Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God. (St. Luke xiv. 15)The liturgical season of Trinity is all about virtuous and godly living. In this season we are called to translate and convert our vision of Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life into habits of holiness and righteousness. In this season we are called to apply what we know to our hearts. From our hearts, we must will the good that Christ, through the Holy Spirit, teaches us. And the good that we are focusing on in … [Read more...]
Trinity I
And so, we love Him because he first loved us. (1 John 4. 19)Trinity tide is all about the moral life rooted in the vision of truth that we see in God. Today I will speak about the friendship of God and man. Throughout the seasons of the liturgical year you and I have been illuminated progressively by the knowledge of God so that we might come to find friendship with Him. If Eastertide might be called the season of vision and knowledge, Trinity tide is one of activity, experience, and … [Read more...]
Whitsunday 2018
They marvelled to see such things; they were astonished, and suddenly cast down. Fear came there upon them and sorrow, as upon a woman in her travail. (Psalm xlviii. 4,5)One day in the future men will look back at our age and describe it as the time when man had forgotten his past. In general we shall be judged as those who had little or no respect for the wisdom of our fathers, and in particular as those who spent their lives running away from the truth. Because of both, we shall be known … [Read more...]
Ascension I
As the briefest liturgical season in the Church Year, Ascension-tide lasts only ten days. We believe that on the fortieth day after Easter Christ ascended to the Father. Ten days later the Holy Spirit was sent into the womb of the nascent Church on the feast of the Pentecost or Whitsunday. So we have but a few days to examine the significance and meaning of the Ascension for us.The Ascension is Jesus Christ’s return to the eternal state that He shares, as Son, with the Father and the Holy … [Read more...]
The Question
The Question:Is Jesus the living Son of God, the Saviour, the Deliverer, the Mediator, the Advocate,The Judge for you? Is He is the Logos of God in your heart and soul? If He is, then He is the reason, truth, goodness, and beauty that animates your life. If he is, then He is the ruling and governing principle of your whole existence. He then indwells your heart by His Grace and through the Holy Spirit. He then moves and defines you. He enables you to die to sin and come alive to … [Read more...]
Easter II
This is thankworthy, that if a man for conscience endure grief, suffering wrongfully. (1 St. Peter ii. 19)Our Epistle reading for The Second Sunday after Easter, taken from St. Peter’s First Letter, continues our Easter tide theme of suffering. Last week we meditated upon how suffering and death are necessary components of Resurrection and new life. So today we continue to see how the ancient Church Fathers, who chose the readings for our liturgical season, had some deeper truth in … [Read more...]
Low Sunday
As my Father has sent me, so send I you. (St. John xx. 21)You and I have just come off of an intense Holy Week and Easter when we tried to walk with Jesus Christ from His suffering, Passion, and Death into the first intimations of His Resurrection. You will remember that last week we left Saints Mary Magdalene, John, and Peter having found the Empty tomb. Christ Jesus had not yet appeared to them, and so with them, our faith wondered and pondered what all of this might mean. What they did … [Read more...]
Easter Day
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections onThings above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your lifeIs hid with Christ in God.(Col. 3. 1-3)There is something rather strange about our Easter Epistle, which was addressed by St. Paul to the Church at Colossae, a small Phrygian city in Asian Minor. For no sooner has Christ appeared to Peter, to Mary Magdalene, … [Read more...]
Maundy Thursday
He riseth up from supper, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel and girded himself.Tonight you and I are invited to the last supper of Jesus Christ. We move into a realm that is fraught with the fear and trembling of Jesus’ friends, who do not understand the meaning of it all and what will come next on the tomorrow of God’s today. For the Apostles have been following Jesus for some three years, and they have experienced the hand of God at work in Him. In a sense there was so much to … [Read more...]
Holy Monday
Although all be offended, yet will not I. (St. Mark xiv. 29)We ought to remind ourselves that our membership in the mystical Life of Christ is no easy business. To become a tried and true member of the life of the Crucified One takes time, practice, the development of spiritual discipline, and an ongoing surrender to the Mind of Christ that longs always to remold and remake us. One thing that we learn about the spiritual life today is that membership in the life of Christ requires vigilance, … [Read more...]
