How can I keep from singing?

The Light of the World: A Sacristy Conversation

2011-12-16T09:12:00.001-06:00

The Light of the World: A Conversation with Clark Massey

After noon Mass on Thursday Clark Massey ofSimple House asked me, “Do you have any old candles?” “Do we have candles! Take a look at these” I replied and pulledopen a drawer in the sacristy. Clark started loading up with the stubs of altar candlesand I asked him “What do you need them for?” “For the homeless,” he replied. “Theyuse them for heat.” “That’s right,” theman who was with him added. “With acandle and a blanket I have woken up in the morning nice and warm with snow allaround. And I can heat up a can of soup,too!” I was amazed, realizing how little I know about how some of us live, andtrying to imagine myself being thankful for the heat of a candle. “Tell everybody they are blessed,” I said.

Hiking on my Ordination Anniversary

2011-12-10T10:04:00.001-06:00

A Hiking Story

WednesdayNovember 23 – the ninth anniversary of my ordination - was the third day of myhike. The first day was foggy, thesecond day was rainy. For two days I hadpassed colorfully named scenic view after scenic view, but could only seethrough the fog and rain for 100 yards or so. The third day – well. All days start about the same. It takes about an hour to get some breakfast– even if it is just some granola bars and hot chocolate – and get everythingpacked back up and ready to go. It wasnice starting downhill – but downhill means you-know-what, and on Wednesday itmeant going down low enough to meet the highway and a park entrance. Going back uphill was a two-hour trek up theeast side of the Shenandoahs to the top of Mary’s Rock. It seemed like a worthy goal for anordination anniversary. The rain wasdripping off the trees and it seemed like it was going to rain again – whichmean putting on my rain gear, and then taking it off when it didn’t reallyrain. Rain gear does a good job ofkeeping the rain out, but it can also make it steamy “inside” especially whenburning all that energy to climb as well as walk. Climbing means fighting gravity as well asinertia. I do better against inertiathan gravity.

Getting tothe top was elusive. It seemed like itmust be just around the next bend or just behind the next rock. I was almost relieved to get there severaltimes before the rock in front of me was the last one. Stepping around the rock from the east sideto the west side, the wind and the view hit me at the same time. It seemed like the wind was blowing at 40 –50 miles an hour as it hit the side of the mountain and then was forced up andover the top, and I was at the top. Icould hardly stand up, and the cold wind that was beating against me waschilling me so fast that it scared me a little. But the sun and the view out over the Shenandoah Valley was amazing. Littlefarms with barns and silos covered the valley floor, with little clusters ofhouses in villages and bigger clusters in towns.

Wednesdaywas a long day, hiking right along the crest of the ridge. Every time the path ducked down on the eastside of the ridge there was some relief from the wind. Every time it passed along the very top ordown the west side, the views were great, but wind! I had to cover a lot of miles that day to getto the next shelter. By 2:30 in theafternoon I was passing by Skyland Lodge – the place where Valerie, Margaretand her mother and I would share a late Thanksgiving on Friday. After hiking for ten miles, I still had fourmiles to go and sunset comes at five o’clock. In good terrain I can make two miles an hour. I was tired, but told myself, “You can dothis” as I passed the stables where the horses were already out in the pasture.

The lightwas getting dim when I started smelling the smoke from someone’s woodfire. That meant the shelter was prettyclose. As I turned off the side traildown to the shelter the sun had already set. The view out over the Shenandoah Valleyrevealed the sparkling lights from a small town. The shelter was empty, and even though therewas a pile of wood that some previous hiker had gathered, the wind was toostrong to make a fire. The temperaturewas down close to freezing and the wind made it feel even colder, but I hadenough layers to stay warm and get set-up for boiling some water for dinnerwith my alcohol stove. There must havebeen a clear line-of-sight to a cell-tower down below because I got a goodsignal on my cell phone and called Valerie.

A hundredyards further down the path, there was a small cabin – one of several that thePotomac Appalachian Trail Club make available. Soon, a father and son came up the trail to check me out and invite medown to warm up by their fire. It was anice ending to a long day. A family withthree sons had rented the cabin for the Thanksgiving holidays and were roastinga chicken over the fire. They had spentthe day gathering firewood and now were enjoying the results of theiradventures. The well-chinked logs keptthe wind and cold out. The gas lanternmade it bright and cheerful, pushing bedtime back later than it would normallybe for me who would usually eat, clean up, and crawl into a warm sleeping bagno matter how early it might be. It wasnice to be able to peel off my layers and get warmed up and spend a little timewith some people who just chanced to meet out in the woods. But soon, even though it was only 8:00, mytired body told me it would need the next ten or eleven hours to recover forthe next day’s hike.

