EMERALD ECHO. Parish Newsletter St. Bride of Kildare, Pitt Meadows St. Columba of Iona, Halfmoon Bay The Traditional Anglican Church of Canada

Transcription

1 EMERALD ECHO Parish Newsletter St. Bride of Kildare, Pitt Meadows St. Columba of Iona, Halfmoon Bay The Traditional Anglican Church of Canada Vol. 5 No. 3: Eastertide 2014 hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. (John ) But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him Science & the Soul: are they still incompatible? Or, has Science just recently proved the existence of the soul? I do not intend to reopen the long standing debate about evolution and the arguments for and against the various theories based on the Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin, published in Dr. Duncan MacDougal made an attempt to prove the existence of a soul: in 1901, MacDougall weighed six patients while they were in the process of dying from tuberculosis in an old age home. It was

2 relatively easy to determine when death was only a few hours away, and at this point the entire bed was placed on an industrial sized scale which was reported to be sensitive to "two-tenths of an ounce". He took his results (a varying amount of unaccounted for mass loss in four of the six cases) to support his hypothesis that the 'soul' had mass, and when the 'soul' departed the body, so did this mass. The determination of the 'soul' weighing 21 grams was based on the loss of mass in the first subject at the moment of death. ( ougall_(doctor)) Now, the essential hypothesis behind the experiments was that in order to exist, any matter had to have mass : i.e. it had to weigh something: accepted scientific method argued that if there was no measurable mass, then whatever was being measured could not exist: hence the importance of the finding by Dr. MacDougall of the two tenths of an ounce which he argued proved that the soul did exist. But more recently, in 1964, Dr. Peter Higgs theorised that an element which has become known as the Higgs Boson did exist, but that it had no mass: there would be no measurable weight to the particle, because it did not weigh anything: this hypothesis, which fundamentally changed basic rules of science, was not proven until 2012, when a team of physicists at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, developed an extremely costly search - which proved to be successful in its conclusion that they had been able to identify and evaluate the Higgs boson. ( Now, if you are a physicist interested in the field of quantum mechanics, there is a lot of material for you to read: material which I for one do not understand. But for me, the key fact is that science has now proven that an object which has no mass, nothing to measure: no length, no breadth, no height, that such an object can and does exist: the proof that Dr. Duncan MacDougall was seeking, discovered and manifested by the very scientists who had cast doubt on the very existence of the human soul, and thus confirming the truth of our faith, and our understanding of the wonderful promise of eternal salvation which is held out to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ, our Saviour. DRM+

3 Easter 2014 Christ is risen: He is risen indeed: Alleluia, Alleluia!!! Whenever something completely radical is proposed, there are some who will rush out and have to buy the new thing : there are those who will bide their time: to see how things work out after the teething troubles have been resolved: and there are those who are determined to withstand the changes. Think of the folk you know who do not have a computer, or a cell phone, or a flat screen television, or a GPS thingy. So we can understand why it is that when Jesus Christ did something that had been considered completely impossible on that first Easter Day, there were those who believed: the apostles and followers, as well as the women: the blessed Virgin Mary, His Mother, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the wife of Cleopas, as well as others. And then there were those who, we might say, reserved judgement: probably we might put Nicodemus in this group. But what about the folk who simply rejected this revolutionary change: that a man can be scourged and then crucified, proclaimed dead, taken down from the Cross and buried in a tomb: only to rise into life again after three days? These people are all around us now: these are those for whom the very meaning of Easter centres on bunny rabbits, eggs, and spring fashions. But it is our challenge to demonstrate the truth of Easter by our observance of the feast, by our joyful wonder at the miracle of eternal salvation which is promised. It is not necessarily a challenge which requires some form of direct action which is impossible for some, and hard for most, but it is a call for us to use all the weapons and armaments which have been made available to us in the struggle. In the Lenten edition, we spoke of the need for us to enlist this immense power, which is ready at all times to assist us: and that power is prayer: so here again is the prayer for the parish: MOST merciful Father, we beseech thee to send down thy heavenly blessing upon thy Church in this Parish, that all its members may dwell together in unity and brotherly love. Keep far from us all self-will and discord. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness, and enable them faithfully to dispense thy holy Word and Sacraments, to bring again the outcasts, and to seek the lost. Grant that we may so receive their ministrations, and use thy means of grace, that in all our words and deeds we may seek thy glory and the advancement of thy kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. DRM+ From: The Rev. Dr. Jonathan Munn: Schism and Continuum One of the central tenets, it seems, of the Anglican Communion is that Heresy is preferable to Schism. James McCord (a Presbyterian) is famous for saying "If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy. As a schismatic, you have torn and divided the body of Christ. Choose heresy every time." This has been endorsed by many an Anglican or Episcopalian (notably the Bishop of Virginia in 2004, Washington Post 31/01/2004), and it is a stick that the Anglican Communion has often used to beat the Continuing Anglican movement. Continuing Anglicans are worse, in the eyes of the "mainstream" Anglican, because they have sought to tear the body of Christ in sunder rather than accept the heresies of some parts of the Communion.

