Affirming Catholicism Newsletter December 2015 Advent: The Mystery Begins The mystery begins Where the winter finds its feet the rush of frost and chill competes with the old hope of incarnation Darker nights unfold and with the fading of the light the sun weakens held by this frozen earth wrapped in winter s frost the mystery of the ancient hope is alight once more for from the stump of Jesse the dry old tree of David s line comes a new branch a new shoot cracking through the season with a promise yet unfulfilled this is the hoping the waiting the advent Let us gather round the words the prophets spoke long ago and believe: Emmanuel is on the way Roddy Hamilton http://newkilpatrickblog.typepad.com/nk-blogging/2012/11/the-mystery-begins.html Watchword for December 2015 (from the Herrnhuter Losungen) Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, December 2015 page 1
break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. Isaiah 49:13 Gospel Imprint: Becoming who I am The biblical "Watchwords" of the Herrnhut Brethren (Moravian Church) have been published every year since 1731. Jesus says that it s okay to be who we are. In fact, he says it s more than okay it s what God wants. We are precious and beautiful in God s eyes. You can find the rest of the leaflet at: http://www.gospelimprint.com/gi-documents/leaflets/08-03.15- Becoming%20Who%20I%20Am.pdf. Please print it out and make it widely available! Try making a selection of these leaflets available in your church. Gospel Imprint is the fresh voice in Anglicanism sharing free resources with all Christians who are seeking to learn, worship and witness to the generosity of the Kingdom of God. It is supported by Affirming Catholicism and the Society of Catholic Priests. Report from General Synod, November 2015 The inaugural sermon was given by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher to the Papal Household, who explored the significance of the Reformation Anniversary which will be commemorated in 2017: Justification by faith, for example, ought to be preached by the whole Church and with more vigour than ever. Not in opposition to good works the issue is already settled - but rather in opposition to the claim of people today that they can save themselves thanks to their science, technology or their man-made spirituality, without the need for a redeemer coming from outside humanity. Self-justification! I am convinced that if they were alive today this is the way Martin Luther and Thomas Cranmer would preach justification through faith! Unity is not a simple matter. One has to start with the big Churches, those that are well structured, putting together that which unites them, which is vastly more important than what divides them; not imposing uniformity but aiming at what pope Francis calls reconciled diversities. Nothing is more important than to fulfil Christ s heart desire for unity expressed in today s gospel. In many parts of the world people are killed and churches burned not because they are Catholic, or Anglican, or Pentecostals, but because they are Christians. In their eyes we are already one! Let us be one also in our eyes and in the eyes of God. You can find the text of the sermon here: http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2015/11/rebuildmy-house-sermon-to-the-general-synod-of-the-church-of-england-by-father-ranierocantalamessa.aspx. Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, December 2015 page 2
The Queen also called for unity: St. Paul reminds us that all Christians, as ambassadors for Christ, are entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. Spreading God s word and the onerous but rewarding task of peace-making and conflict resolution are important parts of that ministry. So too is the Church of England s particular vocation to work in partnership with those of other faiths and none, to serve the common good in this land. To this end, I was pleased that one of the first events that Prince Philip and I attended in 2012 to mark my Diamond Jubilee was a gathering of leaders of all faiths, at Lambeth Palace. The presence among us today of the Preacher to the Papal Household would not have been possible but for the notable advances since 1970 in cooperation across the great Christian traditions. There are many other examples. The Covenant between the Church of England and the Methodist Church; the recent visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch; the participation in this Synod of observers from so many Christian traditions; the newly created ecumenical community of St Anselm at Lambeth. Each of these serves as a reminder both of the progress already made and of the journey that still lies ahead in the pursuit of Christian unity. Your Graces, each new Synod inherits from its predecessor the same weighty responsibilities. Collectively, you must continue to draw deeply on your faith, judgement, and life experiences, as well as that precious Anglican tradition of unity in fellowship, to discern the future path of the Church of England. At the beginning of this new Synod, as you put your hand into the hand of God, my prayer is that, as we sang in that joyous hymn this morning, His glorious light may shine ever on our sight, and clothe us round, the while our path illuming. The text of the Queen s