Faith and Reception: Different Ways of Partaking

I was reading in Laurence Paul Hemming's book Worship as a Revelation this morning and came across an interesting number of points concerning communion. The different ways of receiving has many pastoral implications when seeking to help the people of God understand the effectual benefits of the Eucharist as opposed to simply the objective sacramental elements without positive benefit. What is important to understand is that the faith or worthiness of the receiver does not affect the objectivity of the sacrament but it does affect whether or not the recipient receives the benefits of the sacrament. God is not arbitrary in his promises concerning the Eucharist and we can trust what he has laid down in Holy Scripture and the teaching of the Church concerning the way we approach the altar. The practical benefit is as Hemming says, 'towards the deification of the soul.' So, what ways are possible for reception? He writes,

To summarize: first, the sacramental conversion of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ takes place through the infinite power of God; second, this conversion is known only through faith; third, what faith knows remains based on the persistent appearances of bread and wine; fourth, there are two ways of receiving Holy Communion--spiritually, which means perfectly, and sacramentally, which means imperfectly. The other way of receiving the sacrament, 'accidentally', means that although the sacrament remains what it is in reality, to the one receiving only accidentally, this reality is withheld; fifth, not everyone who eats the sacrament will receive it perfectly; sixth, there are some who receive the sacrament spiritually--that is perfectly--who do not have physically to eat it to do so. Every one of these considerations is held to this day by the Catholic Church.

Sacramental eating does not guarantee spiritual eating and there are a number of people who sadly remain quite confused about this. Last Friday I gave a Quiet Day talk to the local SSC chapter. In that talk I discussed the sacrifice of the Eucharist and its connection to the priestly life. What was central to the reflection was what the Eucharist proclaims as the self-offering of Christ, not as a mere commemoration in the sense of bringing the Christ-event to the mind, but the actualisation of the cross-event on our altars. This actualisation is represented by Jesus who is both Priest and Victim.

We live in a day where this Catholic expression of Christianity is under attack. Not only by secularists and other anti-Christian organisations but also by some who are ordained to bring these fruits of the cross to God's people whom he loved enough to be placed upon the altar of the cross. St. John Vianney once said,

When men want to destroy religion they begin by attacking the priest, because where the priest is no more, there is no more sacrifice, and where there is no more sacrifice, there is no more religion.

The Eucharist absolutely requires a sacrificial priesthood. Within the foundational bedrock of all sacraments rests the principle of complete alteration or change. The Christian faith is a religion of change. It is a faith that is transformative and that is a radical call that bases its call to holy living on this change. S. John Vianney so rightly said, 'If we really understood what the Mass was, we would die of love.' Real change involves the cross and our crosses do come and they vary from one person to another. What crosses do come bring us to trust deeply in our Father who gives us the strength to accept what crosses come our way.

This is why the cross and the Eucharist are inseparable. The priesthood is a calling to order our entire life towards this Eucharistic mystery or the priesthood is dispensable. The mystery within the priesthood and its union with the Eucharistic offering is in the words of JPII, 'communion with Christ in being and doing, which must be translated into a spiritual life imbued with faith in and love for the Eucharist.' Why does our Lord dwell there? S. John Vianney tells us,

Our Lord is hidden there, waiting for us to come and visit him and ask for what we want. He is there, in the Sacrament of his love, sighing and interceding unceasingly for sinners before God his Father. He is there to console us. To what outrages has he exposed himself that he might remain thus in the midst of us. See how good he is! he adapts himself to our weakness...In heaven, where we see him in all his glory; if he had appeared before us now in all his glory, we should not have dared to approach him; but he hides himself like one in prison, saying to us, 'You do not see me, but that does not matter; ask me for all you want and I will grant it to you.'

Come my soul, redouble your ardour! You are here alone to adore your God! His look rests on you alone! Ah! If we only had the angels' eyes! Seeing our Lord Jesus Christ here, on that altar, and looking at us, how we should love him! We should want to stay always at his feet; it would be a foretaste of heaven; everything else would become insipid to us.

Priests and people do not embark upon this ministry in carrying our crosses alone. We share the cross and the victimhood with Mary who stood at the foot of the cross of her Son Jesus, who assists us by her prayers as she helps us to live out the Eucharistic, and hence sacrificial life of the Church, telling us to 'do whatever he tells us to do.' What privilege priests have in carrying out this vocation for the Church! I pray that all men who have been given the gift of priesthood consider what a privilege and responsibility it is to take the Lord of glory into their hands and give him to his people. Perhaps we might consider again how extraordinary the priesthood is and the huge responsibility to not mess this up with our own private opinions that get into the way of Christ's sacrificial offering.

This reflection is a portion of my talk offered to the local SSC chapter. As priests renew their vows at the Chrism Mass and the people gather to pray for them, may the effect of Christ's sacrifice become the hope of all God's people that restores to us a perfect reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus!

Why I was fired...

For the last company picnic, management decided that, due to liability issues, we could have alcohol, but but only one (1) drink per person.

I was fired for ordering the cups…

A Wonderful Birthday Celebration

WOW! What a birthday surprise I had. My lovely wife Rhea really went out of her way to create what made for an absolutely wonderful 40th birthday. She arranged for me to have a professional photographer to have some pictures made at the Durham Cathedral in my vestments for an album and pictures for the home. These will be quite nice. Then, she had me have a small overnight suitcase packed and we ended up at the 'Fallen Angel' Hotel in Durham.

This place was unbelievable really. There are numerous theme rooms from places around the world and she had us in the nicest of the rooms which is called the Russian Bridal Suite. I must admit that the name Fallen Angels and 'theme' rooms can sound a bit, well... But, this was such an elegant place and we both said that we would be back again.

Here is the description of our room.

The entire top floor is exclusively set aside for special guests and the rewarding views of the Castle, Cathedral and river make the climb worthwhile. Enjoy complete privacy in this very large apartment style suite. This Doctor Zhivago influenced suite has hand carved furniture, bamboo flooring and fur accents. Relax in the beautiful sofas in your private lounge; try the glass fronted sauna and then chill out in the huge jaccuzzi spa bath, whilst enjoying a bird’s eye view over the river.

This place was so nice! She had it all prepared on arrival with champagne, strawberries with chocolate coating on them, cheese and crackers, and a mini bar fully stocked--unbelievalbe! We had a lovely dinner in the restaurant and we laughed so much and had such a great time that it will undoubtedly be the most memorable birthday celebration ever. Whoever said that life begins at 40 knew what they were talking about. What a wonderful wife God has given to me.
Thank you Rhea!

Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Priestly Vocation AND Turning 40

My silence of late is not due to my getting bored with writing here. I have simply been very busy. Today I led an SSC Quiet Day and gave a paper on the Eucharist as Sacrifice and the shape this brings to priestly life and the disposition we are to cultivate as we share in the love of Christ who offered himself on the cross when we offer that very same offering to the Father in Mass. After the paper we had some discussion and then went over to the church for exposition followed by benediction. We ate a light lunch of soup, bread and cheese followed by a bit more discussion that ended close to 4 pm. At 6 pm I went to church and had the evening office followed by Mass and Stations of the Cross (I did not stay for the Stations this evening since the parish priest along with a retired assistant curate were leading tonight.)