Married Catholic Priests?

2011-10-28T13:44:00.000-05:00

For some reason reporters like toask married Catholic priests whether the Catholic Church should change therules and to allow the ordination of more married Catholic men. When I ask reporters why they don’t ask celibateCatholic priests what they think about it, they look at me funny, like it neveroccurred to them.

Maria Antonia asked me what I thinkabout opening the Catholic priesthood to married men several different ways inan interview for Channel 9 News November 27. She is a very good news reporter and interviewer, and I think she reallywanted to know. She asked the question anumber of different ways, and I answered it a number of different ways. The snippet that was chosen for broadcast issomething I really said and really believe. I do believe that the idea opening the priesthood to married mendeserves deep thought. But they didn’tbroadcast my answer to the next question: If I could make the decision for theCatholic Church today, would I open the priesthood to married men? No.

As a married Catholic man I am verygrateful that the Catholic Church deemed that it was appropriate to ordain meas a Catholic priest, but I would still be Catholic even if I were not ordained. There are about a hundred or more formerEpiscopal priests as well as former Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and otherprotestant ministers who have been ordained as Catholic priests and many ofthem are married. In addition we have someCatholic priests who are widowers and have children and grandchildren; we havemany Eastern Rite Catholic priests with wives and children, and we have many,many ordained deacons with wives and children. So we are getting a lot of experience with married Catholic clergy. We have gifts to offer, and limitations,too.

When married and celibate priestsgather, the question of changing the rules of celibacy hardly ever comes up. A celibate priesthood has been a great giftto the church for 1500 years, and every time the church has gone through aperiod of spiritual renewal, the gift of celibacy has been renewed and thechurch has been reinvigorated. Wecertainly do not want to introduce a change to this great gift, which the pope,most bishops and most current priests support and find life giving, unless wehave done some deep conversation, study and prayer.

Does being married and havingchildren make me a better priest? Idon’t know how to measure that. It makesme different, but I cannot say that it makes me better. I have never been a priest without beingmarried and having children. It is partof who I am, and I have no way of telling how I would be different if I werecelibate. There are many times whencoming home to Valerie and the kids gives me a sense of balance in my life,especially when going through difficult times at church. But it also works the other way. I am sure there are times when I was not asavailable to Valerie and the kids as I could have been if I church needs andpressures had not intruded. I find thatif I have more than two or three evening meetings a week, family life reallysuffers. Fr. Steve Cook, Pastor at St. Peter’s, told me that he spends six or seven nights aweek with parishioners in their homes or at meetings at church. There is simply no way I could matchthat. His parish is blessed to have acelibate priest. Does that mean that myparish suffers because St. Therese has a married one? I don’t know. It is possible. Right now I’m theonly priest they’ve got, and there’s no way to test whether I would be a betterpastor for them if I were celibate.

Episcopalian Bishop Robert Folwellgave me some advice that I have tried to live by, even as a Catholicpriest. He said, “Put God first, yourwife second, your children third, and the church after that.” What would it mean if most Catholic priestswere unavailable to their flocks because they need to have family time? Catholic priests are “married” to the churchin a way. Some Catholic priests calltheir breviary their “wife.” Their livesare very different from the one I have lived. It may be essential that Catholicpriests be able to put the needs of his flock next after God. It deserves much thought.

Would married Catholics find iteasier to relate to a married priest when discussing their own familyissues? People have occasionally told methat. But no priest, single or married,can ever say, “I know how you feel” or “I know what you are going through” evenif we have experienced something similar. None of us knows what it is like forthe other person until they tell us. Wedo our best to meet people in their need and to be as helpful as we can,perhaps a little from our own family experience, but mostly from what we learnfrom the person herself or himself and from what we have learned from helpingothers, always dependent upon God’s help. It is easy to forget that all priests have families: parents andsiblings, cousins, nieces and nephews. We are probably just as likely to have experience with divorce, to haverelatives who are single and married, straight and gay. Whatever our family status we try to assistthe person in the way that is appropriate for them.