4 (hence sect) from each other. The whole idea of heresy is a consequence of God's gift of free-will to us; we are free to choose the ungodly as well as the godly, and heresy is the choice in which we decide not to follow the teaching of the Church. We are of course aware of the great heresies which were condemned at the first seven Oecumenical Councils and how this caused schisms, notably with the Monophysite churches. Bishop Damien Mead (Diocese of the UK, ACC) & the Reverend Dr. Jonathan Munn Dr. C.B. Moss explains that the Church has forbidden its members from taking part in Schismatic worship, "first, that those who join in such worship may easily be infected by false doctrine, in particular the notion that it does not matter what we believe or what denomination we belong to; second that even if they are not infected themselves, they may cause others to be so, especially the young and badly instructed; third, that our duty towards those outside is not to encourage them in their separation, but to persuade them to come back."(the Christian Faith pp284-5) It always pays us to be as clear as possible, not that we can ever presume on the judgment of God, but rather that it helps us to see what the issues are and help us to reason with our poor little minds with fewer obstacles that we place in the way of the Divine light. We have to know what heresy is, and what schism is. Heresy, as we know, has at its root the idea of choice and an exercise of the will. After the Maccabees and before Christianity, a Hebrew could have the choice of three "heresies" and become an Essene, a Sadducee, or a Pharisee. These were properly sects within Judaism as they were "cut" Schism, according to St Thomas Aquinas, is the wilful separation of the Unity of the Church. Yet, is this something that is understood by the Early Church? St Paul bids the Corinthians "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions (schismata) among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (I Cor. i.10) Yet Dr. Moss and Dr. Staley (The Catholic Faith) both talk of schism within the Church as well as from it. What could this mean? Dr. Moss states that schism within the church is "a breach in communion between local churches, though neither side has changed the fundamental faith and order of the Church"(p 281 The Christian Faith). What does he mean by the "fundamental faith"? He says (p 282), "Queen Elizabeth claimed that she and her people were as good Catholics as anyone else. Both sides kept the same faith and order, the same creeds sacraments, and ministry as before the schism." Thus, by "fundamental faith", we understand the Creeds, the Sacraments, and the Faith of the Early Church. Dr. Moss then states that Schism from the Church as being "the revolt of a group of persons, large or small, who separate themselves from the Church by rejecting her faith and order: for instance the Reformation at Geneva." He cites Calvin here as rejecting the Church itself rather than just the accretions to the faith of Medieval Catholicism and thus he concludes from this that the Anglican

5 Church has never been Calvinist in its essence since Anglicanism became distinct from Roman Catholicism as a schism within the Church and not from it. Since Anglicans, Romans and the Eastern Catholic Churches believe in the visibility of the Church, they can suffer schism. Other groups which do not believe in the visibility of the Church have no visible body from which to break, thus they can only separate. Yet, we have another situation in that the Eastern Church and the Roman Church excommunicated each other in the great schism of the eleventh century. Now, is this a schism within the Church, or is it a schism from the church? The Anglican would say that it is schism within the Church, yet East and West would declare that it is schism from the Church. Again, the supremacy of the Pope is a sticking point and, while there were certain concessions on the filioque clause at the Council of Florence in the fifteenth century, this was not enough for the schism to end. The Anglican will call this schism within the Church since neither the Romans nor the Eastern Church have altered the basic Faith but merely added prescriptions, proscriptions and dogmata for their followers. In Roman, Eastern, Anglican, and indeed, the truly Old Catholic Churches, the Holy Scriptures are being read and interpreted through the Tradition of the Early Church, the Seven Oecumenical Councils with their creeds are held, and the Holy Sacraments distributed as they always have been. The question I am now looking to understand is whether one can be schismatic but not heretical? Are there such things, as the Romans teach, as pure schism (without heresy) and mixed schism (with heresy)? The Romans, of course, cannot teach about schism within the Church, for at least one body involved in the schism would fail to be in communion with the Pope. In Roman eyes, one must be in communion with the Pope in order to hold the Catholic Faith, so a breach of communion would be impossible to hold without a breach from Roman Catholic Faith and Order. However, like all continuing Anglicans, I fail to accept that the Roman definition of Catholicism is true. I may, and indeed gladly, hold to the Pope as the Patriarch of the West, the Bishop of Rome, the successor of St Peter and the primus inter pares of bishops, but I cannot see him as a monarch, a bishop of bishops or as the sole infallible arbiter of the Catholic Faith. The Modern Papacy does fail the Vincentian Canon. This belief makes me, in the eyes of Rome, a heretic and schismatic from the Church. That's the problem when one adds to the faith something that isn't actually there. Now what about the hypothetical accusation from someone in the Anglican Communion that I, as a Continuing Anglican, am actually schismatic? Again, we have to go back to what it means to be schismatic and as whether I am schismatic within the Church or from the Church. Considering that, as a Continuing Anglican, I hold the same fundamental faith as Drs. Moss and Staley, and belong to a church in which this fundamental faith is practiced just as it has been practiced before the Anglican Church was forced to be continuing. Do I obey the Bishop of Rochester? No. So in the eyes of the Anglican Church, if I am schismatic, then I am so within the Church and not from it. Suppose, then, that a member of the Established Church were to call me schismatic. To do so necessarily presupposes that a schism exists. If that schism exists, then where is it? Well, first let us consider, was there ever the ordination of women in the Catholic Church? Answer: no, despite many attempts by modernists to prove the opposite. The only ordinations of women in the Early Church were made by Montanists who were not Catholic, but heretic. So to ordain women as priests is indeed a change in doctrine, since the Catholic doctrine is that the subject of ordination must be a baptised, confirmed, communicant male. This is a change to the Catholic Faith because it is a change