This weekend is going to be very busy. Tomorrow I am going to listen to some lectures on liturgy and mission in the morning and THEN my fun begins. On Sunday I turn 40 years old!!!!! At 3 pm on Saturday I have to go to the Durham Cathedral as my wife has hired a professional photographer to make up a picture album of me in my suit and vestments at different places around the Cathedral. I am to pack a suitcase as I am staying at some mystery location immediately following the photography. On Sunday morning I am the celebrant followed by an afternoon of birthday events as well. This should be a really good weekend and I am thankful that the Lord has given me 40 years of healthy life. I will return with some more substantive material shortly. I will arrange a portion of my paper given today as a post fairly soon.

Veritatis Splendor

In 1993 Pope JPII wrote the Encyclical Veritatis Splendor that describes so wonderfully the teleological point for Christian moral theology. It is developed out of a Thomistic metaphysical realism that has much to say to Christian ethics today. In order to properly treat moral issues, it is imperative that the discussion begin with theological investigation and discussion about anthropology and the human person's final end. This discussion is the outworking of a theology of humanity created Imago Dei. I have left the reader with an excellent reflection for the Lenten Season that speaks about loving God and loving His law. The Christian life is a life set on a course to maturation whereby we are called to grow up to a place where we live out the law of love in the manner of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. These demands, says, JPII are not burdensome when we live by the Spirit as opposed to living by the flesh. When living by the flesh, we do not see the law as the law of perfect freedom to use the language found in the book of James, but rather the law is something that creates constraints on our fleshly freedom. Perhaps we could reflect on this wonderful work by JPII and ask God's Spirit to help us to live it out for the good of others and His glory!

Perfection demands that maturity in self-giving to which human freedom is called. Jesus points out to the young man that the commandments are the first and indispensable condition for having eternal life; on the other hand, for the young man to give up all he possesses and to follow the Lord is presented as an invitation: "If you wish...". These words of Jesus reveal the particular dynamic of freedom's growth towards maturity, and at the same time they bear witness to the fundamental relationship between freedom and divine law. Human freedom and God's law are not in opposition; on the contrary, they appeal one to the other. The follower of Christ knows that his vocation is to freedom. "You were called to freedom, brethren" (Gal 5:13), proclaims the Apostle Paul with joy and pride. But he immediately adds: "only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another" (ibid.). The firmness with which the Apostle opposes those who believe that they are justified by the Law has nothing to do with man's "liberation" from precepts. On the contrary, the latter are at the service of the practice of love: "For he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the Law. The commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself' " (Rom 13:8-9). Saint Augustine, after speaking of the observance of the commandments as being a kind of incipient, imperfect freedom, goes on to say: "Why, someone will ask, is it not yet perfect? Because 'I see in my members another law at war with the law of my reason'... In part freedom, in part slavery: not yet complete freedom, not yet pure, not yet whole, because we are not yet in eternity. In part we retain our weakness and in part we have attained freedom. All our sins were destroyed in Baptism, but does it follow that no weakness remained after iniquity was destroyed? Had none remained, we would live without sin in this life. But who would dare to say this except someone who is proud, someone unworthy of the mercy of our deliverer?... Therefore, since some weakness has remained in us, I dare to say that to the extent to which we serve God we are free, while to the extent that we follow the law of sin, we are still slaves".²⁷

18. Those who live "by the flesh" experience God's law as a burden, and indeed as a denial or at least a restriction of their own freedom. On the other hand, those who are impelled by love and "walk by the Spirit" (Gal 5:16), and who desire to serve others, find in God's Law the fundamental and necessary way in which to practise love as something freely chosen and freely lived out. Indeed, they feel an interior urge — a genuine "necessity" and no longer a form of coercion — not to stop at the minimum demands of the Law, but to live them in their "fullness". This is a still uncertain and fragile journey as long as we are on earth, but it is one made possible by grace, which enables us to possess the full freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom 8:21) and thus to live our moral life in a way worthy of our sublime vocation as "sons in the Son".

S. John Vianney Eucharistic Meditations

Meditation 11: The Blessed Eucharist lessens in us our tendency to evil

WE read in the Gospel that when Jesus Christ went into St. Peter’s house, he asked Him to cure his mother-in-law who was sick of a violent fever. Jesus Christ commanded the fever to leave her, and instantly she was so completely cured that she was able to serve them at table.

The fever, says St. Ambrose, is our avarice, our anger, our sensuality. These passions boil up in our flesh, and agitate the soul, the spirit and the senses. They have their remedy in the Blessed Eucharist, the food and strength of the Christian soul. Let us thank Our Lord for this healing and sanctifying gift.

The Holy Eucharist weakens our inclinations to evil.

The precious Blood of Jesus Christ which flows in our veins, and His adorable Body which is blended with ours, can it do less than destroy, or at least greatly diminish the attraction towards forbidden pleasures that the sin of Adam has left in us.

This is so true that when one receives Jesus Christ one feels a new taste for the things of Heaven, and a new contempt for created things.

Tell me, how could you let pride find its way into a heart that is about to receive a God, humiliated even to annihilation? Can one consent to think anything of one’s self! On the contrary, would he not find matter enough to cause him to abase and despise himself? A heart that is about to receive a God who is so pure, who is holiness itself, will it not feel born in it an invincible horror of all sins of impurity, and would it not rather let itself be cut in pieces rather than consent, I do not say to a bad action, but even to a bad thought?

A tongue which a short time ago has been so happy as to bear its Creator and Saviour, could it dare to lend itself to lascivious words, to sensual kisses? No, without doubt, it would never dare to act thus.

Eyes which just now desired so earnestly to contemplate their Creator, who is more pure than the sun’s rays, could they after such happiness, look on indecent objects? That would seem to be impossible.

If we could comprehend all the good things contained in Holy Communion, nothing more would be wanting to content the heart of man. The miser would run no more after his treasures, or the ambitious after his glory; each would shake off the dust of earth, leave the world, and fly away towards heaven.

O blessed Jean-Marie, pray for us, and obtain for us also grace to find in the Holy Communion the remedy for our evil inclinations, and the victory over our passions. Amen.

Altar-ation! You Must Watch This

This was emailed to me today. What do you think of using nave altars now? What a transformation.

Lenten Prayer for Us All As We Pray for the Pope

Lord, let me fast most truly and
profitably, by feeding in
prayer on thy Spirit:

reveal me to myself
in the light of thy holiness.

Suffer me never to think
that I have knowledge enough to need no
teaching, wisdom enough to need no
correction, talents enough to need no
grace, goodness enough to need no
progress, humility enough to need no
repentance, devotion enough to need
no quickening, strength sufficient
without they Spirit; lest, standing still, I
fall back for evermore.

Shew me the desires that should be
disciplined,
and sloths to be slain. Shew
me the omissions to be made up
and the habits to be mended. And
behind these, weaken, humble and
annihilate in me
self-will, self-righteousness,
self-satisfaction,
self-sufficiency, self-assertion,
vainglory.

May my whole effort be to return to
thee; O make it serious and
sincere persevering and fruitful
in result, by the help of thy
Holy Spirit and to thy glory,
my Lord and my God.