Would having more married priestshelp the Catholic Church, especially through the troubles the church is facingnow? No. There is no evidence that a person’s marital status makes a person moreor less likely to abuse a child. TheCatholic Church is one of the safest places a child can be, and even safer withthe new safeguards instituted by Bishop Finn recently. All priests, employees and volunteers thatwork with children are background checked, trained and re-trained. The safety of children is of firstimportance. If child abuse is suspected,we call the police first and then our ombudsman will investigate. Other institutions – public schools, sportsleagues, scouts – all have problems and work hard to be safer. But the Catholic Church is held to a higherstandard because we hold ourselves and call others to a higher standard. When we fail or appear to fail it is doublytroubling and very public.

People who say we should have moremarried priests are trying to be helpful. When there is a tragedy, people often say things with the best ofintentions. Perhaps they say things theyhave heard other people say, without really thinking deeply about it. Those who have experienced a tragic loss caneasily remember the things that were said by people who were trying to bekind. Saying that God doesn’t give usmore than we can bear or that God needed another angel may contain some truth,but it is not helpful to the person experiencing the tragedy. Saying that married priests would help theCatholic Church is similar. It is meantto be helpful. There may be some truthin it. But it is unrelated to thecurrent circumstances.

Should the Roman Catholic Churchstart ordaining more married men? Ithink we should ask our celibate priests what they think about it. How does this gift of celibacy make thembetter priests? We should also ask theCatholic faithful if they have to share a priest with his wife and children,and that their priest is no longer “married” to his flock. It is an idea that deserves much study anddeep thought. The Catholic Church doesnot make decisions like this quickly, without deep thought, study andconversation. Perhaps the best we cansay is that our current married Catholic clergy who are deacons, formerEpiscopalian and protestant clergy, and Eastern Rite priests could help withthat study, deep thought and conversation.

Chamber of Commerce Urban Core Initiative

2011-09-18T16:04:00.002-05:00

I am thrilled by the announcement that the Chamber of Commerce will engage in an urban core neighborhood initiative, with leadership by Terry Dunn of JE Dunn Construction and Brent Stewart of the United Way. I'm not sure what they have in mind, but I'm eager to learn more. I'm sure lots of neighborhoods will be lining up to work with them. Or maybe not. Business people can get tired of endless meetings that only seem to lead to further meetings. Jesus could speak admiringly about the ability of business people to get things done. Read Luke, Chapter 16:1-8. We've got lots of resources to work with. Just think about the 63rd Street and Meyer Blvd. corridor. It is almost wall-to-wall schools from Wornall to 71 Highway: Southwest, Border Star, St. Peter's, University Academy, Banneker Charter, Hogan Prep High and Middle, the new Kauffman Charter, Nazarene Seminary, Brookside Charter. And there are commercial anchors - or potential ones - from one end to another: Brookside Shopping Center, The Landing, The Citadel, Research Medical Center. UMKC and Rockhurst are just a few blocks away. I would think that Highwoods would be eager to redevelop the areas east of Brookside to protect their investment. Just think what we could make of this - all of those kids coming into this corridor every day, all of those teachers and administrators, doctors, nurses and patients. With the right know-how, and economic and political ability, we could make a huge difference in the lives of the students. Could we break through the school against school competition and work together for the kids, mornings and evenings, weekends and summers? With all these kids already here, why would they need to flock to the Plaza if there were something constructive to keep them here? Could the Chamber get done with others haven't been able to do? To turn The Landing into a transportation hub and destination for residents from both sides of Troost? Get the Citadel going with a decent supermarket? It would be difficult, surely. But not as difficult as raising the dead.

Another shooting today

2011-09-12T21:39:00.000-05:00

Another shooting today. This time people in two cars were shooting at each. Kids from the school were outside for PE. None of the kids was hurt, but one from the car was wounded. But this is the fourth shooting close to St. Therese in four years, the second this summer. Neighbors are abandoning the neighborhood, almost 30% between 1980 -1990, more than 20% between 1990 - 2000, less than 20% between 2000 - 2010. Is it getting better or does it just mean those who have the ability have already gone? Families with kids are leaving fast. Older folks are the ones left. They're committed because they own their homes. Today I felt like telling everybody to get out. Maybe we all ought to move to Leawood or Blue Springs. Chester set me straight - we can't give up hope. Sometimes the pastor needs pastoring. I'm glad Mayor Sly James has reconstituted a commission to reduce violent crimes. God bless them but I'm not going to hold my breath. If this was happening on the Plaza it would get fixed fast. Where people have economic power, City Council acts like greased lightning. When people are poor or live in red-lined communities - official or not - their school kids have to brave the bullets from assault rifles firing from cars driving by the playground. I'm not saying there are fast and easy fixes. Again, nobody will talk. The rogue who got shot won't say who shot him. What does any of this have to do with having a "well regulated militia"? I say, let people have assault weapons, or even a tanks, but where's the well regulated part in what's happening on our streets? If these guys want to play with guns, let them join the national guard. http://www.kmbc.com/video/29157274/detail.html