address is here: http://www.royal.gov.uk/latestnewsanddiary/speechesandarticles/2015/thequeensspeec hattheinaugurationofthetenthgenerals.aspx. You can hear the Queen s address (and the Archbishop of Canterbury s very funny historical welcome to her) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsufu200hku. A helpful report compiled by the General Synod Representatives of the Diocese of Salisbury can be found here: http://www.salisbury.anglican.org/resources- library/whos-who/synods/general-synod/2015.11%20general%20synod- %20Synopsis.pdf. A more personal take by bathwellschap (aka the Revd Stephen Lynas) is found here: https://bathwellschap.wordpress.com/2015/11/. As the Primates of the Anglican Communion prepare to gather at Lambeth in January, all are encouraged to use this Litany for the Gathering and Meeting of Primates: General thanksgiving and praise For the privilege to tell the world the good news of Your love for everyone, irrespective of race, colour, gender, religion and status, Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, December 2015 page 3
For opportunities to share the love of Christ in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and providing shelter for victims of war, For the opportunity to live out our faith in a hostile environment, to test the strength of our love for You and others by relating to those from whom we differ theologically and ecclesiologically, For the continuing efforts at working at our relationship as a Communion and finding better ways of living as Your reconciled family, For the positive responses from Primates and Archbishops to the Gathering and Primates Meeting in January, Concern for truth From media manipulation, misinformation and the abuse of privilege, Good Lord deliver us. From the distortion of facts and the desire to muzzle other voices with whom we disagree, From the twisting of truths in order to present others opinions as wrong, The Participants at the Gathering and Meeting From arrogance and the spirit of self-righteousness, From anger, ego and the desire to impose our opinions at all costs, from a divisive spirit and craving for power more than unity, From denigrating others before listening to them, From the spirit that looks down on others, despises their convictions and is unwilling to let go for the sake of Christ, That each of us may encounter Christ and be positively transformed, That this gathering and the Primates Meeting may open a new and positive chapter in the unfolding history of our Communion, That each Primate / Archbishop will catch a vision from Your holy perspective, That this gathering and meeting may bring glory and honour to Your name, a new and better and stronger fellowship among all participants, Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, December 2015 page 4
That this Communion may tell her own stories free from slanted and cynical reporting, Lord, this is a part of Your Church Militant. You called us after redeeming us through Your Son s sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection and glorious Ascension. Help us as a Communion to hear clearly what You are saying to us in this age, grant this gathering and meeting Your Spirit that it may lead in such a way as to bring honour and glory to Your name, peace and better understanding to Your church, growth and development to every part of the Communion. We ask in Christ s name. Amen. http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2015/11/prayers-for-2016-gatheringand-meeting-of-primates.aspx. The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order met in Elmina, Ghana from 2-9 December, hosted by the Province of West Africa, and the Diocese of Cape Coast. Much of the Commission s work was devoted to supporting the forthcoming meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, in Lusaka in April 2016. For this, the Ecumenical Working Group considered recent ecumenical developments, including such significant documents as: the Agreed Statement on Christology, of the Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission; In the Image and Likeness of God: A Hope-Filled Anthropology, of the International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue; and Into All the World: Being and Becoming Apostolic Churches, of the Anglican- Methodist International Commission for Unity in Mission. ACC will also be invited to commend to the Communion: ways of deepening relationships between Anglicans and Lutherans, around the commemoration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 Receiving One Another s Ordained Ministries, a report intended to assist churches of the Anglican Communion on questions of receiving the ordained ministries of ecumenical partners. In accordance with IASCUFO s mandate, the Working Group on Communion Life prepared for ACC: Reflection on the ways in which Communion life is deepened, including prayer, worship and Scripture A document entitled A Mission Shaped Communion A working paper on the Instruments of Communion, as a follow up to the document Towards a Symphony of Instruments, prepared for ACC-15 Working papers on local expressions of communion life for the Anglican Communion website. Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, December 2015 page 5