Praying for the Holy Father

I am writing asking all the readers to join me in praying for the Holy Father who is undoubtedly under great pressure and perhaps under siege due to the recent attacks from all around. All may not agree with the Holy Father, but I believe that this present Pope is a great blessing to the entire Church around the world. His love for Jesus, the Church and unity of the Bride of Christ ought to at least enable us to ask God to uphold him in these troubling times.

He undoubtedly spends hours in prayer for all of us and I think we ought to have a time of intercessory prayer for him. So, I would like to ask that from tomorrow on St. Joseph's day thru 25 March on Our Lady Day we pray before the Blessed Sacrament or in some other way for the Holy Father's intention. There must be an enormous amount of pressure on him right now and we really need to be praying for the Holy Father and his protection. Psalm 91 came to mind while reflecting on the pressure that must be on the Holy Father at this time. It reads,

¹You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
²will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.’
³For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
⁴he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
⁶or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

⁷A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

⁸You will only look with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling-place,

¹⁰no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.

¹¹For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.

¹²On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

¹³You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

¹⁴Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
¹⁵When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honour them.
¹⁶With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.

I ask that this Psalm be prayed for the intention of the Holy Father before the Blessed Sacrament as much as you are able between the Day of St. Joseph tomorrow and Lady Day. You may also wish to add to that intention a prayer for unity of ALL Catholic Christians. I hope you will join me in this time of prayer. Please pass on this post to as many as you may know via email or link on your own blogs.

THANK YOU!!

Great News and Expensive News

The great news is that the data recovery company in Surrey just phoned me to let me know that they were able to find all the data that I needed, most importantly my PhD files and the majority of the chapter that I lost. That is a huge relief but an expensive back up lesson. Are you ready for this??????? The cost, £975.80 and that was the discount price that they gave me. My jaw is still on the floor as I type. To all of you who have been so gracious about sending me notes that you were praying for me, thank you very much! This is a very expensive lesson but one that I have without a doubt learned a lot from having it happen to me.

Lenten Prayer Update for Blog Readers

Dear Friends in Christ,

I have just returned from the Durham Cathedral where I prayed my office and offered each one of your requests and intentions at the Shrine of S. Cuthbert and the tomb of S. Bede. This was quite enjoyable for me to do for each one of you who asked for specific requests and for all readers here in general. I was absolutely delighted to see the response for requests sent to me via email as well as those who wrote their requests in the comment box.

I will continue to pray for these intentions and any others that I get throughout the weeks of Lent and on Fridays I will be with SS Cuthbert, Bede, and all of you, praying in the Spirit of our Lord for His will for all of these intentions and for each of you. I do pray that my efforts will be for your benefit and an aid to your growth in love for Christ Jesus our Lord. All of you remain in my thoughts and prayers and I especially remember those of you who struggle with many weighty matters for your life and the lives of those you love. Please be assured of my love, prayers and all good wishes.

Each week I will put the blog piece on my Lenten devotions at the top of the page so that any new readers or others who would like me to bring specific intentions next Friday, I will gladly add them to the list that is quickly growing. All of these intentions will be brought to Rome with me on Easter afternoon. Each of your names will be mentioned at the tomb of S. Peter. If you would like to make any contribution towards the trip to Rome where I will be in retreat for a week, there is a tab on the right column for my paypal account. Any donations would be received with thanksgiving. I remember all of you in my prayers, please remember me when you pray!

Your servant in Christ,

Father Jeffrey

Saint John Marie Baptist Vianney you were born of a deeply religious mother; from her you received the Holy Faith; you learned to love God and to pray. At a young age, you were seen kneeling in the front of the statue of Mary. Your soul was supernaturally carried towards the things on High. Despite the high cost, you answered your vocation!

Against many obstacles and contradictions, you had to fight and suffer to become the perfect priest which you were. But your deep spirit of faith supported you in all these battles. 0 Great Saint you know the desire of my soul; I would like to serve God better; from Him I have received so many good things. For this, obtain for me more courage and especially the depth of faith.

Many of my thoughts, words, and actions are useless for my sanctification and for my salvation, because this supernatural spirit does not stir up my life. Help me to be better in the future.

Holy Priest of Ars, I have confidence in your intercession. Pray for me during this season of Lent and especially for all who have been mentioned at the shrine of S. Cuthbert and the tomb of S. Bede this day in Lent.

Fr. Longenecker's Blog Facelift

Go over and check out Fr. Longenecker's new blog facelift! WOW! Outstanding in beauty. Well done to the team who did that!

Crossing the Threshold of the Local Horizon

The recent posting below from the Bishop of Chichester, John Hind, has brought me to think more deeply about words that were spoken at the FiF National Assembly on 14 February concerning the seeking of communion over provision. There is a lot within Bishop Hind's writing here that has allowed me to think and ask questions about the local Eucharistic community and the universal. Particularly, these questions come in light of a theological notion of 'provision' given for irreconcilable positions theologically. Actually, for me, it forces me to ask the question 'what does it mean to be Catholic?'

Can the local survive without being in communion with the universal? How is the local amplified by being in communion with the universal? Let me first of all say that the local Eucharistic assembly has the presence of Christ fully in their midst when they meet to offer Mass. We hear it said that there is something 'missing' by Catholic Anglicans not being in communion with the See of Peter; what is missing? Why won't congregationalism survive?

Father Aidan Nichols in his book on Ratzinger's thought describes for us the answer to this as it is in the heart of Lumen Gentium. For Ratzinger, says Nichols, such a union [universally] is not simply an optional extra but is actually 'constitutive of the being of the local church.' Without entering into this union the local church faces ecclesial extinction according to Ratzinger's thought. This is something we Anglo-Catholics need to think seriously about at the deepest theological level after reflecting on the words of Bishop Hind's remarks. The local has to be legitimately constituted in order to flourish. How can this flourishing possibly happen within such fractured ecclesial positions? There will be no such thing as episcopal collegiality in a 'provisional' church and if there is no episcopal collegiality is there a local church? This, according to Nichols, strikes at the heart of a liturgical totality. This must be discussed and thought through very carefully in my humble opinion.

To cross the threshold of the local horizon then, is in Ratzinger's words, to arrive at the common content of Catholic unity. Is there anything between being a member and a non-member of this universal community? The question for me , if answered in the affirmative, is what is this 'in between?'

I write this as an open theological question to any and all who would like to contribute to serious discussion of this issue. The practical framework for me is the notion of labouring for hours on 'provision' for ACs within the hermeneutical grid that is implied within the questions and thoughts written above. These are serious questions and not put out here to simply take up space. For me, this has serious ecclesial issues in how the C of E thinks of herself as a church in membership with the universal. On a large scale, is there a serious danger of ecclesial extinction by continuing on this road? Allow me to end this open question with a quotation supplied by Nichols from John Zizioulas.

I can have the one Lord only in the unity that he himself is--in unity with the others who are also his body and who, in the Eucharist, must always become it anew.

Cardinal Newman: On What is the Church Built?