Another Murder Outside St. Therese

2011-08-07T17:10:00.000-05:00

B. J. buzzed me on Wednesday afternoon and said, “There’s been a shooting up on the corner.” From my office I can hear shots from the north, south and west, but the church blocks the sound from the east, so I hadn’t heard the shots. She pointed out the front of the rectory toward the corner of 58^th and Euclid, cattycorner from the church. “Get the holy water and meet me there,” I told her, and took off running. The sirens were coming from every direction. I don’t know how she did it, but it seemed like B.J. got here just moments after I did. The police were jumping out of their cars and running in our direction. Before they were able to stop me I was able to pray, “Depart, O Christian soul, out of this world, in the name of the Father who created you, in the name of the Son who redeemed you, and in the name of the Holy Spirit who sanctified you. And may your resting place today be with the saints in paradise.” At least that’s what I was trying to say, but with the sobs and the anger at another stupid killing, I know I didn’t get it all said before the police were yelling to get back from the car and rolling out their crime scene tape. At least I was able to do the minimum that priests do, before the tragic end of another sacred life became a crime scene, not a church and not a deathbed.

Then there were choices to be made. What do you do when there’s been a shooting at your church? This certainly wasn’t part of my seminary training. Certainly there was the work of being pastor, checking in with church staff. The neighbors started coming outside to look up the street and wonder what was going on, so I walked down Euclid to speak with them. Sr. Ann Landers was out with the neighbors, too. The crime scene was so large that I couldn’t walk up Euclid to see the neighbors outside on the north side of 58^th Street, or those who were east on 58^th Street.

What else should we do? Do we lay low and hope that no one notices? Having a murder practically on the church steps is not the kind of publicity a church needs. Too many people are needlessly afraid of taking a step east of Troost already. But the maddening thing is that this was the third killing since I’ve been here – just a little over four years. About three years ago a man was shot late one Saturday night as he walked east on 59^th Street, and was able to stumble over beside the school in front of the convent before he died. We kept that one quiet, not wanting to upset people at Mass the next day. Then last fall, during the afternoon just after school had let out, two young men exchanged shots on Michigan Avenue, just a few houses south of the school. One of them died in a pool of blood. Happening just before the evening news, there was no way to keep that one quiet.

Our decision to speak up this time was not made by one person, and it was not pre-planned. It came partly out of the grief and anger at this murder, the 63^rd killing in Kansas City so far this year. Do we speak out, and if we speak out, what do we say? B. J. was there, and Estelle Tunley. Eva Schulte and Jerry Jones were upstairs with their CCO team. They were ready to drop everything and help plan the response. Does this call for a political action or spiritual action? In our conversations, inside, outside, on the fly, we realized that 63 murders would not be tolerated in Leawood; there would be a community response from every corner of society that would determine the cause, respond to it, and put an end to it. Why do we tolerate such an outrage in Kansas City?

We decided that even though a political response is necessary, we needed to pray and to mourn for the tragic loss of this sacred life, of this man whose name we didn’t even know. We decided on a prayer vigil for the next evening at 6:30. Eva knew we needed to reach out immediately to a wider circle of our neighbors, so they quickly printed flyers and began to visit the homes on the blocks around the church. Notifying church members and neighborhood residents was not easy, and I apologize to everyone who would have responded if you had heard. I am also grateful to everyone who responded and came to pray and honor the victims.

Reducing the violence will also take political power. Pastor Emeritus Wallace Hartsfield, Sr. said that people groan, then they moan, then they speak, and then they shout. We need to remember our grief and anger to motivate us to work together with hope and faith. It seems to me that we need to ask our political leaders two questions: “What can be done to reduce the violence. Why aren’t we doing it.”

If you would like an opportunity to find out how to ask those questions and others in ways that can help bring about the change we need, please join us at St. Therese on Saturday, August 13, at 10:00 a.m. in the Church Hall.

