Anglican Use Mass at St. Therese

Their Excellencies Archbishop John J. Meyers and Bishop Robert Finn granted permission and faculties for me to celebrate the liturgies of the Anglican Usage of the Roman Rite at St. Therese Little Flower Parish in Kansas City, Missouri. Our first Mass was Sunday, November 30.

Today six new members of St. Therese Little Flower from Anglican and Episcopal backgrounds made affirmations of faith, were confirmed and made their first communions as Catholics. A former Episcopalian from Visitation Church in Kansas City and a former Lutheran from St. Michael the Archangel in Leawood joined them. Others will be ready to be received as soon as marriage cases are completed. Several Catholics are already participating in the Anglican Use community through marriage, and one is a Catholic former member of an Anglican Use community in Austin, Texas.

The Anglican Use Mass at St. Therese is now celebrated on Sundays at 11:15. We use the traditional form of the Mass (Rite I) from the Book of Divine Worship. The morning Masses on Christmas Day and Easter Day will be Anglican Use and the evening Masses of Christmas Eve and The Great Vigil of Easter will continue to be “Gospel” Masses. Religious education takes place on Sundays at 10: 15 in classes for pre-school through high school students. Contact Diana Rose at 816-444-5406 for more information about religious education classes.

I keep getting inquiries from Episcopalians asking whether we have “open communion” or at least communion privileges for Episcopalians. While Episcopalians and Lutherans share so much of the Catholic faith that preparation to make an affirmation of faith can be much shorter than for most, the amount of the faith we share does not mean we have open Eucharistic sharing. I would ask whether it is reasonable to expect that people who can take opposite positions on the sanctity of human life should share the same sacrament. The question the Catholic Church asks is, “Do you it all?” It may have been my imagination, but this morning it seemed like the Catholics at Mass today were in awe as adults, children and teenagers stated publicly, “We believe all the Catholic Church teaches.” In the meantime, I heartily welcome visitors seeking a respite while they wrestle with that question. You will have plenty of company with others who are on the way, but have not arrived at the point of making their own affirmations.

Please say a special prayer for Luther Chandler Toole who made his affirmation of faith today. Luther Toole has been a priest in the Anglican Church for a number of years. He was brought into the Episcopal Church at Stetson College in Florida while Fr. Leroy Lawson was rector of St. Barnabas’ in Deland. (Fr. Lawson was Dean of St. Peter’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg when Valerie and I were married there and he passed on his copies of Kenneth Kirk’s books to me.) Dean Lawson is almost certainly offering his affirmation from heaven. It is a tremendous sacrifice when an Anglican priest enters the Catholic Church. Pray that we might have the wisdom to continue to use Luther Toole’s pastoral and spiritual gifts.