Herein is the strength of the Church; herein she differs from all Protestant mockeries of her. She professes to be built upon facts, not opinions; on objective truths, not on variable sentiments; on immemorial testimony, not on private judgment; on convictions or perceptions, not on conclusions. None else but she can {217} make this profession. She makes high claims against the temporal power, but she has that within her which justifies her. She merely acts out what she says she is. She does no more than she reasonably should do. If God has given her a specific work, no wonder she is not under the superintendence of the civil magistrate in doing it. If her Clergy be Priests, if they can forgive sins, and bring the Son of God upon her altars, it is obvious they cannot, considered as such, hold of the State. If they were not Priests, the sooner they were put under a minister of public instruction, and the Episcopate abolished, the better. But she has not disturbed the world for nothing. Her precision and peremptoriness, all that is laid to her charge as intolerance and exclusiveness, her claim entirely to understand and to be able to deal with her own deposit and her own functions; her claim to reveal the unknown and to communicate the invisible, is, in the eye of reason (so far from being an objection to her coming from above), the very tenure of her high mission,—just what would be sure to characterise her if she had received such a mission. She cannot be conceived without her message and her gifts. She is the organ and oracle, and nothing else, of a supernatural doctrine, which is independent of individuals, given to her once for all, coming down from the first ages, and so deeply and intimately embosomed in her, that it cannot be clean torn out of her, even if you should try; which gradually and majestically {218} comes forth into dogmatic shape, as time goes on and need requires, still by no private judgment, but at the will of its Giver, and by the infallible elaboration of the whole body;—and which is simply necessary for the salvation of every one of us. It is not a philosophy, or literature, cognisable and attainable at once by those who cast their eyes that way; but it is a sacred deposit and tradition, a mystery or secret, as Scripture calls it, sufficient to arrest and occupy the whole intellect, and unlike anything else; and hence requiring, from the nature of the case, organs special to itself, made for the purpose, whether for entering into its fulness, or carrying it out in deed.

Read it all here

The Holy Father to Visit Britain

I look forward to this visit from the Holy Father. See the full story in the Telegraph.

It has yet to be decided whether the Pope would travel to Britain solely for a service of beatification for Cardinal Newman or whether it would be turned into a tour of the British Isles.

A senior source in Rome revealed that bishops in England are divided over whether the service would be conducted in Birmingham, where his remains are venerated, or in London at Westminster Cathedral or Wembley stadium.

The Pope has privately expressed an interest in travelling to Oxford, having previously only visited Cambridge, and would also be likely to visit Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In a message released last week, he strongly condemned the attacks in Northern Ireland that left two British soldiers and a policeman dead as "abominable acts of terrorism".

"Apart from desecrating human life, [they] seriously endanger the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland and risk destroying the great hopes generated by this process in the region and throughout the world," he said.

"I ask the Lord that no one will again give in to the horrendous temptation of violence."

Email Addresses PLEASE!

As the readers know, I have lost email addresses due to my hard drive death. This has all been a very trying experience really. If you, the reader, would be so kind as to send me a quick email so that I can build my address book back to where it needs to be that would be wonderful. That way, once I receive your email, I can add it to my address book. Thank you for your kind cooperation.

My email is: jeffrey.steel1 [at@] btinternet.com

Please do this as soon as you are able if you have not.

What a Shepherd! What a Pope!

I pray every day for the Holy Father because he is God's man for our times. I find more in common with him, and his way of leading and guiding the flock of Jesus as a result of his uncompromisingly yet gracious ways, that I can only wonder why we should not want to be united to him. I pray that some of his own examples that he displays for us would be manifested in my own Christian life. What a Christian man! His letter to the bishops is refreshing and full of godly wisdom. It is a shame that so many have publicly mistreated him and spoken such ill words about the Holy Father. I hope that everyone will hear him and his reflections on Galatians. None of this praise is to even begin to be thankful for his strong desire for unity in the Church and his willingness to suffer the cost of making it happen. He is Jesus' servant! Let those who condemn him put out their pursuits for unity and generosity so we can compare. My daily offices and the intention of Mass is offered for him today. God bless Pope Benedict XVI! Read his entire letter here.

Certainly, for some time now, and once again on this specific occasion, we have heard from some representatives of that community many unpleasant things – arrogance and presumptuousness, an obsession with one-sided positions, etc. Yet to tell the truth, I must add that I have also received a number of touching testimonials of gratitude which clearly showed an openness of heart. But should not the great Church also allow herself to be generous in the knowledge of her great breadth, in the knowledge of the promise made to her? Should not we, as good educators, also be capable of overlooking various faults and making every effort to open up broader vistas? And should we not admit that some unpleasant things have also emerged in Church circles? At times one gets the impression that our society needs to have at least one group to which no tolerance may be shown; which one can easily attack and hate. And should someone dare to approach them – in this case the Pope – he too loses any right to tolerance; he too can be treated hatefully, without misgiving or restraint.

Dear Brothers, during the days when I first had the idea of writing this letter, by chance, during a visit to the Roman Seminary, I had to interpret and comment on Galatians 5:13-15. I was surprised at the directness with which that passage speaks to us about the present moment: "Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another." I am always tempted to see these words as another of the rhetorical excesses which we occasionally find in Saint Paul. To some extent that may also be the case. But sad to say, this "biting and devouring" also exists in the Church today, as expression of a poorly understood freedom. Should we be surprised that we too are no better than the Galatians? That at the very least we are threatened by the same temptations? That we must always learn anew the proper use of freedom? And that we must always learn anew the supreme priority, which is love? The day I spoke about this at the Major Seminary, the feast of Our Lady of Trust was being celebrated in Rome. And so it is: Mary teaches us trust. She leads us to her Son, in whom all of us can put our trust. He will be our guide – even in turbulent times. And so I would like to offer heartfelt thanks to all the many Bishops who have lately offered me touching tokens of trust and affection, and above all assured me of their prayers. My thanks also go to all the faithful who in these days have given me testimony of their constant fidelity to the Successor of Saint Peter. May the Lord protect all of us and guide our steps along the way of peace. This is the prayer that rises up instinctively from my heart at the beginning of this Lent, a liturgical season particularly suited to interior purification, one which invites all of us to look with renewed hope to the light which awaits us at Easter.

The Apostle Paul and Authority: Should We Hear More?

Fellow Anglo-Catholic blogger, Fr. Giles Pinnock, rightly asks the question concerning "why" Anglo-Catholics have not done very much to focus on the Apostle Paul in the Year of S. Paul. I think that is a fair question. To my knowledge, one bishop in the Catholic integrity has focused his Ebbsfleet Extras on the Apostle Paul (I wrote for the March 2009 edition) and those can be found on his website under the See of Ebbsfleet. Bishop Andrew has done a good service in having different priests around the C of E write for his Extra and has asked the writers to focus on a certain theme of S. Paul He is much to be commended for this and I have followed suit by focusing my Agape Fellowships that meet in my home on the second and fourth Sunday of each month on the Apostle Paul's letters. We are looking closely at Paul's letter to the Colossians now. The Holy Father reminds us why this Apostle is so important in an address he gave on 4 February at a general audience. I leave a portion of it below.

It is obvious that the fathers of the Church and afterward all the theologian have drawn form the Letters of St. Paul and his spirituality. He has remained during the centuries, until today, as true teacher and apostle to the Gentiles. The first patristic commentary that has arrived to us regarding a writing of the New Testament is from the great Alexandrian theologian Origen, who comments on the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans.

