Homilies on the Stations of the Cross AD 2010 : The Second Sunday of Lent....

This week we reflect upon the third and fourth Stations, or incidents, that occurred on this final phase of the journey that Jesus undertook on our behalf.

The Assyrians said of the Israelites, “Their God is a God of the hills, not of the valleys.” Today’s Scripture Readings show that the glory of God is revealed in darkness, for the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. In the Scriptures we contemplate the revelation of the glory of God as seen by Abram and as revealed in the Transfiguration of Christ. Yes, the Transfiguration may have been on top of a hill, but it is when the hill is shrouded in cloud and darkness that the glory of Jesus is revealed. God is at work in the dark places of human life as well as the more sublime and this we see demonstrated very well in the Way of the Cross as Jesus goes along this way of suffering to his death which leads eventually not to failure, but to triumph.

III. Jesus falls for the first time

Psalm 25:1 To thee, O LORD, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in thee I trust, let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. 3 Yea, let none that wait for thee be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 4 Make me to know thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long. 6 Be mindful of thy mercy, O LORD, and of thy steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth, or my transgressions; according to thy steadfast love remember me, for thy goodness' sake, O LORD! 8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. 11 For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Ever since Station’s of the Cross has been celebrated this first fall of Jesus on the Way of the Cross has been frequently associated with the sins of our youth. And who among us cannot look back without sometimes flinching at the memories and the ensuing embarrassment and shame at the actions and attitudes of our formative years? As Jesus falls the whole weight of that transverse beam of the cross comes crashing down upon him, pinning him to the ground in the mire and dust, and that is where our memories so often pin us. Our guilt lies open in the sight of God and we are fearful that we will never arise, but “with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.”

The sins of youth are part and parcel of being human and growing up – for which of us is without sin? If there is anyone here who cannot look back on their past without shame and embarrassment then perhaps we ought to mount them on a wall, put a candle either side of them and bow down and worship them. But of course none of us fits the bill. Thankfully, the Lord in his mercy offers us forgiveness, but have we learnt to be merciful ourselves? All too often later life so many people conveniently forget the sins and transgressions of their youth and treat young people as if they are worse than they were when they were young. And so the young are pilloried and all too often they have no adults that will actually sit and listen to them. There are plenty of people ready to accuse them, to shout at them and dismiss them as troublemakers, but not so many who will listen and act as worthy spiritual guides.

As our Lord makes his way through the crowded, narrow streets, which are teeming with people on this eve of the Passover, he is the subject of the ghoulish fascination of the crowd, he is the subject of catcalls and jeers, he becomes the victim of the crowd – the one they have pulled down from the pedestal they made for him. For it seems that human nature is such that it loves to adulate people and then to see them fall and to revel in all the gory details of the mess people have made of their lives. This is why our Lord was always cautious about crowds of people and often withdrew to a lonely place. He knew that the crowd is fickle. Brave individuals may stand alongside and offer support, but the overwhelming majority abandon all human compassion and gleefully join in the mocking and the ridicule. Just look at the way people’s marriages are torn apart by, and in, the Newspapers and on Television and at how so many avidly read gossip magazines and so-called biographies where people capitalise on their own transgressions.

This first fall of Jesus is a reminder to us that we should forgive as we have been forgiven. Our prayer at this Station should be with King David: “Remember not the sins of my youth, or my transgressions; according to thy steadfast love remember me, for thy goodness' sake, O LORD!” and if we ask the Lord not to remember the sins of our youth then did we not also ought to ask him for the grace to be merciful even as he is merciful and to be given grace to help the young discover his mercy and love?

IV. Jesus Meets His Blessed Mother

Luke 2:34 and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."

At this Station we naturally think of Mary the Mother of the Lord and the anguish that must have been particular to her at this moment. She had, all those years ago, received the Archangel Gabriel and accepted the calling to be the God-bearer (The Theotokos, the Mother of God – as the Church would later define her). She had heard the Archangel declare that she was full of grace, and announce that the Son she was to give birth to would be “The Son of the Most High....he will reign over the House of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Yet now all she could see was a bruised, lacerated and exhausted Son on the way to his ignominious death. And yet in this encounter as well as the grief that is naturally Mary’s there would also have been the intense grief that Christ would have at seeing His Mother so distraught and the pain that was particular to her at that moment – the sword that was piercing her own soul.

This meeting is about the distress of two sets of eyes that lock together in helplessness – for neither could do anything for the other............and yet perhaps this very meeting was the cause of mutual strengthening. At the beginning she had accepted the will of God and had said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Even then she had soon known suffering and fear as Joseph agonised over what to do, and now she was seeing the fulfilment of that strange prophecy uttered by the elderly priest Simeon in the Temple all those years ago.

At this Station we naturally think of Mary and by extension pray for all parents of those who are accused and condemned, for so often they too find themselves sharing in the ignominy of their children’s actions. We pray also for the parents who sit at the side of the bed of dying children, of those who see their children falsely accused, and of those whose children are missing or abducted. And we also pray for children who are separated from their parents, for the children who are the innocent victims of their parents inability to act civilly towards each other after separation, for the children who are treated as little more than bargaining chips between mother and father, and the children who are the victims of horrific abuse whether it be at home, in other places where trust would normally be expected, or in situations of abduction. There are those that say that the Scriptures are silent on the sexual abuse of children, but the Lord had one very strong admonition for those who take advantage of the young and lead them astray: “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.” Luke 17:2

The pain that is particular to this meeting is to be seen in the meeting of two pairs of eyes, for the eyes are the window of the soul. Those eyes as well as sharing pain would also have shared love. God grant that we be given grace to share love and compassion even when life is painful and seemingly without hope. For there is always hope, even in the midst of darkness and death there is always hope, for the light of God shines forth and banishes the darkness.

Homilies on the Stations of the Cross AD 2010 - The First Sunday of Lent....