Palm Sunday
And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. (St. Matthew 27. 19)There is a good deal of silence that is meant to surround us as a response to the Passion and Crucifixion of the Son of God during Holy Week. Holy Week has been set aside from the time of the early Church to ponder our Lord’s suffering in silence and stillness. If we approach this time with a determined silence and stillness, we will, no doubt, find that it assaults and confounds our human … [Read more...]
Passion Sunday
Before Abraham was, I AM. (St. John viii. 58) The threat of God’s nearness and proximity are quite enough to unnerve, unhinge, and unsettle men in all ages. There is something about human nature that is resistant, refractory, and recalcitrant to God and His Word. Most men treat the existence of God carelessly, incautiously, indifferently, or haughtily. Think about it. The majority of men in our own time say, I am spiritual but not religious. What that usually means is that he or she isn’t in … [Read more...]
Lent IV 2018
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.(Gal. iv. 26)At the very beginning of Lent Jesus said to his disciples, Behold we go up to Jerusalem. (St. Luke xviii. 31) We began our journey at Christ's command. Long journeys are hard work, and this Lenten journey is no exception. For nearly some seven weeks Christians are invited to walk with Jesus towards Jerusalem. Walking to Jerusalem is what our lives are all about. We walk with Jesus in order to see how He … [Read more...]
Forgiveness of Sins
Against thee only have I sinned and done that which is evil in thy sight…(Ps. Li. 4) Ultimately when we sin we rebel against God. Even when we sin against our neighbors, we are sinning against God because they are His craftsmanship and work and deserving of our righteous respect. At the end of the day, whether we sin against others or ourselves, we shall have to give an account of our sinning before God our Righteous Judge. In the final reckoning, all sinners must deal with … [Read more...]
Lent III 2018
Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps which thou hast sucked. But Jesus said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.(St. Luke xi. 27, 28)In last week's Gospel, a heathen woman taught us how to come to know ourselves, repent of our sins, and to supplicate Christ for His merciful love and His all-powerful healing of body and soul. You will remember that the Syro-Phoenician woman taught us how to express humility and obedience … [Read more...]
William Law: The Spirit of Love, continued.
[Love-2.1-15] Eusebius. Oh! Theophilus, you have forced me now to speak, and I cannot contain the Joy that I feel in this Expectation which you have raised in me. If you can make the Scriptures do all that which you have promised to Theogenes, I shall be in Paradise before I die. For to know that Love alone was the Beginning of Nature and Creature, that nothing but Love encompasses the whole Universe of Things, that the governing Hand that overrules all, the watchful Eye that sees through all, … [Read more...]
A Quiet Day: Entering Christ’s Temptations, III
O LORD, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.Third Session:St. Thomas Aquinas tells us about the order in which Satan tempted Christ. For at first he tempted Him to that which men desire, however … [Read more...]
A Quiet Day: Entering Christ’s Temptations, II
Let us Pray:O LORD, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.Second Session:Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If … [Read more...]
A Quiet Day: Entering Christ’s Temptations, I
John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. (St. John iii. 27)He must increase, but I must decrease. (Ibid, 20)Let us prayO LORD, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world … [Read more...]
Lent II 2018
As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness. Proverbs 26:11The season of Lent is nothing if it does not confuse human wisdom and turn man’s expectations upside down. For what the lections of this Holy Season attempt to show us is that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness. (1 Cor. iii. 19) And again, as Isaiah records, therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people…for … [Read more...]
Ash Wednesday
We begin our Lenten Pilgrimage with the words of Lancelot Andrewes. Andrewes was a 17th-century poet, theologian, and Bishop of Winchester. He did not live to endure the horrific regicide of His Sovereign Lord, King Charles I. But on his own spiritual journey he culled gifts of Grace that have helped many a Christian in the modern age to understand the important place of enduring all manner of spiritual suffering as the soul moves from repentance and death and into virtue and new life. He had a … [Read more...]
William Law: The Spirit of Love continued
[Love-2.1-13] Had I an hundred Lives, I could with more Ease part with them, all by suffering an hundred Deaths, than give up this lovely idea of God. Nor could I have any Desire of Eternity for myself, if I had not Hopes, that, by partaking of the Divine Nature, I should be eternally delivered from the Burden and Power of my own Wrath, and changed into the blessed Freedom of a Spirit, that is all Love, and a mere Will to Nothing but Goodness. An Eternity without this, is but an Eternity of … [Read more...]
