How Anglican Catholics understand what "Catholic" means.
Monday, July 29, 2024
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Welcoming Mammon
Our Lord sometimes says
things that sound
startling.
Are we really
to make friends
of worldly people
in order to cover
our own backs?
Are the people of the world
really wiser in their generation
than the children of light?
After all,
the children of light
know the way to Heaven.
Many of the people
of the world
reject the way to Heaven
which
to our ears
just doesn't seem wise.
And yet,
the Lord
the wisest of all
says that it will be
the people of this world
who will welcome us
into everlasting habitations.
It sounds like
the people of the world
get to Heaven.
before Christians do
It sounds
as if being a Christian
doesn't make much difference.
[PAUSE]
The Lord says that
prostitutes and tax collectors
will get into Heaven
before the Scribes
and Pharisees.
We should, therefore,
neither be surprised
nor upset
that people who
we don't expect to be entering Heaven
get there before we do.
But notice
they don't just get to Heaven
before us
they welcome us
into everlasting habitations.
They want us to be there.
They are please to see us.
So it's really worth
looking at the words of Jesus
carefully
to see how this unjust steward
is an example to us.
[PAUSE]
What do we see?
It's clear that
the Lord is comparing us
to the unjust steward.
As fallen human beings
our lives must fail
and we face the prospect of dying.
We will no longer be allowed
to be steward.
What can we do then?
Where will we go when we die?
Can we work our way into Heaven?
No. We know we cannot earn salvation
because there is nothing that we
can do of ourselves
to reach Heaven.
It's like trying to
walk to the Moon.
Do we beg others to let us into Heaven?
No, our sins will be laid bare
and we will be ashamed.
But what we do have
is the means
of helping others
to have their sins forgiven.
We have Christ the Word.
The people come to us
presenting their debts to God
and, as the Church,
we seek to absolve them of their sins.
The Christian
is called to forgive,
absolve,
mitigate,
cover the sins of others
by works of charity.
We know that we are saved
by grace through faith in Christ
not through adhering to rules
which are often called works of the law.
We are saved through faith in Christ
and by actively feeding that faith
allowing it to grow in us
by encouraging that faith in others.
Our Lord's parable
Is telling us
that the route to Heaven
is through love and charity
for other people.
God is love
and so our acts of charity
are always performed
alongside our faith in God
and in hope of the resurrection
that He promises us.
The more we love others
and seek to relieve
their burden of living,
the misery of their sin,
the wounds of the Devil's hatred
the more we shall receive
a welcome in Heaven
as more people get there
to rejoice in the presence
of the same Christ
Whom we have carried with us
in our lives and actions.
[PAUSE]
Mammon holds up
a mirror to our faces.
It shows us how
we will be received in Heaven
by how we show Christ
to those
for whom Mammon
is their master.
If they see Christ in us
then they have an opportunity
to turn and accept Him
as the Master.
[PAUSE]
Our Lord's words
about the unjust steward
show us our part
in the drama of
Salvation
for everyone,
that we can all participate
in the salvation of others
and thus in our own.
It shows
that Salvation
is not an individual affair,
it's about all of us together
the Body of Christ
His Church.
That's why Our Lord's words
about the unjust steward
are such a welcoming message.
Monday, July 22, 2024
Reconstructing an undemolished Christianity
How Tradition, Phronema and the Holy Ghost help us cut through the noise.
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Ravening Blackberries
The bramble bushes
are dropping their flowers
and from their buds
you can just make out
little green fruit
that you hope
will become a nice crop of blackberries.
The bramble bush
is quite a pest
it can choke a garden
and is very difficult to get rid of
especially when it can
inflict nasty scratches.
But it can bear good fruit,
lovely, juicy blackberries.
A good year can yield
blackberry jam,
blackberry juice
and blackberries and cream.
Perhaps it makes
the pestilential nature
of the bramble bush
worthwhile.
Of course,
if it doesn't bear fruit,
or the fruit is sour,
or if there is some
unpleasant substance in the soil
that the bramble soaks up
then the whole bush
is dug up and burnt.
