Advent IV: Reflecting in the darkness

The Advent Wreath                                                     Source: Church of England

"Advent marks the beginning of the church year. It is a time for reflection in darkness, for renewal of hope and for a movement towards a beginning." - Church of England Advent and Christmas

For many Anglicans the 'renewal of hope' has taken an unexpected turn. It truly is a time for 'reflection in darkness'. 

They have not lost their faith but they have lost their Church, abandoned by bishops who claim to be moved by the Holy Spirit but follow the spirit of the age, the Zeitgeist.

The clearest possible signal of the direction of the Church of England, as in the Church in Wales and other liberal Provinces,  has come from the Archbishop of York designate who believes that the Church should look to society rather than to scripture and tradition for guidance.

Consequently thousands of Anglicans have been left by their Church to reflect in darkness. Some have made the journey across the Tiber. For others that journey presents its own difficulties, particularly for disaffected Roman Catholics who found their spiritual home in the catholic and reformed Anglican Church.

Pray that the truth will be revealed. Pray for Gavin Ashenden who will be received into the Roman Catholic Church today, for those led astray by errant bishops and particularly for all those left reflecting in the darkness. 

Jolly June's jollies

Source: Twitter @BishopJuno

The bishop of Llandaff is right keen on jollies. The latest announced is a diocesan clergy school in 2019. The venue, Santiago de Copostela to help equip clergy for "ministerial priesthood and leadership within the Diocese".

From a note accompanying Jolly June's June Ad Clerum: " We are delighted to announce that the first Clergy School will be held in Santiago de Compostela from May 13th – 17th 2019. You will know that Santiago in Northern Spain is the location of the shrine of St James the Apostle and for many centuries has been the destination of pilgrimage routes known as ‘The Camino’. We see this Clergy School as equipping us as a Diocese for a Year of Pilgrimage, an expression of our Centenary celebrations in 2020."

June thought some may find it bizarre to go to Spain when we have so many magnificent pilgrim routes here in Wales. Spot on.

Jetting off to Rome, a luxury retreat in Devon. Now she is taking her clergy to Santiago de Compostela.

As clergy become thinner on the ground with lay leaders taking up the reins, how kind of Jolly June to treat those remaining to a jolly in Spain. Paid for by savings on stipends?

When in Rome...!

Celtic Bishops visit the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.                Source: Twitter

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, unless you are among the "Celtic Bishops" visiting the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Then you continue doing your own thing regardless.

Not just one representative but the entire bench of bishops of the Church in Wales is in Rome for another Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which began in 1908 as the Octave of Christian Unity and takes place from 18 to 25 January.

Celtic spirituality has long since given way to secularism in the hierarchies of the "Celtic" churches where bishops masquerade as bishops of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church despite going their own way in defiance of the wishes of the Roman Catholic and Holy Orthodox churches who warned of the consequences for unity when women were admitted to the priesthood.

The Celtic bishops would have done better getting on their knees in the cathedrals of their ailing churches, begging for forgiveness for what they have done.

Postscript [19.01.2018]

The bishop of Llandaff has tweeted: "Celtic bishops finish our time in Rome with Anglican Evensong at St Paul without the Walls for the Week of Prayer for. Christian Unity ‘That all may be free’ "

What are the aims of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity?
+ To pray as Christ prayed ‘That they may be one’.
+ To pray for the unity of all Christian people as we share in Christ’s ministry.

From The Irish News: "THE annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity starts today, heralding a period of prayer and reflection on the theme 'that all may be free'." - To do as they please?

Pray that the bishops do not get stuck in Rome  as a consequence of Italian airport workers going on strike. Oh I don't know though! Better if they stayed there and re-learnt the faith.

Thanksgiving thanks, no thanks

The jovial Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, recently elected President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has run into trouble.

Was the Archbishop simply mimicking his Episcopal Church opposite number, the 'spirit hearing' Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, being relevant to society by referring to God as 'She'?

We have heard much lately about the procedure for Anglo Catholics thinking of going to Rome. If Bishop Dolan is thinking of going the other way, just a simple phone call from Tim to Mrs Jefferts Schori should do the trick.