Septuagesima Sunday
So the last shall be first, and the first last:for many be called, but few chosen.(St. Matthew xx. 14-16) We have just completed our Epiphany-tide pilgrimage and now are entering what is called pre-Lent. The season we have left behind has been characterized by illumination and manifestation. In it, we saw that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us whom we discovered to be the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth (St. John i. 14). Now we turn to a period in the … [Read more...]
Christmas Day
That day is called the birthday of the Lord on which the Wisdom of God manifested Himself as a speechless Child and the Word of God wordlessly uttered the sound of a human voice. His divinity, although hidden, was revealed by heavenly witness to the Magi and was announced to the shepherds by angelic voices. With yearly ceremony, therefore, we celebrate this day which saw the fulfillment of the prophecy…(St. Augustine sermon clxxxv)Tonight, we come to the cradle, the cratch, the manger, and … [Read more...]
Advent IV
Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. (Isaiah xxxii. 16)You can say what you will about the old Book of Common Prayer, which we use exclusively in this church, but what you cannot say it that it is not honest and forthright about the struggles which any human being finds in his journey towards salvation. Indeed, perhaps its most brilliant contribution to the history of Christianity lies in its full appreciation of the spiritual warfare … [Read more...]
Advent III
Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another? (St. Matthew xi. 2)We have said that Advent season is all about our preparing for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at Christmas time. Our preparation is rooted in history and hope. Historically speaking Jesus Christ, the Desire of God, was made flesh some two-thousand years ago in ancient Palestine. The historical Jesus began to summon and carry followers to God’s Kingdom long ago, beginning in time and space through His Incarnation … [Read more...]
St. Thomas Aquinas, On the Creed, Part Seven
Then, again, if one were willing to believe only those things which one knows with certitude, one could not live in this world. How could one live unless one believed others? How could one know that this man is one’s own father? Therefore, it is necessary that one believe others in matters which one cannot know perfectly for oneself. But no one is so worthy of belief as is God, and hence they who do not believe the words of faith are not wise, but foolish and proud. As the Apostle … [Read more...]
Advent II 2017
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity…(St. Luke xxi. 25)Advent is that season which is all about preparing for Christ’s coming. What is coming to us is what endures forever and never passes away. With eager expectation, we await the one permanent and eternal thing that is all-important and all-defining for the life of any Christian. In the cyclical life of the Church, once again we prepare for the … [Read more...]
Genesis Musings
In stillness and silence Moses, the Lord’s Prophet, seeks and searches for God in Himself. What or who he searches for is what is not anything that he has experienced or encountered in the universe around him. In the universe are changing, moving, growing, and becoming beings. In himself he finds a changing, moving, becoming, being. Not only can he not step in the same river twice but he is not the same person who stepped in the river. Before he stepped into the river he was changing. While he … [Read more...]
Advent Sunday
Come, true light. Come, eternal life. Come, hidden mystery. Come, nameless treasure. Come, ineffable reality. Come, inconceivable person. Come, endless bliss. Come, non-setting sun. Come, infallible expectation of all those who must be saved. Come, awakening of those who are asleep. (Mystical Prayer of St. Simeon)It is hard to believe, but Advent has arrived once again. Advent means coming and for Christians, it means … [Read more...]
Trinity XXIII
For our conversation citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Phil. iii. 21,22) Perhaps the hardest challenge that Christians face in the postmodern world is that of disentanglement. Disentanglement means prying or freeing oneself from the world in order to … [Read more...]
St. Thomas Aquinas on the Creed, Part Six
“The Evidence of Things that Appear Not.”—But someone will say that it is foolish to believe what is not seen, and that one should not believe in things that he cannot see. I answer by saying that the imperfect nature of our intellect takes away the basis of this difficulty. For if man of himself could in a perfect manner know all things visible and invisible, it would indeed be foolish to believe what he does not see. But our manner of knowing is so weak that no philosopher could perfectly … [Read more...]
St. Thomas Aquinas on the Creed, Part Five
The fourth effect of faith is that by it we overcome temptations: “The holy ones by faith conquered kingdoms” [Heb 11:33]. We know that every temptation is either from the world or the flesh or the devil. The devil would have us disobey God and not be subject to Him. This is removed by faith, since through it we know that He is the Lord of all things and must therefore be obeyed. “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, strong in faith” [1 … [Read more...]