This week we reflect upon the first two Stations, or incidents, that occurred on this final phase of the journey that Jesus undertook on our behalf:

I. Jesus is condemned to death

John 19:13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gab'batha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" 15 They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

With terrifying cries of condemnation an innocent man is led away to be murdered by the state. Pilate is recorded as having washed his hands, but others are also washing their hands of Jesus and have made sure that the decision was taken by an occupying force - and a pagan regime to boot. Truth and Goodness are the victims of intolerance and fear.

We live in an intolerant world. Yes, the word tolerance is bandied about these days and we are all supposed to be tolerant, but scratch the surface and what do we find? Unfortunately, we all sign up to tolerance as long as everyone signs up to what we want or believe. This is one of the problems of fallen mankind: we rarely cope with those whose lives or views do not conform to what we consider right or true. We like to think that we deal with those whose views we consider wrong in a more tolerant way today, but we still have wars and feuds; we still have people hounded in their communities and in the media; and we still have the Police knocking on peoples’ doors demanding that they give an explanation of the views they have expounded on the Radio or Television.

We also continue to live in a world where the innocent are imprisoned, persecuted and even fall victim to murder by the state because they are considered to hold the wrong opinions by those in positions of power. It seems that those who wield power are afraid of only one thing: losing their power. Truth is an inconvenience to such people, and it seems as if it is all too easily discarded for expediencies sake.

Behind the scenes of this first Station of the Cross there is frenetic activity going on with even more desperate and urgent meetings to which Jesus is hauled. Such is the desperation to have this man’s execution authorised by the hands of others that he is hauled back and forth across Jerusalem from Caiaphas to Annas, to Herod and to Pontius Pilate. In other words to one court after another until the desired result is obtained. In the end they all try to wash their hands of the taint of this man’s death and their part in it.

But what about us, are we any different? Are we any more tolerant? How easily do we condemn? How often to we fail to listen? How often have we gone along with the crowd, and in so doing have compromised Truth and Goodness? How often have we washed our hands and others have suffered as a result?


II. Jesus Receives the Cross

John 19:17 So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol'gotha.

“So they took Jesus” – “took” a word which conveys the plight of innocent victims everywhere. Taken by force, against their will and treated as expendable. The hands that went about blessing and healing met no such treatment at the hands of the Roman soldiers. Instead he was taken by force and made to go to his death. There have been countless numbers of people throughout history who were “taken” and sent on the way to their deaths. The cynic and unbeliever will probably ask why should we pay any more attention to this innocent victim? The answer lies in the matter of who this “man” is: his full identity. For the cynic and unbeliever this is just one more innocent victim so why should he be special – but that view is to miss the point.

There is a view of God that sees him as some sort of bearded old tyrant sitting up above watching mankind as if we were ants and keeping a checklist on each of us. On this checklist he marks a tick when we do something good and a cross when we do something bad. Well, what hope is there in a God like that? In the face of suffering and death what hope could a God like that give; would a God like that even care?

But in this lonely figure who was “taken” and sent out on his way to death we see a different portrayal of God. We see God who has stepped into time and who has lived a human life and who is about to suffer and die as an innocent victim. This innocent victim is God incarnate willingly going to his death to redeem his people. Where was God at Lockerbie, Where was God in Haiti, Where was God in Auschwitz? Where was God at 9/11? These are the questions that many ask in their bewilderment and pain. But it seems to be asked by those who lived fairly comfortable lives and by those who have never experienced suffering far more than those who actually suffer.

Where was God in these terrible events? He was suffering and dying with them on the planes and in the twin towers, he was suffering and dying with them during the earthquake, and that he was with his ancient People the Jews (our elder brothers and sisters in faith), with the Christians, with the gypsies, with the homosexuals and communists in the Gas Chambers. On the way of the Cross God incarnate has been taken by brute force and sent to his death – God so identifies with his people that in his Son he becomes one with them in their suffering and death.

He is also sent out “bearing his own cross” and this makes me think of that final phrase in the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent in this year of St Luke’s Gospel “and when the devil had ended every temptation he departed from him until an opportune time.” Is this moment when Jesus receives the Cross the opportune time? We can almost hear the phrase “A weight too heavy to bear” – could this have been the temptation that our Lord faced at this hour? The weight of the sins of the whole world pressing down upon his shoulders, and yet whether he is tempted in this way or not he summons the strength to bear the Cross and to go forward to the Place of the Skull.

The weight that he receives, the weight that he carries, he receives and carries for all of us. He receives and carries it for all the innocent victims who have and will perish at the hands of wicked people, for all those who suffer from famine, disease or disaster. This God is no tyrant watching us scurry about like ants – this God is not dispassionate about human suffering and death, no: he is “compassionate,” that beautiful word which means “shared suffering.” Here we see the true face of God, the full identity of this innocent victim. Jesus is the one who truly and fully shares in the human condition – he is the one who shares our sufferings, the one who has compassion.

Archdeacon Norman Russell's speech at General Synod....

The Archdeacon was speaking at the GS in favour of a motion to recognise and be in Communion with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). I received this today and thought that others might like to read what the Archdeacon had to say. The fudged result that emerged from the GS debate was probably to be expected, but some of the speeches, as reported in Jezebel's Trumpet, left a lot to be desired and some were even unworthy. Even more to be expected was the fact that Archdeacon Russell's excellent speech was covered in four sentences by the said rag. But then as the Archdeacon stated: "God found it much easier to get Israel out of Egypt than Egypt out of the Israelites."

February 16, 2010

As members of Synod know, on my own initiative, having spent some time in the United States of America, particularly in Virginia, I decided to go to the inaugural assembly of the Anglican Church in North America in Bedford, Texas.

I did not attend in any official capacity. It was purely an individual initiative. I paid my own fare and was there as an observer. I wanted to see what was going on because I had high regard for a good number of the churches that I had visited when I was in the United States for an extended period about twenty years ago. I want today to describe my experience of the ACNA inaugural assembly.

