Remember Ukraine.

 

                                                         

                                                          Painting by Maria Prymachenko

Loving God,

We pray for the people of Ukraine,

for all those suffering or afraid,

that you will be close to them and protect them.

We pray for world leaders,

for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.

We pray for the world

that in this moment of crisis,

we may reach out in solidarity

to our brothers and sisters in need.

May we walk in your ways

so that peace and justice

become a reality for the people of Ukraine

and for all the world.

Amen.

Prayer from HERE

CWOB - Communion without Baptism?

 

                                   Communion Without Baptism?

     This summer (2022), the Episcopal Church will convene its once every three years General Convention.  Typically, a multitude of resolutions are proposed - some of which enter into the life and practice of Episcopal congregations, and most of which do not move forward.  One resolution which has been proposed suggests that the requirement to be baptized in order to receive Holy Eucharist or Communion be removed.  

     As you might imagine, this has generated significant reaction and response from around the Church.  Here are links to several sources including a paper from an impressive gathering of scholars who teach at our seminaries. HERE  It argues strongly against changing the practice.  Also below is an article from the Episcopal News Service which explores the issue.  HERE.

    Both sides are strongly persuaded of rightness of their own position, and the proposed resolution has generated a number of questions for me.  Here are some of my questions:

    *The Church, like most organisms, needs healthy boundaries and identifying marks.  Does the requirement for Holy Baptism to partake of Holy Communion strengthen or undermine our boundaries and identity?

    *Would this action strengthen or diminish the centrality of Holy Baptism? What about Confirmation?

    *Would this increase the trajectory toward Church as a spectator sport with no real commitment required or does it give a wider on-ramp?

    *Is evangelism ever an appropriate use for the sacraments?

    *  Is this a capitulation to a culture of low to no commitment where nothing is off-limits or is this the equivalent of removing the requirement of circumcision to be a Christian? (see Galatians.)

    *  What about the example of Jesus' baptism as he began his ministry?  What about his command to baptize?  Also, consider the response of the Ethiopian eunuch and the jailer upon hearing about the Good News of God in Christ Jesus for the first time.

       All of these questions and more need to be carefully considered in making a decision like this which is such a break with our tradition.  Here is the bottom line for me...    One has to ask, "what is the problem they are trying to solve?"  I think CWOB is being proposed as a form of welcoming evangelism and suspect the proponents are asking, "how can we grow the Church which seems to be dying - especially in the wake of Covid?"   I believe they are asking the right question but proposing the wrong remedy. 

The truth is, I believe we need to make the case for faith community ALL OVER AGAIN!  American Christendom is gone (TBTG).  Perhaps, we need to start with house churches.  Who knows? 

I'd be interested in what other people think.

Holy Innocents - May 24, 2022

 

                                                         Icon written by Suzanne Zoole

O Lord, you welcomed little ones with open arms, may we remember today all the children  who have been victims to gun violence so that those who weep for the little ones they have lost may not be alone in their sorrow.  And, dear Lord, may you give us wisdom, courage and the will to act to remove this sickness from our land. Amen. 

A Blessed Fifty Days of Easter to You!

 

Almighty and Everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation:  Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Blessed Great Fifty Days of Easter to You All!

A Blessed Holy Saturday to You

 

From Jeremy Thomas at JEREMY THOMAS ART

 

Awkward - Maundy Thursday Meditation from Ronald Rolheiser

 

The Humility of Jesus - Lance Brown

                                                            A Basin and Towel

We might find it curious that on Holy Thursday, when we are celebrating the institution of the Eucharist, the Gospel is taken from John’s version of the Last Supper. Where the other Gospels have Jesus taking bread and wine and consecrating it, John has him taking a basin and towel and washing his disciples’ feet. What has this to do with Eucharist?

Everything! Scholars estimate that John’s Gospel was written somewhere between AD 90–100, seventy some years after Jesus’ death. John (if he himself actually did the writing) would be a man well into his nineties, and he would have been a man who had now seen more than seventy years of church life. Seventy years of church life then were like seventy years of church life now. They fought about almost everything! Not least, about the Eucharist. How often should it be celebrated? To what aspect of Jesus’ life and teaching should it be most attached? Who presides? By the time John wrote his Gospel, there were already different and competing theologies about the Eucharist in the early church.

Hence, rather than highlighting the bread and wine at the Last Supper, John highlights instead the basin and towel. By doing this, the ninety-something beloved disciple, in substance, is saying: This is what the Eucharist means. It asks us to move beyond our divisions and reach across our differences by this kind of humility.

As a priest, I have always found the actual ritual of washing feet during the Holy Thursday liturgy to be awkward. There is no aesthetic way of doing this. For years, I hated the ritual until one day I realized that awkwardness was an essential part of it. It is meant to be awkward because it is awkward and uncomfortable to reach across to others when there are differences. We do it anyway, because it has everything to do with Eucharist.

Fr. Ronald Rolheiser

Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, teaches at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, where he served as president for fifteen years. His books are popular throughout the English-speaking world, and his weekly column is carried by more than seventy newspapers worldwide.

--

National Champions, Baby!

     So proud of the Gamecocks!  Well done, you awesome women!