This commentary is unfortunately conserved only in part. St. John Chrysostom, besides commenting his letters, has written of him his seven memorable panegyrics. St. Augustine owes him the decisive step of his own conversion and he will return to Paul during all of his life. From this permanent dialogue with the Apostle derives his great Catholic theology and also for Protestants of all times. St. Thomas Aquinas has left us a beautiful commentary on the Pauline letters, which represents the most mature fruit of medieval exegesis.

A true point of inflection was verified in the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation. The decisive moment in Luther's life was the so-called Turmerlebnis (1517) in which in one moment he encountered a new interpretation of the Pauline doctrine on justification. An interpretation that liberated him from the scruples and anxieties of his preceding life and that gave him a new, radical confidence in the goodness of God, who pardons everything without condition. From that moment, Luther identified the Judeo-Christian legalism condemned by the Apostle with the order of life of the Catholic Church. And the Church appeared to him as an expression of the slavery to the law to which he opposed the liberty of the Gospel. The Council of Trent, between 1545 and 1563, deeply interpreted the question of justification and encountered in the line of all Catholic tradition the synthesis between law and Gospel, conforming to the message of sacred Scripture read in its totality and unity.

The 19th century, gathering the best heritage of the Enlightenment, witnessed a new renovation of Paulinism, now above all in the plane of scientific work developed for the historical-critical interpretation of sacred Scripture. Let us set aside here the fact that also in that century, as in the 20th, there emerged a true and proper denigration of St. Paul. I think above all of Nietzsche, who poked fun at the theology of humility in St. Paul, opposing to it his theology of the strong and powerful man. But let us leave that aside and look at the essential current of the new scientific interpretation of sacred Scripture and the new Paulinism of that century.

Here is emphasized as central above all the Pauline thought of the concept of liberty: In this is seen the heart of the thought of Paul, as on the other hand, Luther had already intuited. Now, nevertheless, the concept of liberty was reinterpreted in the context of modern liberalism. And later, the differentiation between the proclamation of St. Paul and the proclamation of Jesus was strongly emphasized. And St. Paul appears almost as a new founder of Christianity. It is certain that in St. Paul, the centrality of the Kingdom of God, determinant for the proclamation of Jesus, is transformed in the centrality of Christology, whose determinant point is the Paschal mystery. And from the Paschal mystery, come the sacraments of baptism and Eucharist, as a permanent presence of this mystery, from which the Body of Christ grows, and the Church is built.

But I would say, without entering here into details, that precisely in the new centrality of Christology and the Paschal mystery, the Kingdom of God is fulfilled, the authentic proclamation of Jesus is made concrete, present, operative. We have seen in the preceding catechesis that precisely this Pauline novelty is the deepest fidelity to the proclamation of Jesus. In the progress of exegesis, above all in the last 200 years, the convergences between Catholic and Protestant exegesis also grow, thus bringing about a notable consensus precisely in the point that was at the origin of the greatest historical dissent. Therefore a great hope for the cause of ecumenism, so central for the Second Vatican Council.

Briefly, I would like at the end to still point out the various religious movements, arising in the modern age in the heart of the Catholic Church, that refer back to St. Paul. That's what came about in the 16th century with the Clerics Regular of St. Paul, called the Barnabites; in the 19th century with the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, better known as the Paulist Fathers; and in the 20th century with the multifaceted Pauline Family, founded by Blessed James Alberione; to not speak of the secular institute of the Company of St Paul.

Substantially, there remains luminous before us the figure of an extremely fruitful and deep apostle and Christian thinker, from whose closeness, every one of us can benefit. In one of his panegyrics, St. John Chrysostom made an original comparison between Paul and Noah, expressing it like this: Paul "did not place together the shafts to build an ark, instead, in place of uniting tablets of wood, he composed letters, and thus dug out of the waters not two or three or five members of his own family, but the entire inhabited world that was about to perish" (Paneg. 1,5).

Precisely still and always the Apostle Paul can do this. To tend toward him, as much to his apostolic example as to his doctrine, would be therefore a stimulus, if not a guarantee, to consolidate the Christian identity of each one of us and for the renewal of the whole Church.

I have to agree with Fr. Pinnock's concerns that there is a lot more that needs to be said in this year of S. Paul in regards to his teachings.

Computer Hard drive Crash

I apologise that there has been nothing entered since Saturday but my hard drive crashed on Sunday afternoon and yesterday I spent over six hours on the phone with Dell and BT to try and get things sorted after installing a new hard drive in the morning. What a terrible way to spend a day off!!! I have yet to get the documents off the old drive and I hope to drop it off during my lunch hour. So, please pray that about 12,000 words on my thesis are able to be recovered that were not backed up! What a nightmare! Hopefully things will be back to normal very soon. So, please come by to check the site as I hope to write again soon.

UPDATE: FOR ALL READERS! Please pray for me. I have just received some very bad news. The local technician was not able to get any data from my hard drive. I am absolutely sick! This is the work I have done on my last chapter and my fourth chapter on presence. I have some of the fourth chapter but not all of it. I am literally sick to my stomach. I have found a data recovery place in Surrey and I will try to send it there. It is £75 to diagnose and anywhere between £495-£995 for recovery of data. Mary, mother of Jesus, pray for me!

I have also lost all Email Addresses! If you normally write to me, could you please send me an email so that I can have your address? Thanks!! Send to jeffrey[dot]steel1@btinternet.com

Without the Church There is no Faith

I have been reading a bit of Benedict XVI's book Handing on the Faith in an Age of Disbelief. In his reflection on handing on the faith, the Holy Father speaks about the personalistic character of faith as the life enriching relationship founded upon knowledge and love. But he does not leave us there alone with an incomplete faith. He moves us from the personal "I" to the collective "I" in the phrase "I believe". The "I" is not isolated from the "we" and too often in practice that is exactly what some want to allow for when "individual" interpretations on very important sacramental, pastoral and not least ecclesial issues come before us. To have faith is an act of becoming a full participant into the community of faith and incorporated into her through time and transcending of time. The Holy Father drawing from de Lubac points in the direction in which we need to think about faith personally and collectively. I think there is an application for Anglo-Catholics here as we discern a way forward for the future so that we not lose faith personally and collectively. The great danger we face is a collective loss of faith by not being in communion with the whole Church by our believing together with the whole Church. This is where the dangerous neo-Protestantism of the C of E comes under the microscope.

Think about these words from Pope Benedict.

Therefore, whenever someone supposes that he can leave the faith of the Church out of catechesis to a greater or lesser extent, so as to experience it more immediately and accurately from Scripture, he is venturing into a zone of abstractions. For then one is no longer living and thinking and speaking out of a certainty that transcends the potential of the individual ego, the certainty of a larger memory that touches the very foundation and is touched by it; then one is no longer speaking with an authority that goes beyond the capability of every individual. Instead, one is dipping into that other sort of faith, which is a more or less well-founded opinion about unknown things. then catechesis becomes one theory alongside others, one kind of knowledge among others; in this way it can no longer be the learning and receiving of life itself, that is, of eternal life.