In the context of the contemporary crises of displacement and uprooting of people, of refugees and of human trafficking, the Commission paid a deeply moving visit to the Cape Coast Castle, which was a major centre of the transatlantic slave trade, with the terrible incongruity of an Anglican church build directly over the dungeons that held those who, through the Door of No Return, were to be shipped into chattel slavery. For the full Communiqué see http://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/200132/iascufocommunique-9-december-2015.pdf. For some Advent and Christmas are times of difficult memories and grief. If this is the case for you, you might find the words of Jan Richardson helpful: This Luminous Darkness: Searching for Solace in Advent and Christmas My husband died on the second day of Advent 2013, several weeks after experiencing massive complications during what we had anticipated would be routine surgery. In that season, my primary Advent practices involved such things as remembering to breathe, eat, and sleep as I began to navigate the awful and bewildering terrain of grief. Two years later, I still sometimes have to remember to engage in those practices. But this year, as I navigated the second anniversary of Gary s death and entered into Advent once again, I became aware of a keen desire to move through this season in a different way. Just what way, I wasn t sure. I searched for resources for Advent and mourning. In my searching, I was struck by how so many of those resources take a strategic approach, offering guidelines for how to manage grief during the holidays. It s good to have some strategies for coping with the innumerable triggers that can so easily exacerbate sorrow during this season. At the same time, I knew that my grief was asking me to do something more than manage it. If I have learned anything about grief in the past two years, it is that grief is a wild creature. Grief will resist every attempt to tame it, to control it, or to keep it tidy and well-behaved. Rather than managing it, grief asks instead that we tend it, listen to it, question it. One of the surest ways to calm it is to give it some space in which to speak or to holler, or weep. I have learned also that grief loves stories. Resistant as grief is to pat answers, logic, and linear thinking, it finds a natural home within the landscape of a story, where meaning appears not so much in facts or formulas as in metaphors, symbols, and the unpredictable pathways of narrative. As I thought about what I need in this season, and how I want not just to abide this Advent but to move through it with intention and openness, I found myself naturally drawn to some of the greatest gifts this season gives us: its stories. In the sacred texts that accompany us in Advent and Christmas, we find an extraordinarily rich landscape that, for all its darkness, is luminous with story. This luminous landscape holds particular treasures for those of us traveling through this season in the company of grief. See more at: http://adventdoor.com/2015/12/17/this-luminous-darkness-searching-for-solace-inadvent-and-christmas/#sthash.ejvdtvmn.dpuf. Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, December 2015 page 6
Forthcoming events: The Groombridge Lectures: Theology and Science: A new paradigm for the 21st century? Speaker: Revd Andrew Bigg, MPhys (Oxon), BA, MA Wednesday, 13 January 2016, 7.30-9 p.m. Andrew Bigg, a member of the Society of Ordained Scientists and Curate at St. George s Paris, will be talking about a broader philosophical framework within which the intellectual development of theological and scientific reasoning may be viewed. Our hearts are restless until they rest in you : St Augustine Speaker: Dr Margaret Lane Wednesday, 24 February 2016, 7.30-9 p.m. Augustine s well known motif of the restless heart with which he begins his Confessions has captured the imagination of countless seekers of the truth through the centuries. Many have seen their stories in the pages of the Confessions including no less a person than Teresa of Avila. In this evening s talk, we will reflect on how Augustine moves from restless to rest and in his story hope to find our own. The lectures take place at: St Thomas the Apostle, Corseley Road, Groombridge TN3 9SF. (As you enter Groombridge, turn into Corseley Road - beside the Post Office.) Support for diocesan events: Would you like to organise an event locally but can t afford to bring a speaker in? Affirming Catholicism can offer grants of up to 500 to help fund your event. Expressions of interest to the Board at administrator@affirmingcatholicism.org.uk. Donations and gift aid We welcome donations to support the work of Affirming Catholicism. You can send a cheque to Mark Perrett, Affirming Catholicism, 114 Hamilton Terrace, Maida Vale, LONDON NW8 9UT, or make an online donation by registering here: http://www.affirmingcatholicism.org.uk/donate.html Have you renewed your gift aid declaration? Many of our supporters made gift aid declarations under the old rules, and these declarations have now run out. If you have not renewed yours, or are not sure, please complete the form at this link: https://form.jotformeu.com/53301712150338 Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, December 2015 page 7
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