For me, and I had not expected this, my few days there was a time of spiritual renewal. When I came home I said to my wife that I believe there is a movement of spiritual renewal manifesting itself within ACNA. She replied "I have not heard you speak like that for several years".

So what I want to share with you today is my belief that there is indeed a movement of biblical and spiritual renewal going on in the North American church. Part of that remains TEC, part in the Anglican Church of Canada and some significantly within the Anglican Church of North America. I think it depends on where people are and on what the prevailing situation is as to whether they are still in one of the traditional churches or have joined ACNA.

I am very grateful that Lorna, in her paper and again in her speech, has made it quite clear that in voting for her motion we are not voting against TEC, and not voting against the Anglican Church of Canada. What we are saying is that we recognise there are faithful Christians in three different churches at the moment. We wish to affirm that they are there and to support them.

When I say there is a movement of the Holy Spirit, what was the evidence? There were certainly at that assembly people who were hurt, but they were not bitter. Some had lost their church property. Some were going off to worship in gymnasiums etc for the first time in their lives. The clergy I met were serious in intent. They have not left TEC or the Anglican Church in Canada lightly. Many of them have taken a big hit on their pensions and also (and this is a major issue in North America) on their health plans.

The theme that ran through the week was one which members of Synod will have heard before, namely that God found it much easier to get Israel out of Egypt than Egypt out of the Israelites.

Those I met at the ACNA inaugural gathering were not wishing to leave the past behind where there was good. They wanted to take that with them. But they wanted to go forward, not in a spirit of bitterness, but to focus on Christ and reaching out to those who do not know Him. There was unity of spirit. Some were evangelical. Some were Anglo-Catholics. Some were simply ordinary church people.

The Anglo-Catholics whom I met were evangelists and church planters. The evangelicals whom I met were liturgically evangelicals. Many of them have a much better understanding of 17th century Anglicanism than would be true of most evangelicals in the Church of England today.

In general, this inaugural gathering seemed to me to be alive in the Spirit - classical Anglicans, four-square on the Declaration of Assent and four-square on the Lambeth Quadrilateral. Together with that there was a certain Prayer Book interiority, though of course they use modern services. As I met with the delegates I could not help thinking that this is the kind of Anglican I want to be.

In my day job, I obviously make a lot of appointments. I don't mind if clergy are High Church, Low Church or Middle Church, though I try to fit the right people with the right places. What I do look for are clergy who are people of prayer and clergy who have a passion to help others find a living faith in Jesus Christ. That was what I was encountering and I thought it was what most of us want the Church of England to be.

My final comment is this - an Eighteenth Century comment. Go back to the Wesleys, relatively High Church Anglicans by the standards of their day. What did we get out of it? Another free church. The institutional church is not always good at dealing with movements of spiritual renewal. Canon Law, litigation and legalistic ecclesiastical processes are not the most imaginative way to respond imaginatively to movements of spiritual renewal.

Musical Bites - end of Season Report....

Over the last five months our Organ Appeal Group have been raising funds to pay off an interest free loan we were given to purchase a baby Grand Piano. This piano is a big improvment on our very ancient upright one and will be used to compliment our Fr Willis Organ and will also enable us to attract other musicians willing to aid our Organ Appeal through appropriate concerts in the Parish Church.

Today saw the last of this season's "Musical Bites" - these have been musical workshops combined with a Coffee Morning in Church. It is been very good to be able to encourage many people - especially the young to try playing a musical instrument or to sing.

David Scrutton has kindly sent this report:

We have achieved great deal. Many thanks to all and to the many who have helped and are not receiving this email.

Last year, based on the expectation that a grand piano would enable us to present concerts with good local musicians and so raise money for the organ at a faster rate, we presented a plan to acquire a grand piano. Thanks to the PCC and an anonymous interest free loan we now have the piano. We’ve also presented 5 Musical Bites, a concert and a recital and we’ve paid back 57% of the loan.

The grand piano has been used by or for fine musicians: Ben and James Westlake, Andante, Jacob, Dave and The Band. On Saturday 6th March – two weeks -Julia Benham will be playing Chopin preludes along with Ian and Maurice on trumpet and violin.

Since the Spem in alium concert last year we have 35 on our e-List.

Our events have attracted about 110 performers (Hallelujah 70, Brass 15 and Percussion 26 – not many duplicated!) and audiences of 290 (Organ 50, Sing-along 70 Hallelujah 80, Brass 50, Percussion 40 – probably a few duplications!)

Folk of all ages have come as performers and audience. At MB5, especially, there were 14 performers of teen age and younger.

We have raised awareness of our church to the local community and to music organisations: we’ve had offers to do woodwind workshop, beginner’s jazz, possible listings at The Stables, MKMS, Junction 14, Campbell Centre and many more.

I would estimate that more than half of the performers/audience are not regular worshippers at SMSG. So probably the majority of the income has been donated by non parishioners, so if this trend continues as we raise funds, then they will have paid for more than half the cost of the piano!

Today we raised £434.55. There were no expenses. Thank you to all who donated cakes, raffle prizes, present to Caz £20, help and time.

We have a piano maintenance fund (PMF) which means the piano’s care is protected. The fund stood at £103.12. From today’s proceeds I have decided to put £60.00 into the PMF. I have an invoice from MKPW for two recent tunings and will pay £70 so the PMF will stand at £93.12. Note that a tuning will cost £40.00 in future.

Total of the loan paid off will then be £2,859.82 or 57%.

Please tell everyone you know about Bow, Blow and Chopin on 6th March. Fliers and posters at back of Church.

David Scrutton

St Mary & St Giles Organ Refurbishment Fund www.smsg-organ-appeal.co.uk/musical-bites.htm

Does it pay to be a Humanist?