6 to the definition of the sacraments. If the Continuing Anglicans have not accepted this change, then they cannot be in schism from anyone because they have not changed position. The schismatic body must be the Established Church and, further, because there is a change in faith, this seems very much like a Schism from the Church. If there is a schism from the Church, then anyone in communion with the schismatic body is of course endangering themselves in the way that Dr. Moss describes. One might say that they cannot understand the importance of what they believe. Yet for many traditionalists within the Established Church, leaving the establishment would be a major life change as they reject stipend, home, living for what they believe. One cannot force them to do that and it must happen only on the strength of their conscience. However, if a member of the Anglican Communion regards the Anglican Continuum as schismatic, then "He hath graven and digged up a pit: and is fallen on himself into the destruction that he made for other." (Psalm vii.16) It is, of course, much more preferable to leave all these uncharitable declarations of schism and heresy to the annals of history. If we are to learn any lesson at all from this business of schism, then it is that we had better be convinced by God that we walk in The Way and then commit ourselves wholeheartedly to it. If we are sincere and honest in our dealings, loving in all our ways, and holding tight to the faith once delivered to the saints then schism and heresy will not affect us, neither will accusations of schism and heresy. We continuing Anglicans will continue to do what the Church of England always did. If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem! Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. (Hebrews 13.8) The Africa Appeal You can now send donations to either: The Parish of St. Bride, c/o Camwood Maple Ridge, B.C. V2X 2N9 or Parish of St. Columba, c/o Box 894, Sechelt, BC, V0N 3A0 Sean is the pastor of a Church of England parish on the Northern Ireland/ Southern Ireland border and Patrick is the priest in the Roman Catholic Church across the road. One day they are seen together, erecting a sign into the ground, which said: TA END IS NEAR! TURN YERSELF AROUNT NOW AFOR IT IS TOO LATE! As a car speeds past them, the driver leans out his window and yells,

7 "Leave people alone, you Oirish religious nutters! We don't need your lectures." From the next curve they hear screeching tyres and a big splash. Shaking his head, Rev. Patrick says "Dat's da terd one dis mornin'." "Yaa," Pastor Sean agrees, then asks, "Do ya tink maybe da soign should jost say, 'Bridge Out?'" Per M. Townsend, Australia St Bride s Mission Mass at noon each Thursday, followed by lunch and discussion: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis. Location: The Meeting Room at St. Peter & St. Paul, 7772, Graham Avenue, Burnaby, V3N 1V4. The Africa Appeal There have been times over the past few years when we have not known whether the Appeal would survive even to the next month: and that is for us, living in relative comfort, with food on the table and money to buy what we need. How much worse is the situation for those on the receiving end of the assistance that we have been privileged to send: think about it: if you simply did not know where money might come from to meet your payments due the next month, what would you do? What would you feel like? How would you like to set out to walk to the nearest food bank, in the hope that there would be something that you could get to feed your children? Now: remember that for many of our brethren in the developing world, this is simply a fact of life: where perhaps 70% - 80% of the workforce has no secure employment, no regular paycheque: so why should the church be any different? So it is that in the past month, I have received proposals for the projects planned for the next year in Congo (DRC), Cameroon, and South Sudan. The Africa Appeal letter will deal with these in full, but here is a sample for each country. All three churches have plans to build a cathedral church: but this is not just for show, not to impress people: rather, it is an important demonstration of the commitment of our clergy and people to the parish, and to the community, the region, and the country especially in the cases of South Sudan and Congo (DRC), both of which have experiences what we would call war, if not in the immediate community, still too close for comfort. The commitment to the community demonstrated by the symbolism of the church as central to the community is of great importance in encouraging the seeker after the Truth to come forward and make those first hesitant steps towards Baptism, followed by Confirmation and, we pray, eternal salvation. And so it is that we are called to support these truly heroic efforts. The women s agriculture project in Congo has changed the lives of the women of the village of Mosho, and changed the lives of their children: this is the same for the graduates of the sewing schools in Cameroon, where Fr. Alphonse has written telling me first of the fact that these schools provide a modest income for the church, as well as the wish to set up and open a small retail store to benefit both students and the church. Bishop Steven has also set up similar projects in Congo, the effort is to provide an income for those victims of the crime of rape, perpetrated as a weapon of