By the bramble's fruit
shall ye know it.
[PAUSE]
Our Lord is very clear
about treating the prophets
who come in his name
the same way.
Clergy need to be prepared
to show their good fruit
to people in order
to assure their congregation
that they are truly in it
for God.
Too often
we see some smiling
man in a suit
proclaim the Lord Jesus
only to divert the donations
he receives
Into his comfortable lifestyle.
These folk get exposed
and found out.
And that is when
we must use our intelligence
to stay away from them.
[PAUSE]
Even this warning is proof
of Jesus' love for us.
He doesn't want us
to be mindless,
unthinking,
allowing ourselves
to be blown about
by any wind of doctrine.
A prophet worth the name
will remember this,
remember the entrusted duty
to preach the Word of God.
Prophets, preachers,
teachers and clergy
must be sincere.
Our Lord is clear
that our true motives
will always find a way
of revealing themselves.
The fruit that we bear
is the fruit of our sincerity
as we proclaim
the Word of God.
[PAUSE]
This Word of God
will not be predictions
of the End of the World
because Jesus told us
that we will not ever know
when the end is coming.
Prophets who declare
that they know when
the End is coming
are contradicting
Our Lord.
Their fruit is confusion
and comes from their
intellectual pride.
[PAUSE]
The Word of God is attractive
but not poisonous.
Sometimes it is hard
because it shows us things
to put right in ourselves
and we know that.
But the Word of God
will remind you
of the love of God
and help you
to stand on your own two feet.
A prophet who makes you
dependent on their approval
rather than on the approval of God
is trying to control you.
Their fruit is intoxication
and comes from their
desire to control others
rather than love them.
There is a reason why
intoxication
comes from the word toxic.
[PAUSE]
The Word of God
will not be showy or loud.
Prophets who perform miracles
and make their message
about the miracles
are craving your worship.
Our Lord preferrs
to do His miracles
quietly
in the company of His friends
behind closed doors.
His message
is more important
than His miracles
because He doesn't
crave your worship
but rather needs you to know
that worshipping Him
will bring you all the joy
that you could ever desire.
Prophets who crave your attention
are trying to be false gods.
Their fruits are idolatry and pride
and come from a deep insecurity
and lack of faith in God.
[PAUSE]
And the list goes on.
But we can take comfort
in that true prophets
work for the good
of the people
they are called to serve,
who recognise
the value God places in people
and seeks to bring to them
the best fruit from God Himself.
Their fruit is love.
Monday, July 15, 2024
Saturday, July 13, 2024
Ordering food
"So let me get this straight.
They come to Him,
listen to Him for hours
and they still get hungry?
Why go through the business
of multiplying loaves and fishes?
Why not just stop them
from being hungry
in the first place?"
[PAUSE]
It's an objection
we hear many give
as their reason for
why they do not believe
in God.
Indeed, David Attenborough
says that he can't believe
in a God that created parasites
that would infest small children.
It's all very well
that Our Lord
walks among us
and helps those
suffering from hunger,
illness and even death.
But why didn't he
stop hunger, illness and death
to begin with?
[PAUSE]
As Christians,
we have to accept
that any answer we give
will not address the whole
problem of our pain.
What we do have to accept
is the responsibility that we hear
for the way that things are.
For example,
if everyone looked after each other
and only consumed what they needed
and did not hoard things up,
there would be no need of money,
there would be no starving millions
there would be no people living in places
where they might get
infected by parasites.
If everyone loved each other
and trusted each other
and valued the trust
others have in them,
the world would be a better place.
[PAUSE]
God's order of creation works
but we suffer
when we corrupt it ourselves.
And we corrupted it
from the beginning
when we took the fruit
at the instigation
of the Wicked Serpent.
Once we add
the chaos of our own selfishness
into the order of God's Creation
then it is no wonder that
there is poverty, illness and death.