The hermeneutic of Continuity Blog http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/2010/02/fees-for-humanist-ceremonies.html recently reported that the recommended fees by the British Humanist Association were rather high compared to the fees the Church sets for its clergy:

Humanist Association Recommended Fees
Funerals/Memorials - £130-£175
Weddings/Partnerships - £320-£700
Namings - £130-£250

Church of England's Clergy Fees which have to be declared by the priest and sent into the Diocese to be put into a pot towards the Diocesan Clergy Stipend (Pay) Bill - not as other denominations where the "Minister" get's to keep the fee on top of his pay - are this year as follows:

Funeral £99
Marriages £126
Baptism - No Fee

So who is milking the system?

Lenten Homilies 2010....

This Lent the Ash Wednesday and Sunday Homilies will be reflections on the Stations of the Cross. The programme for which is in a box to the right of this post.

Lenten Homilies AD 2010

The Stations of the Cross

Introduction:

Setting the Scene – The Eve of the Passover

The Stations of the Cross are one of the most popular Christian acts of worship outside of the Mass. When we go to Our Lady’s Shrine at Walsingham it is rare to find anyone who doesn’t wish to participate in the Stations of the Cross in the beautiful Shrine grounds. In the Stations of the Cross we are brought close to Jesus in his final and inexorable journey to suffering and death.

We pause 14 times and reflect on incidents that happened along this sorrowful journey, but this journey has a background to it. This journey becomes necessary with the fall of man and woman into sin, and the resulting rupture of the relationship between God and his creation. God, even at the beginning, knew that this journey would be necessary, and yet this journey is a far longer one than we sometimes realise. The fourteen incidents that we mark as the observance of the Stations of the Cross are but the final phase of this journey. For our Lord this journey begins with the preparation for it throughout the Old Testament Era where God prepares his people through successive partial revelations of himself for his full and complete revelation of himself in his Son, Jesus Christ.

That full and complete revelation of God himself takes place in a cave beneath an inn in Bethlehem and that is where this final journey begins. Here in humility and poverty the Word is made flesh and dwells among us. Throughout his infancy, childhood, adolescence and early manhood our Lord dwells among us and gets to know the people he has created in a way mankind could never have envisaged. This is a journey of love for his creation, which begins formally and publicly with his Baptism at the Jordan and continues with his travelling ministry throughout Galilee and Judea. Eventually, as he knows he must, he comes to Jerusalem: the place which has seen so many of the prophets sent by God rejected and killed. It is here that the final phase of this long journey to secure our redemption takes place and which forms the basis of our observance of what we have thought of as his final journey but which is in reality the culmination of a long journey undertaken by Christ out of love for the world.

But there are other acts and journeys taking place behind the scenes that lead up to this final phase. There are the journeys of the religious leaders of the day to Galilee to report back to the High Priest and the Council about the activities and speeches of this young Rabbi from Galilee. There are the journeys of the Apostles that are sent to prepare the Upper Room for the Last Supper. There are the journeys of Judas who collaborates with the High Priest and Council in betraying Jesus. There is the sublime journey of the Master who walks around the table pausing to stoop to wash the Apostles feet. There is the journey to the Garden of Gethsemane both by Our Lord and the Apostles, and subsequently by the heavy feet of the soldiers accompanied by Judas who come with spears and swords to arrest him who is the Prince of Peace. There are the journeys to the House of Caiaphas and Annas, the High Priests, to Herod and finally to the judgement hall of Pontius Pilate. Yes, the enemies of righteousness have been engaged in a lot of journeys to make sure this final phase, which they have longed to see, becomes a reality.

But also behind the scenes there is a lot going on. It is the Eve of the Passover: a time of preparation. Rather like the hectic preparations that we engage in to prepare for Christmas. There is an atmosphere of great excitement and that wonderful feeling that people, for want of a better word, describe as “Christmassy.” Food is being purchased, homes are being decorated and others are also on journeys to join their families in Jerusalem or simply just to be there for the Passover as part of a spiritual pilgrimage as we might long to spend Christmas in Bethlehem or Holy Week in Jerusalem.

Excitement prevails, but there is also tenseness in the air. The occupying Roman forces are nervous, for Passover is a time when the Zealots, the freedom fighters have cause to remember their loss of freedom and when nationalistic tendencies come to the fore. And there are other, darker forces at work in league with evil... forces which plot the defeat of goodness because of jealousy, spite and fear – fear of the loss of influence and power.

At the heart of all this hustle and bustle to do with a celebration of God’s deliverance of his people in ancient times there is an unseen and powerful plot to destroy the one who will ultimately and finally deal with the problem of sin. But this plot is all the more misguided as they know not what they do, or who it is that they are determined to do away with.

And so we find ourselves walking these steps with Christ – walking with him in spirit along the final phase of this long journey to win our redemption. While treading these steps with him we are drawn into a great mystery – the mystery of suffering and redemption. For, as we tread these steps with him we find that we are drawn even closer to the one who knows the depth of our own suffering even more than we know it ourselves. And yet as we bear our own cross with him we find ourselves drawn out of ourselves into the very real suffering of others – the appalling tragedies that so many in our world face on a daily basis.

This is how it should be as we contemplate the final journey of the One who is to die for the whole of mankind. He who takes this journey to die for others literally empties himself of his glory, in order that he, by his suffering and death, will redeem the world. If, as we take this journey with him, we simply think of ourselves and Christ being with us in our struggles we miss the point of this journey for, as Christ shows us: this is, as it was always intended to be, a journey undertaken on behalf of others.

DAY OF PRAYER for Traditionalist Church of England People....

Bishop Andrew has asked for Monday of next week (22nd February) to be set aside as a Day of Prayer for Traditionalist Anglicans as we face an uncertain future. The General Synod and its Revision Committee continue to deliberate on the matter of what provision to make for traditionalists and the news does not look promising, with it looking highly likely that even the provision we now have will be taken away from us. It is sad to report that some of the speeches in previous Synods have been ill-tempered and not in line with what we have come to expect from a denomination that has always seen it as important that all shades of churchmanship can exist within it.