In a very scary way, this is where we are finding ourselves presently in our modus operandi in the C of E I believe. The Bishop of London and the Bishop of Chichester have allowed me to think more about this in their articles in the March edition of New Directions. Do we really see the great danger in divorcing the collective faith from the individual faith, particularly as we claim 'to believe'? This is something that we as Catholics within the C of E need to think seriously about and it is something that I am seeking to reflect on during this Lent. Why this issue seems to go unnoticed so often is troubling. One of the underlying problems is the thinking that we can be Catholic as individual congregations isolated from communion with other Catholics in an ecclesial way. How do we reflect on this? How do we act on faith in God and faith in the Church? With sacramental communion moving from being impaired to broken, what are the alternatives so that we have faith that is of the essence of eternal life?

Bishop of Chichester John Hind Speaks About the Future of Traditionalist Catholics

The Rt Revd John Hind, Bishop of Chichester, shares his own reflections on the Synod motion and exhorts us to an amicable parting of the ways

Following last July's vote, fourteen bishops, including a number of members of the House of Bishops, urged patience on those disappointed by the outcome. We also made it clear that (in our view) 'a code of practice in any form cannot deliver [proper] ecclesial provision, and we want the Manchester group and the House of Bishops to be in no doubt about the seriousness of the situation.'

We suggested that although the legislative process would be long (hence our plea for patience), 'critical moments [would] be the House of Bishops meetings in October and December and the General Synod in February 2009.'

The final form of the recommendations of the Manchester Group and the outcome of the House of Bishops meetings now leave little room for doubt about the destination desired by the Group as a whole and by a majority of the Bishops.

This is, of course, not only about women bishops but about how the Church decides such issues, and the significance of this for ecumenical relations, and of where the Church of England sees itself within the Catholic Church: above all, whether we are primarily one with the Church of the first millennium or above all a church of the Reformation.

We have lived with this tension for a long time but probably cannot do so much longer. To my mind it would be better now for the Church of England to recognize that we are faced with irreconcilable positions.

You simply cannot be a church which at one and the same time both has and does not have female bishops, or, to put it another way, you cannot be a church if the bishops are not in full sacramental communion with each other.

Hence the depth of the difficulty facing us. Hard though it is for many of us, there is a real consistency in the Synod's unwillingness to make provision acceptable to the majority of those with theological objections.

I cannot think it would be good for the Church of England for us to have to engage in protracted arguments and endless nitpicking negotiations, with inevitable loss of morale.

I did, of course, vote against the February Synod motion on principle. Despite that, I expected it to be passed and I hope that, if this is to be the future path for the majority of the Church of England, the passage of the legislation may be as peaceful and unconten-tious as possible.

As a cradle Anglican who loves the Church of my baptism, I certainly do not wish to make things difficult, nor to continue to undermine such residual capacity the Church of England has for the evangelization of our nation. In recent years, bold statements have been made about 'loyal Anglicans'. It clearly will not do for either 'side' of this debate simply to expect the others to go away'. Recognizing that irreconcilable differences of theology, understanding of Scripture and tradition, and of ecumenical aspiration, mean a division within the Church of England, it will be necessary, presumably now by separate measure, to make a just allocation of resources, including finance, to enable loyal Anglicans of both persuasions to flourish. This will enable us all to continue our Christian, indeed our Anglican, life with joy and integrity, freeing us all from the burden and distasteful spectacle of endless wrangling - above all, as to who is the more loyal Anglican.

Although this is a matter of justice for all, I am of course speaking very particularly for those who cannot accept the new direction of travel. The heaviest burden may appear to fall on the clergy, especially younger stipendiary clergy and full time lay workers with families, but I am no less concerned (perhaps even more concerned) about the large number of faithful lay people who will feel that the Church of England is no longer the body to which they thought they belonged. In many cases they have lovingly sustained the lives, including the fabric, of their parish churches over the years. They should not now be forced to abandon them.

I write this with great sadness, but also a sense of liberation. Please let us agree to part amicably and remain friends. Don't let us argue over the family silver or, at this late stage, turn our back on the fragile but noble notion of 'loyal Anglicans.

Rather let the Church of England accept the fact that this is a church-dividing situation and begin to discuss the implications of this as calmly and charitably as we can.

Biretta tip VirtueOnline

Lenten Prayers of a Priest

I have returned from the cathedral offering my prayers and the intentions of all of who have sent me requests in the past two weeks. These are being offered every week as I visit the tomb of S. Bede and the Shrine of S. Cuthbert at the Durham cathedral. After I prayed my office and for each intention individually, I prayed the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary for each of you as well as the readers here.

I offer these prayers for you, the Church and the world in full hope that God will answer each of them in accordance with His will and for our good. May He lead us into all truth and holiness and grant us the gift of repentance to carry us through Lent and beyond. Let us join together in not only giving up those small worldly pleasures that we enjoy but enter fully into the battle against ingrained sin. I trust, in the glory of Christ's transfiguration, that our sinfulness, through the humility of the Son's self-offering, will be effectually transformed for the glory of Jesus that is to be revealed in each our lives. May it be so for the glory of God! Please pray for me as I pray for you!

Fr. Tomlinson SSC on a Roll

Thank you, Father, for speaking out and being faithful and bold witness for Christ and the truth. May God protect you from the onslought of persecution that would come because of your faithful witness! God bless you, Father! There is nothing that I could add to this. I hope and pray the world and the media print it.

St. Barnabas Blog.

Like any political party Labour will have both supporters and critics from within the Church. But personally I find it impossible to endorse them from a Christian perspective. For this is the party who have overseen a massive shift towards a more secular and atheistic culture. Under Labour a new police state has emerged and we are now the most spied on people in the West. Furthermore this is the first British Government in living memory who can put you in prison without trial. This fact, coupled with the rising intolerance of Christians (and it is specifically Christians), should worry us deeply. Indeed the seeds of persecution are beginning to flower; first the air hostess banned for wearing a cross, then the nurse humiliated and forced to go to tribunal for offering to pray for someone, then the school secretary sacked because her child speaks about God, and the refusal to ban ‘Jerry Springer the Opera’ (in which Christ was depicted in a giant nappy with Mary simulating a sex act on him)…all of these point to something disturbing and new in the British way of life. Are we seeing the beginnings of liberal extremism?

The 20th Century was a time when human thinking was often followed to extremes at the cost of great bloodshed. We saw right wing philosophy pushed to extremes in Nazi Germany and we saw left wing philosophy pushed to extreme under Pol Pot and Stalin. In all such instances it led to darkness and death of a frightening nature. What man, in his folly, has yet to do is take liberal philosophy to extremes. But as I view the Western World, and the direction it moves in today, there is a danger it might get there in the near future. Such a regime would be truly frightening. Using the language of freedom and tolerance, free speech would die. Only the inclusive could thrive, and this ‘inclusivity’ would be a narrowly defined doctrine given from on high. Anyone daring to speak out- for Christ, the family, etc will be dealt with accordingly. And before we say, ‘this could never happen’… we might ask if the Jews thought the same in 1930.