[PAUSE]
But then, God loves us
and He wants us to be free
so it is out of Love
that He allows us
to live in the consequences
of our freedom
and yet He Himself
enters in to the chaos
we have caused
to show us that
if we love Him
if we trust Him
if we follow and obey Him
we can find our way back
to a universe
that is ordered to joy
not just despite our free will
but because of our free will.
God gives grace to us all
to endure and learn from
the follies of this life.
He does not forget the hungry
but perhaps we should not
forget the hungry either
and feed them
because we love them.
He does not change
the habits of parasites
but perhaps
we need to find ways
if living our lives
so that no child lives
in places or conditions
where they can be infected
by parasites.
Perhaps we need to use
what God has given us
to treat all those who are ill.
Perhaps we need to live lives
so that we can prevent
painful sufferings and
painful deaths.
[PAUSE]
While this sounds
like we're the ones to blame
for the disorder in the world
we should remember that
we are affected by the disorder
we inherit from those
who came before.
This is not a blame game.
God isn't here to condemn us
for not giving enough to the poor
or to charities that care for the sick.
Guilt is not something
God wants for us.
So instead He feeds us
He shows us that His love
for us never stops
bur rather we should
learn to love each other
as best we can,
limited though we may be
in this fallen world.
We do what we can.
That's okay.
But we do it
with prayer
and pleading
for the bread of life
to help us
and to nourish those
who are hungry.
If we just keep praying
keep loving
keep serving God
to the best of our
abilities
then we will have done
what we can.
We will have given
our paltry loaves
and our scrawny little fish
into those pierced hands
and God will do the rest.
God will always
order good food
for His children.
Sometimes we just need
to go and collect it.
Monday, July 08, 2024
Saturday, July 06, 2024
The right sort of righteousness
Does your righteousness
exceed that of
the scribes and Pharisees?
What does this mean?
Are we talking about
righteousness
in what we think,
or say,
or do?
Of is it something we are?
We think of Abraham
being a righteous man
whose faith in God
was accounted to him
as righteousness.
There are two understandings
of righteousness in the Bible.
One is a broad sense
which is related to perfection.
A righteous man is one
whom he is meant to be.
And already we see God
present in this understanding
of righteousness
because God is responsible
for giving us meaning
and showing us
who we are meant to be.
The other sense
is a narrow, legal sense
of passing the right judgement
on others.
And now we begin to see
how we must exceed
the righteousness
of the Scribes
and Pharisees.
[PAUSE]
The Scribes and Pharisees
adhere to the narrow form
of righteousness.
Things are righteous
because the Pharisees
say that they are righteous
according to the Law of Moses.
In many ways,
they are trying to ensure
that God's law is kept
in due order
so that God may be worshipped.
That's actually a fine thing.
The Pharisee regards
God's Law with respect
and seeks to apply it
as in compliance with God.
So what's gone wrong?
[PAUSE]
Our Lord Jesus
shows us
that this view of righteousness
is too narrow
and needs to be broadened.
It is against God's Law
to commit murder.
But Jesus broadens out
what the Law says.
It is not what God wants
for us to harbour anger
against our brother
in our hearts.
To be angry with your brother
without a good reason
(if there is such a reason)
is to damage
our righteousness
which puts us back into
narrow sense of righteousness
and puts us in danger of
judgement, council and hellfire.
To be angry with your brother
means that there is something wrong
which needs to be put right
before you can proceed.
[PAUSE]
Righteousness is related to being perfect
and this means that
the Law is not enough
to call us righteous.
We need to be made righteous.
This means cultivating
righteousness
in our lives
as something to grow.
God imparts righteousness
at our baptism
and when we confess our sins
and when we receive the Eucharist.
And then we must grow it
so that it exceeds
the narrow view of righteousness
that the Scribes and Pharisees
possess
Just as our justification
is not a one-off event
but something that we must
work at in faith
so our righteousness is
something that we must work at
and cultivate
in order to enter the kingdom of God.
We need the right sort of righteousness,
nice and broad
that grows beyond the confines
of the law court
and into our hearts and minds.