There are, unfortunately, certain elements that have sought to portray this Day of Prayer as a time when faithful Anglicans will make decisions about their future, but this is not the case. Rather, this Day of Prayer, is for parishes like ours to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order that we may discern how we can best continue to witness to Catholic Faith and Order. Our forebears in the Tractarian Movement faced persecution and imprisonment for things we now take for granted, such as candles on the altar, the Eucharist as the main act of Christian Worship and the wearing of priestly vestments. In those times the phrase adopted by clergy of SSC was “No desertion, no surrender” - it is now for us in this generation to discern how we might continue to live the Catholic Life as God wishes us to in the face of some quiet hostile elements who wish to see Anglo-Catholics unchurched.

Full details of the programme for the Day of Prayer can be found below. Bishop Andrew has kindly provided us with Booklets for the celebration of Morning and Evening Prayer (BCP) with all the Propers for the Day included along some other Booklets of Reflections on the theme of Christian Unity which can be used throughout the day. Obviously, not all of us will be able to manage to come to everything on that day, but do try to come along to something. The emphasis will not be on the negative influences we face, but rather on seeking the will of God.


Chair of St Peter the Apostle
Day of Prayer for Traditionalist Anglicans
9:00am Mattins (Book of Common Prayer) (with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 8:30am)
12:00 Angelus & Midday Prayer
4:00pm Evening Prayer (Book of Common Prayer)
7:30pm Mass & Lenten Meditations
Intention: The Reunion of All Christians

Of souls in peril....

Apropos the blog of the Guardianista, and Jezebel's Trumpet columnist Andrew Brown
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2010/feb/16/catholic-anglican-ordinariate,

reports of which can be found:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100026321/revealed-anglo-catholic-bishop-in-talks-with-cdf-to-stop-english-bishops-smothering-popes-anglican-plan/

I am always amazed how some apparent Christians are seemingly determined to prove our Lord right on the Parable of the Wheat and Tares and prepared to ignore the Lord's injunction in today's Gospel "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

How right St Paul was when he said the Devil was arrayed as an angel of light.

Well....the Guardianistas may hold temporal power at the moment even within the GS, but as the Good Book says: "God is not mocked."

I guess the source of the leak is well known in certain quarters ...... but they are as much in need of our prayer as anyone else... probably more so as they seem to be making themselves enemies of righteousness.

Priceless moments....

There are times in a parish priest's life that are priceless and wonderful. Yesterday I experienced the wisdom of a local person:

" Hello Father.............. I've just picked up the Catholic Times to read it and I'm hopping mad. Who on earth does David Cameron think he is? He said he thinks he could persuade a Roman Catholic Archbishop that gay adoption is right, and that our Lord himself would be in favour of gay rights if he were living among us now.
Well, for David Cameron's information: He is living among us now, only perhaps David Cameron doesn't know, or doesn't want to know, in what a wonderful way.
I'm absolutely hopping mad. I don't think that I shall bother to vote this time as none of them are fit to hold public office."

Archbishop of Canterbury's Presidential Address to the General Synod....

In a remarkable and deeply thought provoking address the Archbishop of Canterbury shows us a way forward. Let us hope and pray that the Revision Committee and all General Synod members will not only listen but act upon these very wise words....

Follow this link to listen or read the Archbishop's Address:


http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/2741

General Synod: Reform Media Release & Letter to Bishops and Members....

Monday 8th February 2010 - MEDIA RELEASE

REFORM HIGHLIGHTS 'HUGE PRACTICAL PROBLEMS' WITH WOMEN BISHOPS

The Church of England's present plans for legislation on women bishops show that "nothing is being done to head off the huge practical problems" that will result said Reform Chairman, the Rev Rod Thomas, today. Speaking on the day that the Bishop of Manchester was reporting on the issue to the General Synod, Mr Thomas said that the biggest problem would be a "drastic cut" in the Church of England's future intake of young ordinands.

The Reform Chairman was commenting on an open letter issued to Synod members today by 50 Church of England ministers who have links with Reform. Drawn from churches of varying sizes across England, they say that in the last ten years they have sent over 180 men into ordained ministry, of whom more than 50% were under the age of 30. They have also contributed more than £22 million to the Church of England's finances.

The ministers say that if future legislation fails to provide adequately for them, then they would have to encourage new potential ordinands to consider training for ministry outside the Church of England and to help them financially to do that. Churches would also need to consider establishing charitable trusts to finance their own ministries in the longer term. These costs would inevitably put a "severe strain" on their continuing ability to contribute to the Church of England.

The signatories represent just some of those who are concerned over the current lack of provision for opponents of women bishops. The letter points out that their opposition is based on the pattern the Bible gives both for relationships in the home and the church. They say that they cannot see how, as Bible teachers, they can do other than put into practice what they believe the Bible to be teaching.

Rod Thomas said: "The current absence of any proposal from the General Synod's Revision Committee to guarantee a future place for our views within the Church of England is causing great concern." Reform has more than 1,300 members, of whom more than 350 are ordained clergy. Many others are known to be sympathetic to its concerns.

Ends

A copy of the letter is below:


Monday 8th February 2010

Dear Bishops and Synod members,

As 50 incumbents of Church of England churches we are writing to say why, in our view, the consecration of women bishops would be a mistake and would raise for us great difficulties of conscience and practice, as well as being wrong for our Church as a whole.

Our concern is derived from Scripture. It seems to us that the Apostolic teaching on male headship in church and family (as in 1 Corinthians 11-14, Ephesians 5,1 Timothy 2 and 1 Peter 3) is clear enough in its principles: overall leadership in the church is to be exercised by men. The fierce debates that have surrounded the gender issue over the last twenty years or so have stimulated much careful analysis of these texts, and have only served to show that mainstream translations such as NRSV, NIV, REB and ESV are correct in their translation and may (and should) be taken as they stand.