Church community reacts to neighborhood shooting - NBCActionNews.com

2011-08-07T14:31:00.000-05:00

Church community reacts to neighborhood shooting - NBCActionNews.com

Church group cries for help after a man is found dead near the church’s doorsteps -NBCActionNews.com-Kansas City

2011-08-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

Church group cries for help after a man is found dead near the church’s doorsteps -NBCActionNews.com-Kansas City

"Becoming One"

2011-02-16T08:17:00.004-06:00

I would have been happy if forty people turned out for our Becoming One conference on the Ordinariate. As of today, 63 people have registered! We represent Anglican, Episcopalian and Catholic affiliations. About half of us are clergy and members of clergy families. Clergy include several deacons, a number of priests, an archbishop, Anglican Bishop David Moyer and our diocesan bishop, His Excellency, the Most Rev. Robert Finn. Clergy will be here from two Anglican Use Catholic parishes - Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church in Houston, and Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio. In addition to those from the Kansas City area, people are coming from Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

As a sign of the unity for which we are striving, Bishop Finn and I invite all clergy to wear cassock and surplice or appropriate choir dress, take part in the procession, and sit together in the church. Sadly, because of our unhappy (but temporary!) divisions, we cannot invite all to concelebrate and receive communion (yet!) at a Catholic mass. However, we both want this to be an experience of the high level of unity we have already achieved, and a foretaste of that unity we will all share in the near future.

On Saturday morning at 11:00 we will celebrate a Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit in the presence of His Excellency, Bishop Robert Finn. We will sing Healy Willan’s Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena. Fr. Christopher Phillips will be preaching.

Last week I attended Dr. Bruce Prince-Joseph’s rehearsal for Evensong and Benediction (scheduled for Friday, February 25 at 6:00 p.m. here at St. Therese). It was stunning. The acoustics at St. Therese are superb. He has a small men’s schola, Catholics and Episcopalians, who will provide the musical backbone for the service. We will be singing “Anglican Use” Evensong from the Catholic Book of Divine Worship, The Hymnal 1980, and the Liber Usualis. Dr. Prince-Joseph will be challenging us to sing antiphonally between the congregation and schola. We have not sung Evensong together before. I urge you to be ready to jump in with both feet ad majoram dei gloriam!

For those of you in the Kansas City area, there will be two rehearsal opportunities if your Evensong and Gregorian Chant are rusty and you don’t want to sight-read: the next two Wednesday evenings, 2/16 and 2/23 at 6:30 p.m. in the church here at St. Therese.

Thank your to Fr. Robert Scheiblhofer of St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Omaha for agreeing to lead Compline on Friday evening, and to Fr. Robert Hall of St. George’s Anglican Church in Bentonville Arkansas for agreeing to lead Morning Prayer on Friday morning.

Registrations for the full conference and meals are still being received at www.diocese-kcsj.org. Look for Events under Quicklinks. Everyone is welcome to the conference liturgies: Evensong and Benediction on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Mass on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

Ordinariate Conference in Kansas City

2010-12-30T16:48:00.003-06:00

"Becoming One" - A Conference Celebrating the Ordinariate

February 25th and 26th, 2011
To Register, go to www.diocese-kcsj.org, look for Quicklinks, and then Becoming One Conference

A two-day conference to explore the "beauty of holiness" for Catholics from the Anglican and Episcopalian traditions. Beginning with Evensong on Friday, February 25, and concluding with Noonday Prayer and a Blessing, the conference offers potential and promise through the Ordinariate. (Schedule below). The conference is headquartered at St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church, at 5814 Euclid Avenue, in Kansas City, Missouri (641030). For a $25.00 registration fee, attendees receive meals for Friday evening and Saturday. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Sheraton Suites Country Club Plaza. To register, visit the link below. The hotel is located at 770 West 47 Street, in Kansas City, Missouri 64112. Guests may call (816) 931-4400. Presenters include: Anglican Bishop David Moyer, of Good Shepherd - Rosemont, in Philadelphia; Father Christopher Phillips, of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, the first "Anglican Use" parish in the Catholic Church; and Father Ernie Davis, pastor of St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church, in Kansas City. Schedule - Friday, February 25
4: 30 – 5:45 p.m. - Reception for Clergy and Spouses
6:00 p.m. - Evensong – St. Therese Church
6:30 p.m. - Dinner – St. Therese Church Hall
7:00 p.m. - Keynote Address: Bishop David Moyer,followed by Compline: St.Therese Church Schedule for Saturday, February 26
8:00 a.m. - Morning Prayer – St. Therese Church Hall
8:30 – 10:30 a.m. - Presentations and Discussion: The Ordinariate: How did we get here? What is its potential?,
led by Father Christopher Phillips, Bishop David Moyer, Father Ernie Davis
11:00 a.m. - Mass - St. Therese Church, with Homily by Father Christopher Phillips
12:30 p.m. - Lunch and Remarks by Bishop Robert Finn
Conclude - Noonday Prayers and Blessing of travelers

