, we should pause and pray for the unity of all Christians, maybe using these prayers by the Abbé Paul Couturier which are becoming quite well known in ecumenical circles:

Lord Jesus,
who prayed that we might all be one,
we pray to you for the unity of Christians,
according to your will,
according to your means.
May your Spirit enable us to experience
the suffering caused by division,
to see our sin,
and to hope beyond all hope. Amen.

By your power Lord,
gather together your scattered flock
under the one authority of your Son:
that the design of your love may be accomplished
and that the world may know you, the one true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Amen.

His eye is on the sparrow

In last week’s Gospel Jesus sent out his twelve apostles as “labourers into the harvest”, or (to change the metaphor) to preach the Gospel “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 9:37; 10:6). He then warned them that they would be persecuted. (See Matthew 10:16-22).

So, Jesus knew there would be problems!

In today’s Gospel, he told them that things would go wrong; doubts would arise; some of the hearers would become hostile and reject their message. But he also told them to “have no fear;” that, whatever happened to them, they could be men of faith because God loved them and promised to protect them.

He said to them, (as he says to you and me), “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31) You and I are precious to him!

In the culture of Jesus and the apostles, sparrows were insignificant, and a bit of a nuisance. They ate grain and insects and swarmed in noisy flocks. They built nests in the eaves of houses. (Remember, though, that the Lord was hospitable to them when they built their nests in the Temple - Psalm 84:3!) They were such social creatures that a solitary sparrow became a powerful symbol of deep loneliness (Psalm 102:7).

The “copper coin,” is an “asarion”- a tiny coin worth (we are told) no more than 20 cents in our money. Those who were very poor and could not afford to sacrifice a sheep or a goat were allowed to bring a sparrow to the Temple (cf. Leviticus 14:1-7).

Sparrows had so little value that if you bought four, you were likely to get an extra one thrown in for free (Luke 12:4-7). It was this extra sparrow of which Jesus said, “and not one of them is forgotten before God.”

In 1905, a woman called Civilla Martin and her husband were staying in New York. They had become friendly with a very devout couple, by the name of Doolittle. Mrs Doolittle had been bedridden for twenty years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who relied on his wheel chair to get around. Yet it is said that the Doolittles brought love and joy into the lives of many. Civilla Martin wrote:

“One day . . . my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs Doolittle’s reply was simple: ‘His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.’

“The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr Martin and me. The hymn ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow” was the outcome of that experience.’

“Why should I feel discouraged,
why should the shadows come,
why should my heart be lonely
and long for Heaven and home,
when Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is he:
his eye is on the sparrow,
and I know he watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,”
his tender word I hear,
and resting on his goodness,
I lose my doubts and fears;
though by the path he leadeth
but one step I may see:
his eye is on the sparrow,
and I know he watches me.

“Whenever I am tempted,
whenever clouds arise,
when songs give place to sighing,
when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to him;
from care he sets me free;
his eye is on the sparrow,
and I know he watches me.

“I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For his eye is on the sparrow,
And I know he watches me”

To this day Mrs Martin’s hymn is sung in churches of most traditions in the USA - especially by black choirs among whom it quickly evolved into a “spiritual.” But it is also etched on the back of my mind, having been among the first pieces I learned to play as an accompanist for a soloist friend when I was a young teenager. The musical genre is not everybody's cup of tea, but over the years its words have encouraged me in times of difficulty. Truly, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me!”

A Work of the Holy Spirit

The Christian life can take many forms. Opportunities to serve the Lord are rich and varied, and so are the different vocations his children receive.

The Religious Life is a particularly intense way of living out the Baptismal promises. But vocations to the Religious Life, too, take different forms in different cultures and periods of history. In our Patmos House Community we are reminded of this by the presence in our midst of Brother Bernadine and Sister Clare-Francis, our Franciscan Tertiaries.

But last year we became connected to a new work of the Holy Spirit - the ecumenical SERVANTS OF THE SACRED CROSS, an order for women, whose foundress and Superior is Mother Wendy James, a member of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada. Her home parish is Saint Aidan’s in Halifax. In February of last year Joy Vickerstaff of our parish (though temporarily working in Canberra) came home to be received as a Postulant of the Servants of the Sacred Cross. Then, in November, when Mother Wendy came to Australia, Joy was clothed as a Novice of the Order.

I first met Mother Wendy at an Anglican Use Conference in the USA back in 2005, the day after Bishop David Moyer and I were consecrated as bishops. The Conference was at St Mary's Arlington, Texas (Father Alan Hawkins' parish - visit it HERE) and the guest speaker was Father Aidan Nichols from the U.K. It was a great couple of days, as we explored the ecumenical dimensions of our journey of faith; and I thought then that Mother Wendy would be an ideal Conference speaker for Forward in Faith Australia.

That came to pass when Mother Wendy spent a month ministering in Australia last November, initially here at Patmos House during which Sister Joy was clothed as a Novice, then in NSW, the Forward in Faith Conference in Melbourne, and finally in Perth. Mother Wendy has Sisters in New South Wales and Western Australia.

All who heard Mother Wendy speak were enormously enriched with new insights from the Word of God.

ABOUT SSC
The Holy Spirit never ceases to call into existence forms of Religious Life that respond to the needs of the times. So it has been for centuries, as when the founders of the great Orders such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites and others established “Lay” or “Third” Orders within their foundations for those, both married and single, men and women, who had a vocation to the Religious Life but were unable to leave the world to live in a convent or monastery. Therefore, the Servants of the Sacred Cross, while not part of a larger Order, follows in the tradition and concept of the historic Lay Orders.

The Sisters - from Anglican, Roman Catholic, Continuing Anglican and Eastern Orthodox churches - are called to take up their cross and follow Jesus in a life of prayer and service. They are both married and single, living and working in their own homes and communities under Vows of Simplicity, Purity, and Obedience.

Some Sisters have active ministries in their parishes and local communities. Others are called to a more contemplative expression of service in a life of solitude and prayerful intercession. A Convent was established in August 2007 that now has Sisters in residence. Single or widowed women called to live traditional Religious Life "in community", in a house with a contemplative ethos, profess Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. The Convent is located near Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Canada.

A CHALLENGE FOR US
We give God thanks that he has stirred Sister Joy with a challenge to serve him and his people as a Sister in the Servants of the Sacred Cross. This has been for her a new phase in her response to God's love. She is very much stepping out in faith, and as a parish community we honour that even as we have promised to support her with our love and prayers.

In fact, seeing new expressions of the Religious Life in our church should challenge each of us to examine our hearts to see how WE are going in responding to God’s love in the particular callings he has given us.

Visit the Order’s Web Site HERE

A photograph of those who attended the Patmos House Mass at which Sister Joy Vickerstaff was clothed as a Novice of the Servants of the Sacred Cross.