It is, of course, right to say that these passages in Paul and Peter have a particular cultural setting; but to make them prisoners of that culture and thus unable to challenge our culture, seems to us implicitly to deny the authority of Scripture. It is surely the genius of the New Testament that what was spoken in a particular context is at one and the same time also God's word to us. Far from being a prisoner of his culture, Paul is not afraid to challenge it, warning his readers "not to live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking" (Eph 4:17). Why, then, is it assumed he will uncritically reflect their values on this issue of gender?

Therefore we think the historic, reasoned reflection of Christians down the ages (including the historic position of the Church of England) has been correct; we fear that the current pressure to overturn it comes not for biblical reasons but because we are losing our nerve in the face of pressure from society.

In saying all this, we emphasise again that we are NOT for a moment saying women are less valuable than men, and nor does the Scripture. This, in our experience, is the point which we find hardest to communicate, since the world about us equates value with power. Just by making this point we are thought to be "anti-women". On the contrary, it is both possible and right to affirm that we are "all one in Christ Jesus", while at the same time affirming different roles. For the Bible separates roles and worth: our Lord Jesus himself submitted to the Father, but is, of course, no less God than he is.

There are, of course, questions about how precisely to honour this teaching in some details of the life of our churches today, but few would doubt, surely, that the office of bishop is indeed very much a leadership function!

In our own churches we are glad to teach these passages of Scripture as they stand, and include a 'complementary' view of gender roles in our teaching on marriage, family life and church. Gently ordering our shared life this way is, in our view, vital to our witness to a Christian understanding of family life. Our churches contain many members - and very many women as well as men - who are glad of this teaching, which is all the more important in a world which is so confused about gender roles and sexuality in general. In such a context, the oversight of a woman bishop would be enormously hard to explain, however great her merits in other regards. Again and again, in our youth groups, at marriage preparation and whenever covering the relevant passages in homegroups and from the pulpit, we would find ourselves having to answer people's question, "Why does the Church of England go against this?" This would fester on for as long as people have Bibles in their hands.

In the end, this is an issue about our view of Holy Scripture, and this is why it matters to us so much, as ministers of the Word.

As matters stand, it seems likely that General Synod will be invited to vote on legislative proposals that threaten our ministries. An illustration of the practical problems we will face should a Measure fail to provide adequate safeguards, can be seen with future ordinands. At the moment we are encouraging young men into the ordained ministry in the knowledge that they cannot be discriminated against if they hold convictions about male headship. While this remains the case, we have encouraged them to believe that there is a worthwhile future for their ministries in the Church of England. However, we will be unable to do this if inadequately protective legislation is passed. The issue that will then arise is how to encourage these men to develop their ministries if they cannot do so within the formal structures of the Church of England. The answer must be to encourage them to undertake training for ministries outside those formal structures, although hopefully still within an Anglican tradition. We will, of course, have to help them with the financing of their training.

Our congregations will inevitably start asking questions about their own place within the Church of England if they see us encouraging people into training for alternative ministries. This will come into sharp focus when the issue of succession to an incumbency arises. Since we cannot take an oath of canonical obedience to a female bishop, we are unlikely to be appointed to future incumbencies. We see nothing but difficulty facing us. In these circumstances we will have to discuss with our congregations how to foster and protect the ministry they wish to receive. This is likely to generate a need for the creation of new independent charitable trusts whose purpose will be to finance our future ministries, when the need arises.

These twin developments will need to be financed from current congregational giving. This will inevitably put a severe strain on our ability to continue to contribute financially to Diocesan funds. Where we are unable to contribute as before some will see this as a form of retaliation. However, that could not be further from the truth. We long to contribute to the well being of the Church of England. Over the last ten years we have encouraged more than 180 young men into the ordained ministry, over 50% of whom were under the age of 30. We have together contributed a gross figure of more than £22million to Diocesan funds.

Finally, for those of us ordained since 1992, our understanding, in good faith, was that proper legal provision would be made for those who did not agree that women should have the overall leadership of a church (Resolution B, etc). It seems to us a matter of simple integrity that Synod should now keep its word to us in this and not force us down a road none of us wish to tread.

Yours in Christ,



Rev'd Rod Thomas
Chairman of Reform)
and 49 other signatories

Leaked Statement from the Revision Committee on Women Bishops' Measure....

The following Statement is, apparently, due to be made by the Bishop of Manchester tomorrow at a predominantly white, middle-class debating society. Our parishes and readers from further afield will note with interest the conclusions that recommendations put to the Synod from the Revision Committee on Women Bishops will not include that which will enable traditionalists to both remain and flourish within the church of their Baptisms, to which they have given loyal service and made sacrificial financial commitments over many years and in many cases decades. The upshot is "like it or lump it, or leave." I shall post a further reflection when I have given time for thought and prayer, but at this stage, like others, I would say that I am not surprised but saddened that apparent liberal inclusiveness is seen for exactly what it is: nothing of the sort.

WOMEN IN THE EPISCOPATE DRAFT STATEMENT TO SYNOD

1. I am grateful to the Business Committee for providing this opportunity to brief Synod about the draft legislation on Women in the Episcopate, which it committed for revision in committee a year ago. I speak, with the agreement of the Revision Committee and of its chair Clive Mansell. My role has been to be Chair of the Steering Committee which, under Standing Order 49, is assigned the task of being, and I quote, ‘in charge of the Measure’. If only it were so simple!