Humble pie

On 17th November the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will be in Rome for the 50th anniversary of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. Humble pie should be on the menu. As this healthy recipe indicates, it is real family food, just made without meat.

The ingredients of the Christian faith continue to cause meaty problems as they have done since the first schism. For Anglicans the process continues following the introduction of the ordination of women and problems over gay rights. Most Christians worship God with little or no thought of what separates them from other worshippers believing 'right' to be on their side, usually determined by the 'religion' of their birth. I see little problem with that, as long as they follow Christ's example and commandment to love one another, according to others the same privilege of conscience. In the Church of England supporters of the ordination of women have sought to deny others that right with a 'take it or leave it' attitude over women bishops, dismissing arguments that the innovation is contrary to scripture, tradition and the will of the universal church.

Detailed Ordinariate plans have yet to be published but if there is no change from their position that Rome is always right and others have to admit the error of their ways to be received, they will not have learnt the lessons of history that, unlike Christ, the church can and has made errors in the past. Christ is the true light, pure light made of many colours. To enable non-believers to see the pure light of Christ our varied colours have to be united because separated we are not understood. Fifty years of talking is long enough. It eclipses the true Light who, before His betrayal, prayed that we all may be one.

A healthy serving of humble pie must be the order of the day to avoid the faithful who fall between two stools being forgotten as they follow Christ's example as conscience dictates.

Is Christianity its own worst enemy?

“The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12: 30-31

Even lapsed Christians tend to think in these terms and assume that others think likewise. The Equality and Human Rights Commission Triennial Review 2010 says that “Democracy is predicated on the idea that every individual, no matter what their background or personal circumstances, should have an equal opportunity to have a say in decisions about the country’s future.” The problem facing Christians and other religions is that Islam does not believe in democracy and denies people their basic human rights. Under Article 18 “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” The penalty for converting from Islam is death. How do ‘honour killings’ square with Article 16 on the freedom to marry? There have been calls to allow Sharia law to operate in this country yet it is alien to our culture putting power into the hands of people who would deny others their human rights.

To question such anomalies is met with cries of Islamophobia, racism and bigotry. Political correctness based on Christian values of tolerance (love thy neighbour) encourages well meaning people of other faiths and of no faith to question the motives of those simply seeking the truth by asking questions. The English Defence League is getting a bad press with the usual PC labels attached to them. Most ‘causes’ become infiltrated causing negative effects but one thing is clear, most non-Muslims don’t have the faintest idea of what Islam is about. We tend to think of the Koran as their version of the Bible and we are led to believe that like Christianity it is a religion of peace but that peace is under Islam, not as we know it.

The vast majority of Muslims go about their daily lives peacefully and deplore extremism. The problem for Christians and those of other religions arises when they become the minority. Then the ‘infidels’ are treated as the second class citizens Muslims believe them to be unless they convert. Hence the Christian exodus from the Middle East which is the subject of the Vatican Synod now in progress. Immigration and high birth rates have seen Islamic communities growing in Non-Muslim countries. This leads to demands for Muslim schools and mosques which build communities within communities instead of integration. The proposed ‘Ground Zero’ mosque development has highlighted the issue causing much controversy. If people have legitimate concerns they should be allowed to express their fears without being accused of racism and bigotry. To understand what is happening we need to educate ourselves to take a balanced view of what our greatest war-time leader Churchill, warned us of, that "the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome".

The documentary What the West Needs to Know, explains "everything you've always wanted to know about Islam but were afraid to ask. The feature documentary discovers the basis of Muslim violence in the Koran and the life of Muhammad: jihad terror Muhammad Koran Quran Fitna." If you are not willing to devote an hour and a half to the fuller explanation you can get a shorter but incomplete message here.

These videos raise legitimate concerns for Christians putting documented events of discrimination and killings into context which raises the question, Who is my neighbour? or, more pertinently, What is my neighbour's attitude to me? That must be a legitimate question in a (currently) free society.