A new font for St. Therese

2010-12-14T14:21:00.003-06:00

Perhaps the “Anglican patrimony” might in some cases mean an appreciation for architecture. It helped to grow up in a church whose builders had an eye for beauty. Perhaps I just assumed that all churches ought to be beautiful. That does not mean that churches don’t need to be practical, efficient and serve the liturgy as well, and it certainly does not mean that all church buildings need to affect a “gothic” style of architecture. At St. Michael’s Episcopal in Independence we were able to build an attractive multi-purpose space as a step toward a future church. I was pleased to have played a role in its design.

When I walked into St. Therese Catholic Church for the first time, I was struck by its beauty, also. The acoustics are crisp and the windows are bright. It is a handsome building. Some renovations were done a couple of decades ago it seems that they stopped before they were completed. The font was removed from the old baptistery so that baptisms could be celebrated at Mass on Sundays, but a new baptistery was never provided. The confessionals were removed and never replaced. Perhaps it is because the parish was without a priest for a good many years, or perhaps it is simply because of my Anglican heritage, I miss them.

A couple of years ago a font appeared at The Ecclesiologist. It was apparently from the same vintage as St. Therese, even of the same marble. It was large, dignified, simple, and strong. It looked like it could have been made for St. Therese. I kept going back to look at it, but had so many irons in the fire I didn’t raise the issue. Finally another church bought it. Then, last month, it reappeared! I thought about it. Was this a gift from God? I prayed, and it seemed like God said, “Use your gifts.” So I inquired about it, and sent pictures to the worship committee, the pastoral council, the administration committee and ran the pictures in the bulletin. Some were enthusiastic right away. Some advised against it. But the donations started to come in. Then the owner told me, “If you want it, you better get it right away because two other churches are after it.” So I did. After less than a week, we now have more than half the needed money in hand.

"What child is this? What mother is this?

2010-12-13T12:10:00.001-06:00

What Child is this? What Mother is this?

I grew up in an Episcopal parish. In some ways we prided ourselves at being catholic, or maybe even a little bit better. We liked to say that the English reformation simply purified the Catholic Church in England, and that we kept everything that was authentically catholic. We could point out things about our church building, about our liturgy, and about our faith that made us catholic. You might think that we considered Mary to be a corruption, because her image was absent from the church, devotions and prayers were absent from the liturgy, and all of her days on the church calendar were absent – except one.

The Catholic Church’s devotion to Mary developed because of a long meditation on Jesus, her son. Convinced that Christ born in Bethlehem is already Son of God as we sing at Christmas in “O Come all Ye Faithful” – “God from God, Light from Light Eternal, Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb; Only begotten, Son of God the Father, O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.”

If Christ is worthy of our adoration as God, then how did he come to dwell among us as a person? How powerful was it when Mary told Gabriel, “Let it be to me according to your word.” How full of grace and sinless did she have to be to carry God the Son of God in her womb and give birth to him? How full of love did she have to be to raise, with Joseph, a child, a teenager, a young adult like Jesus? How much did she understand him when she told the people at the wedding, “Do whatever he tells you.” How much according to God’s plan was it that the same Holy Spirit that overshadowed her so that Christ could be conceived in her, was the Holy Spirit that fell upon her and the disciples at Pentecost, giving birth to the Church?

It does seem to be true that to truly know Christ is to know his mother, and to tuly know his mother is to know Christ. May we know them and love them better and better.

Time in the desert

2010-12-12T14:37:00.003-06:00

In another blog someone was complaining that Anglican and Episcopalian congregations along with their priests and people may spend some time during which they will be asked not to celebrate or receive the sacraments. While I am grateful that the timeline establishing the Ordinariate in England and Wales provides for a speedy transition, a period of time that allows for a bit of a journey through the desert is a good thing. Becoming a Catholic parish requires more than hiring a sign-painter to fix the sign out front. And it means more than just learning how to celebrate the liturgy in a slightly different fashion. Becoming a Catholic is a change more at the level of being than of doing, and it is a good think to let that change of identity take deep root. I don't mean to say that it should necessarily be a Lenten time of fasting and repentance, but more like Advent, a time of heartfelt longing and hope-filled prayer. It does not have to be comfortable - a bit of discomfort can be very powerful. But let it be a time focused on the soon-to-come joyful fulfillment of the promise.