2. The Steering Committee and Revision Committee held their first meetings on 23 April and 1 May respectively. Because of the exceptional significance of the task the Appointments Committee had chosen eight people to be members of the Steering Committee and a further eleven to serve with them on the Revision Committee, making both Committees the largest in recent history. In accordance with convention, the Steering Committee was appointed from among those who had signalled their general support for the legislation by voting for the July 2008 motion. The other members of the Revision Committee were drawn from a wide variety of viewpoints.

3. In just over nine months since our first meetings the Revision Committee has met [a total of thirteen times, most recently on 22 January]. It was clear from the outset that we all faced a daunting task. We received nearly 300 submissions, including 114 from members of Synod, who, under the Standing Orders, have the right to come, speak to their submissions and be present while the points they raise are under consideration.

4. Many of the submissions inevitably covered a large number of points. So, some Synod members have had the right to attend a large number of the meetings. Happily not all of them have chosen to do so but even so it has been an extraordinary logistical challenge for the Committee and especially the staff supporting it to ensure that everyone has the say that they are entitled to.

5. In the normal course of events Revision Committees quickly settle down to the task entrusted to them by the Standing Orders which is, and I quote, to “consider the Measure committed to them, together with any proposals for amendments, clause by clause.”

6. In this instance, however, both the Steering Committee and Revision Committee were clear very early on that it would not be sensible to try and move straight into clause by clause consideration. We agreed that we needed first to take representations from those who wanted the shape of the Measure to be of a significantly different kind from what the earlier Drafting Group had prepared.

7. Some people argued for the creation of additional dioceses. Other submissions proposed the creation of a new, officially recognised, society. Others tabled proposals for the statutory transfer of certain functions. Others proposed dropping the Statutory Code of Practice and instead having the simplest form of legislation that would do nothing more than lift the present legal impediment to women becoming bishops.

8. These were all proposals that Synod members were perfectly entitled to submit and the Steering and Revision Committees had an absolute obligation to take them seriously. The specific mandate given by the Synod in July 2008 was to the Legislative Drafting Group. But – as I made clear to the Synod last February - once the legislative process proper started, all the earlier arguments could be run again, alongside fresh arguments and proposals. The consideration of draft legislation always allows of such possibilities. Indeed, it is not uncommon for Synod members to vote to send draft legislation to a Revision Committee not because they agree with all of it but because they want to try and secure significant changes to it in Committee. The Revision Committee has had to listen to and weigh every point to us, both large and small.

9. I hope all that gives some insight into the nature of the task we have been engaged in and some of the exceptional challenges with which we have had to grapple. Against that background let me come now to explaining where we’ve got to and what comes next.

10. Where have we got to? It was only at our tenth meeting on 26 November that the Revision Committee completed the first phase of its work, namely considering whether to substitute a significantly different approach for the one reflected in the initial draft of the Measure. What we had done in our earlier meetings was to adopt a ‘traffic light’ system of red and amber.

11. Having heard representations in favour of creating additional dioceses the Committee decided before the summer to give the idea the red light. But proposals for a recognised society, some sort of transfer or vesting, or for adopting the simplest possible legislative approach all got initial amber lights, that is to say, we agreed to consider them further.

12. We then did some serious work on these models, particularly to tease out the pros and cons of the society model and to understand exactly what it might mean in terms of who exercised what jurisdiction and on whose authority. After much discussion we came to the point of decision on 8 October. The Revision Committee voted by a clear majority to reject the society option but, by a similarly clear majority to go for the transfer or vesting route. This meant that, in relation to petitioning parishes, certain functions - though the Committee had not agreed which - would be exercised by bishops by virtue of the Measure rather than by way of delegation from the diocesan bishop.

13. We were then confronted with a dilemma over what if anything to say about such a significant decision. We had confirmed at the outset of this exercise that we would not offer a running commentary on progress. Nevertheless, we have no sanctions to enforce confidentiality. With 19 members we are a big Group and in addition there are usually several other Synod members present at our discussions. We were also conscious that people would be attending subsequent meetings and would need to know the changed context in which they were presenting their proposals.

14. So, it was clear that news of what we had decided would get out, not necessarily accurately. After discussion there was agreement across the Revision Committee that the least bad option was to put out a short factual press release.

15. Even with the benefit of hindsight I’m not sure that we could have done differently. But it did, in the event, create difficulty for us and necessitate a further statement when, on 13 November, further work resulted in all the specific proposals for the vesting of particular functions being defeated. The Revision Committee was simply unable to identify a basis for specifying particular functions for vesting which could command sufficient support both from those in favour of the ordination of women as bishops and those unable to support that development.

16. This meant that after more than six months work we had rejected all the options which would have involved conferring some measure of jurisdiction on someone other than the diocesan bishop. The legislation that the Revision Committee sends back to the Synod will, therefore, be on the basis that any arrangements that are made for parishes with conscientious difficulties about women’s ordination will be by way of delegation from the diocesan bishops. That much is already clear.

17. What the Committee has been doing since November is to look at the Draft Measure and Amending Canon clause by clause to see how much of the original drafts should be retained, whether some provisions should be dropped or modified and whether others should be added.

18. Let me in conclusion say a few words about what happens next. We very much regret that the scale of the task made it impossible for us to conclude our work in time for the Revision stage to take place at this group of sessions. We did our level best. We are [not far off now] from completing the detailed scrutiny of the draft legislation and shall then need to agree the terms of our report to Synod. This will need to be a comprehensive document, setting out what we decided and why in relation to all of the proposals for amendment contained in the 114 submissions we received from Synod members.

19. Our aim is to issue this document, together with the revised draft legislation, so that Synod members have several weeks to consider it before July. Decisions on the amount of time to allow for the take note debate on our report and the Revision Stage that follows will be for the Business Committee but it has already signalled that it is prepared to make as much time available as is needed.

20. What happens thereafter depends on what decisions the Synod takes. At the Revision Stage it is open to members to table amendments - whether on large matters or small - inviting the full Synod to take a different view from that reached by the Revision Committee.