Trinity XXI
Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. (St. John iv. 48)It does seem that most men tend to call upon God when they are in trouble and to leave Him alone when things are going well. Francis Chan has said that The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time. God doesn’t need us since He requires nothing in addition to Himself to be pure and perfect. Yet He wants or … [Read more...]
St. Thomas Aquinas On the Creed: Part Four
Prologue:The third good that comes from faith is that right direction which it gives to our present life. Now, in order that one live a good life, it is necessary that he know what is necessary to live rightly; and if he depends for all this required knowledge on his own efforts alone, either he will never attain such knowledge, or if so, only after a long time. But faith teaches us all that is necessary to live a good life. It teaches us that there is one God who is the rewarder of good and … [Read more...]
St. Thomas Aquinas On the Creed, Part Three
The second effect of faith is that eternal life is already begun in us; for eternal life is nothing else than knowing God. This the Lord announced when He said: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.” [Jn 17:3].This knowledge of God begins here through faith, but it is perfected the future life when we shall know God as He is. Therefore, St. Paul says: “Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for” [Heb 11:1].No one then can arrive … [Read more...]
St. Thomas Aquinas on the Creed: Part Two
Prologue: What is Faith?The Nature and Effects of Faith –The first thing that is necessary for every Christian is faith, without which no one is truly called a faithful Christian. Faith brings about four good effects. The first is that through faith the soul is united to God, and by it there is between the soul and God a union akin to marriage. “I will espouse you in faith.” (Hosea ii. 20) When a man is baptized the first question that is asked him is: “Do you believe in God?” This is … [Read more...]
St. Thomas Aquinas on the Creed: Part One
Among all the truths which the faithful must believe, this is the first— that there is one God. We must see that God means the ruler and provider of all things. He, therefore, believes in God who believes that everything in this world is governed and provided for by Him. He who would believe that all things come into being by chance does not believe that there is a God. No one is so foolish as to deny that all nature, which operates with a certain definite time and order, is subject to the rule … [Read more...]
Octave of All Saints
After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and peoples, and tongues, stood before the Throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, palms In their hands, and cried with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. (Rev. 7.9)Today we find ourselves in the Octave of All Saints Day. The Octave is a period of eight days that follows the Feast of All Saints, which we celebrated last … [Read more...]
Come in Lord Jesus
The Counter-Reformation revived a late-Medieval tendency to adore the Lord Jesus Christ in the Reserved Host of the Altar. Anglo-Catholics of a certain stripe tend towards such devotions also. Prayer Book Anglicans tend to consider such practices as being beside the point. They are beside the point because Prayer Book Anglicans follow Archbishop Cranmer in his emphasis on the real meaning of the Holy Eucharist. The Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper is given to us so that we might come into … [Read more...]
St. Simon and St. Jude
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (St. Jude 20) Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude. Both are of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Of each, we know scarce little. Saint Simon is mentioned four times in the New Testament and then only in a list of the other Apostles. Saint Jude is mentioned … [Read more...]
Trinity XIX
There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased. (Jeremiah xxx. 13, 14)Our opening verses come to us from the 30th Chapter of the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah is describing the spiritual man who suffers the punishment of … [Read more...]
Reasoned Existence
The Ancient Greeks became convinced that the balanced life was essential to the mind’s discovery of Divine truth since it conditioned the body and soul to the service of God. Of significant importance was the virtue of temperance or moderation- sophrosone, sometimes translated as self-control. We think of that virtue specifically in relation to food, wine, and sex but the Greeks meant something more all-encompassing than that. They taught of a moderate disposition in relation to all things, … [Read more...]
The 39 Articles…
Thoughtful Prayer Book Anglicans believe that The 39 Articles of Religion ground them in the fundaments of the Christian religion and faith. They believe that they are written to guide the Anglican mind towards God and to retain its undivided attention. They do not tolerate the distractions of a spiritually immature Medievalism that is forever obsessed with incidental minutiae and beside-the-point theater. They insist that the Anglican mind give its complete and undivided attention to God in … [Read more...]
Trinity XVIII
Lord we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee.(Collect Trinity XVIII)In the Gospel for Trinity XVII you and I were advised by our Master to take the lowest seats in the community of men, spiritual spaces of little interest to people of the world, and a disposition or character of lowliness and humility in an effort to better situate ourselves in relation to God’s Grace. What our … [Read more...]