Labour have been a total disaster for the Christian. How Tony Blair can claim to be Christian having admitted he was too cowardly to mention God in office is laughable. What sort of faith is it that only professes Christ once retired? Our faith schools are under threat and we have been pushed into the margins of societal life. But even this is as nothing compared to what has been done to the family; marriage has been watered down by quick and easy divorce, the invention of civil partnerships, the ending of family tax credits, wholesale support of abortion and the economic changes that ensure mothers cannot afford to stay at home- meaning children are farmed out to State controlled nurseries…where faith is delivered in the typical secular way. The result of all this can be seen on the streets on any given night. We are creating a narcissistic generation, puffed up on their rights and utterly negligent concerning their duty. This is broken Britain.

Today in the Mail (yes I know its the paper everyone loves to hate) there is an article worthy of note. It demonstrates clearly how families are suffering under this government. Let us hope this sort of information mobilises the great British public to say ‘enough is enough’. It is time that every TRUE liberal spoke out. We need to reclaim a society of free speech and genuine tolerance based on our Christian heritage. It is time we recognised the good work churches do and fund them appropriately. It is time we back the family and stop rewarding the dysfunctional more than the balanced. The family has always been the bedrock of healthy society- and Christianity is a faith and philosophy which endorses the family. So let us jettison the individualistic, atheistic and secular militantism which threatens to choke the life of this country….do that and the C of E might turn the corner too! For our limp and pathetic church only ever seem to play the lapdog, pathetically mirroring the views of whoever sits in power. This article is not an attack on left wing politics..hold them dear if you must. It is an attack on the new philosophy of rampant individualism, relativism, secularism and intolerance.

Father Tomlinson SSC Rightly Reminds Us to Keep Our Eyes on Jesus

At the most recent National Assembly the eyes of Forward in Faith seemed to be moving in slightly different directions! And it is likely that this cross eyed reality will continue. At first this might sound alarming- surely we should be seeking the same things? I am not so sure about that! It is perfectly possible, maybe even desirable, that we are called to different places and different realities. So what are the different directions our eyes are looking in?

One eye belongs to those who look to General Synod for hope. This loyal bunch have served us well over the years, ensuring we are represented at all levels of debate and discussion. This group so often ‘win the argument only to lose the vote’ but their presence remains vital. They are principled, erudite and essential to our future. For we go nowhere, and do little, without those who can fight from within. And because ultimately some of our constituency will remain within the C of E come what may- this group is going to remain essential. All of us must unite with them and fight for as honourable a place as possible for those who stay, even if a Code of Practice is the best they can hope for.

The other eye belongs to those believing that time spent in Synodical discussion, from this point on, is futile. This group believes the game is up and that, because authentic Catholicism and Anglicanism are no longer mutually compatible, we must now seek an ecclesial life elsewhere. This may raise more questions that it answers, but the reality remains nonetheless- if the National church continues to move down a liberal and protestant path-it leaves us Catholics homeless! Should women Bishops arrive- without proper structural provision in place- it will be time, individually or corporately, to leave the Church of England forever.

So ultimately some will stay and some will go; and both groups will do so with integrity and the support of the other. Currently many are wavering, myself included, uncertain which path God will call them to follow. Hence we live in a time of great uncertainty, our desperation for answers is not to be satisfied yet. It is a scary thing, not least for those with families, but in all this fear - we must return to the point of this post. We must fix our eyes on Jesus.

I am certain our faith will die, and our hearts will shatter, if we look to either Rome or Synod alone! We must fix our eyes on Jesus- only Jesus- and seek his will alone. For if we are faithful to him- he will be faithful to us. If we are rooted in him- he will provide. So do not let all the uncertainty, unpleasantness, fear and danger dismay you. Since Christ came to earth his path has ever proved tricky, but utterly worthwhile! So fix your eyes on Christ, get on with being faithful, and pray for an opening of spiritual eyes and ears, lest the moment for action arrives. I have no idea what the future holds…but I do know that it will be little different from now. Mass, prayer, scripture, confession etc… these will continue to sustain us and give us life. The only question is: in the C of E or without! Who cares? God is much bigger than that!

Read it all here.

S. Gregory the Great on Silence and Speaking the Truth

There is a time to speak and a time to keep silent. How does the priest know when wisdom calls for speaking or being silent? St. Gregory in his pastoral rule tells us how to maintain profitable speech.

The ruler should be discreet in keeping silence, profitable in speech; lest he either utter what ought to be suppressed or suppresswhat he ought to utter. For, as incautious speaking leads into error, so indiscreet silence leaves in error those who might have been instructed. For often improvident rulers, fearing to lose human favour, shrink timidly from speaking freely the things that are right; and, according to the voice of the Truth (Joh. x. 12), serve unto the custody of the flock by no means with the zeal of shepherds, but in the way of hirelings; since they fly when the wolf cometh if they hide themselves under silence. For hence it is that the Lord through the prophet upbraids them, saying, Dumb dogs, that cannot bark (Isai. lvi. 10). Hence again He complains, saying, Ye have not gone up against the enemy, neither opposed a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord (Ezek. xiii. 5). Now to go up against the enemy is to go with free voice against the powers of this world for defence of the flock; and to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord is out of love of justice to resist bad men when they contend against us. For, for a shepherd to have feared to say what is right, what else is it but to have turned his back in keeping silence? But surely, if he puts himself in front for the flock, he opposes a wall against the enemy for the house of Israel. Hence again to the sinful people it is said, Thy prophets have seen false and foolish things for thee: neither did they discover thine iniquity, to provoke thee to repentance (Lam. ii. 14).

For in sacred language teachers are sometimes called prophets, in that, by pointing out how fleeting are present things, they make manifest the things that are to come. And such the divine discourse convinces of seeing false things, because, while fearing to reprove faults, they vainly flatter evil doers by promising security: neither do they at all discover the iniquity of sinners, since they refrain their voice from chiding. For the language of reproof is the key of discovery, because by chiding it discloses the fault of which even he who has committed it is often himself unaware. Hence Paul says, That he may be able by sound doctrine even to convince the gainsayers (Tit. i. 9). Hence through Moloch; it is said. The priest’s lips keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth (Malac. ii. 7). Hence through Isaiah the Lord admonishes, saying, Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet (Isai. lviii. 1). For it is true that whosoever enters on the priesthood undertakes the office of a herald, so as to walk, himself crying aloud, before the coming of the judge who follows terribly. Wherefore, if the priest knows not how to preach, what voice of a loud cry shall the mute herald utter? For hence it is that the Holy Spirit sat upon the first pastors under the appearance of tongues (Acts ii. 3); because whomsoever He has filled, He himself at once makes eloquent. Hence it is enjoined on Moses that when the priest goes into the tabernacle he shall be encompassed with bells (Exod. xxviii. 33); that is, that be shall have about him the sounds of preaching, lest he provoke by his silence the judgment of Him Who beholds him from above. For it is written, That his sound may be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord and when he cometh out, that he die not (Exod. xxviii. 35).