Ordinariate Conference in Kansas City

2010-12-11T13:24:00.002-06:00

I was daydreaming at a funeral Mass today as I was concelebrating. The homilist was reflecting on how the woman had trusted Christ who had told her, “I am the way.”

I was imagining the Mass we will celebrate at our planned “Becoming One” conference. Among the clergy will be our diocesan bishop and Catholic priests, an Anglican bishop and Anglican priests, Episcopalian priests – some of whom may be women, Catholic laity who used to be Anglican and Episcopal priests, spouses of priests, and probably some protestant ministers as well. Some of us will have been Catholic since baptism, some will have come by various paths into the Catholic Church, some will have already determined to enter the Catholic Church through the path of the Ordinariate; some will be pondering whether to embark along the path; some will have determined never to step foot on that particular path. Even though there will be only a Catholic priest at the altar, in some way we will all be standing together, and except for those who may know some of us personally, it will be hard to tell who belongs to what group, which path. What a mystery!

My prayer and hope for the conference is that we can celebrate Christ’s call that we all may be one, and that we find that oneness in Christ’s Holy Catholic Church, and that the Ordinariate may reach its full potential as a path for many.

Ordinariate Conference in Kansas City

2010-12-11T12:42:00.004-06:00

“Becoming One” in Kansas City

Friday evening February 25 and Saturday morning, February 26.

Come celebrate the Ordinariate for Catholics from Anglican and Episcopalian traditions. Come learn about the potential and promise of the Ordinariate.

Anglican Bishop David Moyer of Good Shepherd – Rosemont, a historic Anglo-Catholic parish in Philadelphia, and Fr. Christopher Phillips of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church- the first “Anglican Use” parish in the Catholic Church - will make keynote presentations. “Becoming One” in Kansas City will be hosted by St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church 5814 Euclid Avenue, Kansas City MO 64130. For registration information, email edavis(at)sttheresekc.org

Avila University Organ Installation

2010-12-03T21:44:00.002-06:00

We begin assembling the Avila University Organ at St. Therese, Saturday, December 3. Drop by and have a look or lend a hand. Mass: 8:00; Unload food truck for Christmas Baskets: 8:30; Organ Assembly: 9:30 - ??. St. Therese Little Flower, 5814 Euclid Ave, KCMO.

"Becoming One" in Kansas City

2010-12-02T19:34:00.003-06:00

Fr. Christopher Phillips of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church in San Antonio, TX and Bishop David Moyer of Church of the Good Shepherd (TAC), Rosemont PA, will be visiting Kansas City in early 2011. This will be an opportunity for Catholics, Anglicans and Episcopalians to learn about, celebrate, and explore the potential of the Ordinariate being established in the Catholic Church. The Ordinariate is Pope Benedict XVI's gracious response to groups of Anglicans who have petitioned for a way to reconcile with the Catholic Church and maintain some aspects of their Anglican heritage. The conference will be sponsored by Our Lady of Hope Society at St. Therese Catholic Church in Kansas City and will be a local version of the recent conference at Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio. Look for further information in the next few days.

Pilgrimage in Turkey

2010-11-23T08:39:00.001-06:00

Jude Huntz is shring photos and reflections on our pilgrimage in Turkey on his blog. Follow this link.

http://humanrightskcsj.blogspot.com/2010/11/reflections-on-turkey-part-1.html

Our Lady of Hope/St. Therese Parish

2010-11-20T10:28:00.005-06:00

We got into the Anglican Use ministry here at St. Therese, not because we planned it, but because an opportunity presented itself. After a couple of years of experience, it appears that it has advantages and disadvantages. For the Anglicans and Episcopalians who came to us, we have been able to offer the welcome, experience, and security of being members of a Catholic parish. Granted, St. Therese is not your typical parish with a thousand or more families, so there are programs and ministries that are not available here that could be found somewhere else. But St. Therese has been able to offer the experience of being part of a larger whole, and the experience of being in a much larger parish than most Episcopalians are used to, but much smaller, welcoming and personal than most Catholic parishes. St. Therese has been able of offer opportunities for ministry - and our Anglican Use community has jumped right in - serving on the Pastoral Council, joining Knights of Columbus, volunteering with the food pantry and Christmas basket programs, participating in our neighborhood needs assessment - and on and on.