Trinity XVII
From His position in Heaven Jesus continues to exercise his magnetic power on all creatures; all feel deep within themselves His summons, His injunction to ascend. (Paul Claudel, ‘I Believe…’)Trinity tide is all about the flow of God’s Grace into the hearts of faithful souls who desire to ascend ultimately back to God the Father. In this season our Collects, Epistles, and Gospels help us to acquire this Grace. Grace is essential and necessary for our salvation and it is given to be embraced … [Read more...]
St. Michael & All Angels
THERE was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. (Rev. xii. 7)Today is the Feast of St. Michael & All Angels. It is our Patronal Feast. And, evidently, our Patron and His angelic compatriots are soldiers of war. We don’t tend to think of angels –and St. Michael is a sainted angel, as being at war at all. Because of the modern psychologizing of Christianity, … [Read more...]
Be Thankful
It is a truism that no man fully fathoms the depth of God’s love. Saintly folk do better than most, but on the whole human beings are a rather forgetful lot. Perhaps the real problem with the human condition involves a kind of forgetfulness or willful amnesia. What I mean is that we humans … [Read more...]
Trinity XIV
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light…(1 St. Peter 2. 9)You might be wondering this morning how exactly I plan to weave the words just quoted from St. Peter’s first Epistle into this morning’s lections. St. Peter seems to be speaking of something rather grand, elevated, and regal, or of a reality that is radically other than the … [Read more...]
Trinity X
We begin today’s sermon with the words of Richard J. Foster: Recently I experienced a special grace which I believe was from God. It is the gift of tears. I had been considering my sin and the sin of God's people. I had also been meditating on the gospel teaching (and ancient teaching of the Church) on "compunction"--heart sorrow. As I did this, God graciously helped me to enter into a godly mourning in my heart on behalf of the Church, and a deep, tear-filled thanksgiving at God's patience, … [Read more...]
William Law: On the Spirit of Love, continued
[Love-2.1-11] Why are Love, Knowledge, Wisdom, and Goodness said to be infinite and eternal in God, capable of no Increase or Decrease, but always in the same highest State of Existence? Why is his Power eternal and omnipotent, his Presence not here, or there, but everywhere the same? No Reason can be assigned, but because nothing that is temporary, limited, or bounded, can be in God. It is his Nature to be that which He is, and all that He is, in an infinite, unchangeable Degree, admitting … [Read more...]
A Letter from Bishop Mark Lawrence after the Supreme Court Decision Re: South Carolina
Feast of St. Basil June 14, 2018Dear People of God,“Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:7I leave tomorrow for the Global Anglicans Future Conference in Jerusalem. It is a gathering of global leaders—Primates, Bishops, Priests and lay leaders—from around the Anglican Communion. I will be attending not only as a bishop of the Anglican Church in North America, but, more … [Read more...]
From Clubs to Communion: in a Different League ?
It is said that the Metropolitan Club in New York founded in 1891 –with J.P. Morgan as its first President –was launched in consequence of outrage that a certain other Club had failed to elect particular gentlemen to membership. In the world of gentlemen’s social clubs it is clear thus that, in the case of difficulty, one answer is simply to set up a new one, even if the more recent clubs tend to be looked down upon by the older or more exclusive ones. (A mischievous … [Read more...]
Jerusalem and GAFCON III
St George's Cathedral Jerusalem: A view looking towards the Nave from the Quire A Special Evensong was held today in the Cathedral for those coming to Jerusalem to attend GAFCON with Archbishop Suheil Dawani the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem and Bishop Michael Lewis of Cyprus and the Gulf as well as the GAFCON Bishops This coming week sees the convening of the Third Global Anglican Futures Conference which for the second time is being held in Jerusalem ten years after the first … [Read more...]
A View from the Tub…..
This section is is provided for occasional items that are deemed to fit within a tradition that specifically goes back to Dean Swift of Dublin Cathedral, and will comprise a series of “tales” and “digressions” (to use his terms) of what may be termed an ironic and often fanciful character, which must therefore not be taken too seriously or literally.A View from the Tub specifically references a title going back to his first major publication entitled, A Tale of a Tub which was … [Read more...]