For the priest, when he goeth in or cometh out, dies if a sound is not heard from him, because he provokes the wrath of the hidden judge, if he goes without the sound of preaching. Aptly also are the bells described as inserted in his vestments. For what else ought we to take the vestments of the priest to be but righteous works; as the prophet attests when he says, Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness (Ps. cxxxi. 9)? The bells, therefore, are inherent in his vestments to signify that the very works of the priest should also proclaim the way of life together with the sound of his tongue. But, when the ruler prepares himself for speaking, let him bear in mind with what studious caution he ought to speak, lest, if he be hurried inordinately into speaking, the hearts of hearers be smitten with the wound of error and, while he perchance desires to seem wise he unwisely sever the bond of unity. For on this account the Truth says, Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another (Mark ix. 49). Now by salt is denoted the word of wisdom. Let him, therefore, who strives to speak wisely fear greatly, lest by his eloquence the unity of his hearers be disturbed. Hence Paul says, Not to be more wise than behaveth to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety (Rom. xii. 3).

Schaff, P. 1997. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. XII. Leo the Great, Gregory the Great.

Admonition and the Pastoral Wisdom of S. Gregory the Great

I have recently returned to St. Gregory the Great's Pastoral Rule for reflection and guidance concerning helping the faithful and my own growth in holiness as a Christian and a priest. S. Gregory's Pastoral Rule is a wonderful resource that has been used throughout the ages to assist all clergy on pastoral care. I have recently read his his rule on admonishment where first he calls upon priests to look at themselves and then to others. Lent is a time when people come to priests for help and direction. It is a time where we are called to reflect deeply within ourselves and consciences about the way we live our lives. There is no finger pointing in this regard as we all can use admonition and to receive admonition with humility is a sign of real wisdom. It may seem long for the quick visitor to read, but please let me encourage each reader to pause and give this some time of serious reflection. I especially encourage my brother priests to do so.

Chapter XXXII How those are to be admonished who sin from sudden impulse and those who sin deliberately

Differently to be admonished are those who are overcome by sudden passion and those, who are bound in guilt of set purpose. For those whom sudden passion overcomes are to be admonished to regard themselves as daily set in the warfare of the present life, and to protect the heart, which cannot foresee wounds, with the shield oil anxious fear; to dread the hidden darts of the ambushed foe, and, in so dark a contest, to guard with continual attention the inward camp of the soul. For, if the heart is left destitute of the solicitude of circumspection, it is laid open to wounds; since the crafty enemy strikes the breast the more freely as he catches it bare of the breastplate of forethought. Those who are overcome by sudden passion are to be admonished to cease caring too much for earthly things; since, while they entangle their attention immoderately in transitory things, they are not aware of the darts of sins which pierce them. Whence, also, the utterance of one that is stricken and yet sleeps is expressed by Solomon, who says, They, have beaten the, and I was not pained; they have dragged me, and I felt it not. When shall I awake and again find wine (Prov. xxiii. 35)? For the soul that sleeps from the care of its solicitude is beaten and feels not pain, because, as it foresees not impending evils, so neither is it aware of those which it has perpetrated. It is dragged, and in no wise feels it, because it is led by the allurements of vices, and yet is not roused to keep guard over itself. But again it wishes to awake, that it may again find wine, because, although weighed down by the sleep of its torpor from keeping guard over itself, it still strives to be awake to the cares of the world, that it may be ever drunk with pleasures; and, while sleeping to that wherein it ought to have been wisely awake, it desires to be awake to something else, to which it might have laudably slept.

Hence it is written previously, And thou shall be as one that sleepeth in the midst of the sea, and as a steersman that is lulled to rest, having let go the rudder (Prov. xxiii. 35). For he sleeps in the midst of the sea who, placed among the temptations of this world, neglects to look out for the motions of vices that rush in upon him like impending heaps of waves. And the steersman, as it were, lets go the rudder when the mind loses the earnestness of solicitude for guiding the ship of the body. For, indeed, to let go the rudder in the sea is to leave off intentness of forethought among the storms of this life. For, if the steersman holds fast the rudder with anxious care, he now directs the ship among the billows right against them, now cleaves the assaults of the winds aslant. So, when the mind vigilantly guides the soul, it now surmounts some things and treads them down, now warily turns aside from others, so that it may both by hard exertion overcome present dangers, and by foresight gather strength against future struggle. Hence, again, of the strong warriors of the heavenly country it is said, Every man hath his sword upon his thigh because offears in the night (Cant. iii. 8). For the swordis put upon the thigh when the evil suggestion of the flesh is subdued by the sharp edge ofholy preaching. But by the night is expressed the blindness of our infirmity; since any opposition that is impending in the night is not seen.

Every man’s sword, therefore, is put upon his thigh because of fears in the night; that is, because holy men, while they fear things which they do not see, stand always prepared for the strain of a struggle. Hence, again. it is said to the bride, Thy nose is as the tower that is in Lebanon (Cant. vii. 4). For the thing which we perceive not with our eyes we usually anticipate by the smell. By the nose, also, we discern between odours and stenches. What, then, is signified by the nose of the Church but the foreseeing discernment of Saints? It is also said to be like to the tower that is in Lebanon, because their discerning foresight is so set on a height as to see the struggles of temptations even before they come, and to stand fortified against them when they do come. For things that are foreseen when future are of less force when they are present; because, when every one has become more prepared against the blow, the enemy, who supposed himself to be unexpected, is weakened by the very fact of having been anticipated.

But, on the other hand, those who of set purpose are bound in guilt, are to be admonished to perpend with wary consideration how that, when they do what is evil of their own judgment, they kindle stricter judgment against themselves; and that by so much the harder sentence will smite them as the chains of deliberation have bound them more tightly in guilt. Perhaps they might sooner wash away their transgressions by penitence, had they fallen into them through precipitancy alone. For the sin is less speedily loosened which of set purpose is firmly bound. For unless the soul altogether despised eternal things, it would not perish in guilt advisedly. In this, then, those who perish of set purpose differ from those who fall through precipitancy; that the former, when they fall by sin from the state of righteousness, for the most part fall also into the snare of desperation. Hence it is that the Lord through the Prophet reproves not so much the wrong doings of precipitance as purposes of sin, saying, Lest perchance my indignation come out as fire, and be inflamed, and there be none to quench it because of the wickedness of your purposes (Jer. iv. 4). Hence, again, in wrath He says, I will visit upon you according to the fruit of your purposes (Ibid. xxiii. 2).

Since, then, sins which are perpetrated of set purpose differ from other sins, the Lord censures purposes of wickedness rather than wicked deeds. For in deeds the sin is often of infirmity or of negligence, but in purposes it is always of malicious intent. Contrariwise, it is well said through the Prophet in describing a blessed man, And he sitteth not in the chair of pestilence (Ps. i. 1). For a chair is wont to be the seat of a judge or a president. And to sit in the chair of pestilence is to commit what is wrong judicially; to sit in the chair of pestilence is to discern with the reason what is evil, and yet deliberately to perpetrate it. He sits, as it were, in the chair of perverse counsel who is lifted up with so great elation of iniquity as to endeavour even by counsel to accomplish evil. And, as those who are supported by the dignity of the chair are set over the crowds that stand by, so sins that are purposely sought out transcend the transgressions of those who fall through precipitancy. Those, then, who even by counsel bind themselves in guilt are to be admonished hence to gather with what vengeance they must at some time be smitten, being now made, not companions, hut princes, of evil-doers.

Schaff, P. 1997. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. XII. Leo the Great, Gregory the Great.