21. The key point is that the work of the Revision Committee is just one of many important stages in a process. Its task is to send back something that will provide a coherent basis for the next – and potentially most crucial – phase of the discussion, in which the whole Synod will have to consider afresh the many arguments and issues with which we have had to wrestle for so long.

A Reflection for Sunday's Mass having received the Blessed Sacrament....

At this moment when we receive the Blessed Sacrament we enter the presence of God more fully than Isaiah entered his presence in the Temple. We too hear the word of forgiveness as we take the Body given for us, and His Blood which was shed for us. We share the bread of life come down from heaven and drink the cup poured out for the remission of our sins. We thus receive nourishment for the eternal life which Jesus shares with us through his resurrection. Our spiritual nets are full to breaking point.

Dangers to our Freedom of speech.....

As well as confirming that he intends to visit England later this year the Holy Father has encouraged the Bishops of England and Wales to speak with one voice in defending freedom of expression. Result? Much self-righteous indignation on the part of the Harriet Harridan supporters (notably the Guardian this morning - but then that is a complement to the Holy Father) as she fumes at the Upper House's refusal to agree to her grubby little opinions being passed into law.

The blogosphere is full of comments from those who embrace the nihilist tendencies of the bourgeois ungrown-ups running this country. They seem to think that their personal opinions are much more important than any Bishop, let alone the Pope. We see actors and chat show hosts being asked for their opinions and they are feted for it. A certain actor who loves to see himself as the successor to Oscar Wilde seems to think he is a competent person to comment on the Scriptures, and presumably the weak-minded do as well as they laugh at his pronouncements couched in mocking, inflammatory terms. When are such brave people going to say the same things to the members of the predominant middle-eastern religion as well as to Christians? The answer: probably never - because the consequences are............ well.................

So Christians are an easy target as we turn the other cheek. Problem is we have confused turning the other cheek with not saying anything for fear of offending. The world of apologetics is not filled with sensible people either. There are a few bright sparks, but a lot of extreme people out there whose views and whose grasp of theology and science is so poor that they are an embarrassment. The Church needs more true apologists who are well-informed in many disciplines and who can remind the modern world that theology is the Queen of the Sciences as it is concerned with ultimate truth.

Who is going to respond to a writer of fantasy novels who was last night pleading for legal tribunals to be set up to agree an assisted suicide with a guarantee of non-prosecution for those who assist them? His case is distressing and no sensible person would deny that, but can we really agree as Christians that suicide is a righteous act? For some the temptation is to point out potential consequences of such acts; e.g. it could lead to someone committing murder under the guise of assisted suicide, or a situation where Mrs Y and her family thinks her husband would be better off dead as he is such a drain on her time and energy and anyway he will spare himself lots of suffering if he lessens their burden and takes the pill.

In reality, no matter how correct these views are - they will not persuade anyone of theological truth - they are simply window dressing. To take ones own life is to deny the gift of life that God has created, it is to deny the possibility that suffering can be redemptive and it is to deny the grace of God. Suicide is a selfish act (look at the effect it has on those who are left behind) and it can never be considered brave, or for the benefit of others.

So while the great and good and those that control our lives (yes, for that is what Government has become, rather than serving the People) seek to state that there is no God and no moral code except niceness, what is the response we hear from Bishops in England? Well, there are signs that at last in the CofE we are waking up to the serious situation being created by politicians and uneducated people in positions of power and/or influence. The Pope has asked that the Bishops of the Catholic Church in England and Wales speak out with missionary zeal. In this they should be wholeheartedly supported by the Bishops of the CofE and all other Christian Leaders. The CofE may be the established Church, but in reality those who run the State have gone back on their part of the deal. The CofE can no longer afford to act as a state poodle, trying not to offend anyone by obfuscating Christian Truth, smiling and blessing whatever is presented to it, or straining out a gnat to swallow the camel of apostasy.

Contrast the faint-hearted approach of some to such moral dilemmas to this:

Pope Benedict stated:

If the full saving message of Christ is to be presented effectively and convincingly to the world, the Catholic community in your country needs to speak with a united voice. This requires not only you, the Bishops, but also priests, teachers, catechists, writers – in short all who are engaged in the task of communicating the Gospel – to be attentive to the promptings of the Spirit, who guides the whole Church into the truth, gathers her into unity and inspires her with missionary zeal.

This needs to be taken on board by all Christian Leaders in this land. As the warm, fuzzy glow of "The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" fades what emerges is that the Octave is just that: warm and fuzzy. It has no real teeth - it is just a vehicle for those who like talking about unity rather than genuinely desiring it. It is warm and fuzzy because it equates unity with niceness and politeness, as if we were all members of some gentleman's club. If we really desire unity we will need to understand that we cannot divorce unity from truth, and many of us in the CofE will need to give up that grave error of believing that truth is decided by whoever can summon up the greatest number of votes or by Christina Rees (aka personal opinion).

In reality unity is essential if we are to bring the light of Christ to this generation which has been constantly led astray not simply by our politicians and leaders, but by the unwillingness of many in ecclesial authority to do or say anything that could be considered impolite, i.e. speaking Christian Truth. In these intolerant times we are colluding with the enemies of Christ by our refusal to:

a) genuinely seek reunion with the ancient churches of the First Millennium

b) recognise that there are many souls that could be saved, but may not be, because of our weakness in firmly, but lovingly, proclaiming Christian Truth

The Holy Father's visit to our land this autumn will continue to attract criticism, some of it veiled, but equally damaging; some of it in Murdoch Newspapers where one journalist constantly writes about Roman Catholics as if they are from outer-space. But if all Christians joined together in welcoming him wholeheartedly, and joyfully welcomed the message of Truth that he brings, then this visit will also prove to be a catalyst for evangelisation and mission, where we are given the boost that we need to respond to the secular agenda and engage in a robust, loving and steadfast upholding of the "faith once delivered to the saints."