Uganda Martyrs Observance in Uganda 2018
Thousands of Christians from Uganda and neighbouring countries are arriving this weekend in Namugongo for special services to commemorate the Ugandan Martyrs.This speaks to the astonishing history of Christian Martyrdom in the country extending fromthose beheaded or burned alive in his court by Mwanga II, King of Buganda, who also had killed Bishop James Hannington (3 September 1847 – 29 October 1885) an English Anglican missionary who was the first Anglican bishop of East Africa; … [Read more...]
Drawing a line: From Gallicanist Anglicans to an Anglicanist Pope?
For the Anglican eWay of June 2nd 2018 Manifestly, through most of its existence, the Church of England both before and after the Reformation has been shaped and influenced by developments in the Continental Christianity of the West and thus Catholicism and the Reformers. In recent times both Anglican and Catholic liturgical approaches have been influenced by parallel intellectual currents, as the post-Vatican II Eucharistic texts amply demonstrate.But looked at … [Read more...]
What is Common Prayer? – From the Archives – by the late Dr Peter Toon
What is Common Prayer? The word “common” is used in all kinds of ways, and so what do Anglicans mean by the word “common” when it is associated with public prayer and worship? Since we are referring to the worship of our Creator and Redeemer, Almighty God, we can dismiss quickly the popular meaning of “common” as that which is ordinary, undistinguished or even of inferior quality. The texts of the services and rites used before God to address him are surely intended to be of high not low … [Read more...]
Elephants and Anglicans to the Sound of Church Bells – The Toon Memorial Lecture 2018
So, oft in theologic wars The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen!.... So concluded this year's Toon Memorial Lecture in Pusey House Oxford given on the 17th of May 2018 under the title Elephants and Anglicans to the sound of Church Bells: Just how central is the place of the Prayer Book for Anglicans and the future of the Communion? By The Revd. Canon Alistair … [Read more...]
St George’s Chapel Windsor
There is no one place more deeply connected to the monarchy in Britain, aside from Westminster Abbey, than Windsor Castle and the Chapel of St. George.Just how much of that history weighed upon Meghan Markel as she then was during her recent wedding to HRH Prince Harry now Duke of Sussex is unclear, but it could hardly be more profound.Kings Henry VIII and Charles I are buried beneath the Quire and elsewhere lieEdwards IV (1483), VI (1484) and VII (1910);George III (1820), … [Read more...]
Persecution of Christians: Recent Overview Reports detail a deteriorating picture
“In terms of the numbers of people involved, the gravity of the crimes committed and their impact, it is clear that the persecution of Christians is today worse than at any time in history.” So began the presentation by Aid to the Church in Needof their most recent global overview report on Christian persecution Persecuted & Forgotten? – A Report on Christians Oppressed for their Faith.This report went on to point out that not only are Christians more persecuted … [Read more...]
Elephants and Anglicans to the Sound of Church Bells, The Toon Memorial Lecture 2018
Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff will give the Peter Toon Memorial Lecture for 2018 under the title: Elephants and Anglicans to the Sound of Church Bells: Just how central is the place of the Prayer Book for Anglicans and the Future of the Communion? at Pusey House, Oxford, on Thursday 17th May at 5.30 pm. The lecture will be preceded by Evensong at 4 pm and Afternoon Tea. http://www.puseyhouse.org.uk … [Read more...]
Simnel: the (considerable) history behind a cake.
Easter and Simnel: The history behind a cakeThe history of the Simnel cake is much controverted, but what is clear is that it has come to have a close association with Easter and the Season that follows Easter Day itself as well as Mothers DayThis cake certainly contains an abundance of things that people have often given up during Lent and is a very fine cake indeed, replete with almond paste covering and eleven balls of the same almond paste on top (representing the Apostles other … [Read more...]
Snarks, Boojums and the Quest for the Anglican Way
Canon Macdonald-Radcliff will be exploring the challenges and importance of identifying what Anglicanism comprises and the role of the Prayer Book within this, both as a matter of history and as a source of what defines the tradition.Sunday 22nd April 6.30 p.m - 8 p.m.The address will be at the Church of the Advent in Boston (30 Brimmer St, Boston, MA 02108) and will be followed by discussion.It will be preceded by a light supper after Choral Evensong,which takes place at 5 p.m. and … [Read more...]