8 war: designed to destroy the very community which the church promotes! I pray for your support: so that churches might have roofs (Congo, Cameroon, and South Sudan) that children will not go to bed hungry: and those families can aspire to a basic level of income and security of the person. Please help! DRM+ News from Fr. David In the Lent Emerald Echo, there was a brief mention of the Inter Anglican Fellowship Meetings which have been held here in the lower mainland of BC. The very good news about these meetings is that they demonstrate the necessity for each of the three groups to address their own fragility both numerically and fiscally where the challenges so imposed have been sufficient to restore a modicum of civility and communication which replaces an unpleasant atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion: in effect, these meetings shine the light of our faith into the dark corners of our minds, revealing the accumulations of that leaven of wickedness of which St. Paul writes to the Corinthians: For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor ) Bible Study The group meets at the Ferguson s, (T ) on every second & fourth Thursday (from September 12 th ) Camwood Ave.., Maple Ridge Topic: The Gospel of St. Luke Mass 7.00 pm, discussion to follow. If you wish to receive the Emerald Echo electronically, please drop a note to the editor at drm274@hotmail.com If you have any questions about what happens during divine worship, let us know with a short note to the editor (drm274@hotmail.com ) and we will try and give you the answer in the next Emerald Echo. The next meeting will be held at 7.00 pm on the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, the 30 th April 2014, at St. Peter & St. Paul in Burnaby, with Bishop Redmile taking Evensong, followed by a meal and discussion. Pray for us all in this endeavor. David+

9 ALL SOULS MEMORIAL LIST May1 Gertrude Martin 3 Daniel Scott 5 John Lucas Donovan 7 Joan de Catanzaro 9 Colin Whitaker 10 William Campbell 10 Madeleine Campbell 12 Edna Redmond 13 Jean Cora Donovan 13 Eleanor Woroniak 20 Samuel William Hately 20 David Stout 21 the Ven. John David Retter (Priest) 23 Mary Connors The view from the altar at St. Columba of Iona, Palm Sunday Trooper Thomas William Hately 28 Stanley Whalley 29 Kevin Joseph Patrick Connolly Going to the UK this summer? 31 Sydney Baker 31 Kathleen Edmunds (Rev.) You might want to visit the ACC- UK Gift shop in Canterbury. Gift Shop & Refectory June 2 Gerald George Weir 6 Beryl Anne Shier 8 Russell Savage 9 St. Columba of Iona 9 Elizabeth Regina Low 17 Betty Fox 19 Marion Margaret Hayward 21 Horace Cartwright 22 Clara Clark 23 Pat Moline 23 Carmino de Catanzaro, Bp 24 James Foster 27 Sarah Myint 27 William Todd 28 Terry Fox 30 Joey Gardner

10 Services for May & June 2014 St Bride St Columba Apr-27 Easter I Evensong Mass May 4 Easter 2 Mass May 11 Easter 3 Evensong Mass May 18 Easter 4 Mass May 25 Easter 5 Evensong Mass May 29 Ascension Day Mass June 1 Sunday after Ascension Mass June 8 Whitsunday Evensong Mass June 15 Trinity Sunday Mass June 22 Trinity I Evensong Mass June 29 St. Peter (comm Trinity II) Mass July 6 Trinity III Evensong Mass Midweek Mass: Every Thursday at 12 noon, the St. Bride s Mission Mass is celebrated in the meeting room of St. Peter & St. Paul, Burnaby. All welcome: lunch and study group follows. On the second and fourth Thursday at 7.00 pm, Mass & Bible study at the Ferguson home: Camwood Avenue, Maple Ridge.