Those who might want to replicate this as a model, if it can be replicated within the overlapping structures of Ordinariate and Diocese, should know there are disadvantages, too. As a parish and as Our Lady of Hope Society, we probably suffer most from cultural and identity conflicts. Having a clear identity is a big help in doing mission and being part of a parish with an established identity means that the Anglican Use community is part of a larger whole rather than having its own clear identity. In addition, converts are enthusiastic about being Catholic, and tend to identify Catholicism with a clear set of beliefs. Episcopalians and Anglicans also tend to identify Anglo-Catholicism with a way of doing liturgy correctly. Many of our Catholic members may identify more strongly with the parish than they do with the Catholic Church and with the Catholic faith in the Catechism. Many of our members have been wounded by the Church and have found a refuge here.

As a parish, we may tolerate and even may enjoy the diversity of liturgies within the parish. Some question why "they" do the things they do, but are willing to make room for it. But if we had to make to clear choices about what we believe in order to clarify the mission of the parish and our strategies for putting our mission into practice, I think we'd have difficulty.

St. Therese is an experience of Catholicism.

St. Therese organ another step closer to completion

2010-11-19T14:32:00.003-06:00

We got a great deal on an Austin console and it was delivered to us back in the summer. It is now refurbished and ready for action. Our team of volunteers has run the cables to the balcony where the organ donated by Avila University will be installed, and to the old choir loft where the existing pipework and additional vintage pipes will be installed. We are waiting on the delivery of the steel framework for the windchests and pipes for the balcony, and as soon as it is erected, the next stage of installation will begin. I am told the Avila University Organ will be playable by Christmas, giving our organist, Dr. Bruce Prince-Joseph an expanded instrument for his mighty talents.

His Gregorian Chant schola will begin practice soon, enabling us to offer Evensong and Benediction after the first of the year.

Greetings from the Anglican Ordinariate in Kansas City

2010-11-18T15:57:00.004-06:00

Thirty-two of us completed our pilgrimage in Turkey as we followed the footsteps of St. Paul, explored the seven churches of Revelation, and visited the sites of the ecumenical councils in Nicea. We craned our necks to see the mosaics and frescoes in the Church of Our Savior in Chora, and tried to grasp the vigor of the Christian empire that built the Hagia Sophia. We celebrated Mass in an abandoned rock church in Cappadocia, at St. Paul's Church in Tarsus, St. Polycarp's Church in Smyrna, at St. Anthony's Church in Istanbul and somewhat furtively in hotel nightclubs and meeting rooms. Even though I am jet-lagged, it is time to get back to work. I am sorry to be missing the Ordinariate meeting in San Antonio.

One of the congregations that will make up the Ordinariate is up and running here in Kansas City. Here at St. Therese Little Flower our Anglican Use Mass congregation is made of Catholics who are former Anglicans, Episcopalians and other Catholics who resonate to the Anglican patrimony so valued by Pope Benedict XVI. We are committed to the Catholic Church and to the Ordinariate. But we will await the appointment of an Ordinary who can help us figure out how part of our St. Therese congregation can join the Ordinariate while the majority remain members of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. We trust that the structure of the Ordinariate will have enough flexibility to accommodate us.

We know that there are other Anglicans, Episcopalians and Catholics in the Kansas City area who are interested in helping to establish a congregation for the Ordinariate in Kansas City, and welcome all inquiries. Look for the addition of evening opportunities for Evensong and Benediction, Mass and just to get to know one another.

Paul, the Early Fathers, and the Seven Churches of Revelation

2010-01-17T21:45:00.002-06:00

The results are are in and we're off to Turkey in November! We' have been able to make use of the size of the Educational Opportunities organization - the largest pilgrimage organization in the world - to get a great price. And we have been able to make use of the experience of Catholic and Orthodox guides to plan a great pilgrimage. We'll celebrate daily Mass appropriate to the holy sites we visit and make use of the Anglican Use as well as the Ordinary Form. If you may be interested, you can be in contact with Educational Opportunities directly or let me know and I will send you a brochure when they are available in a couple of weeks.

Pilgrimage

2010-01-01T15:07:00.006-06:00

Ready for a pilgrimage?

Valerie and I are planning another pilgrimage in November 2010 through Educational Opportunities. The only question is, which trip? Prices are great in 2010 and will never be this low again. I traveled to Turkey way back in 1973 and would enjoy the opportunity to return and explore it more deeply. Valerie and I really enjoy the Holy Land. She has been to Jordan and I would enjoy being able to visit there for the first time. Choices. Choices.

We've narrowed our possibilities to two:

+ Turkey - 12 days Nov. 4 - 16, 2010 from $2098 with optional 2-day pre-extension to Cappadocia

and/or optional 2-day post-extension Nicaea and Istanbul

http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/!userfiles/brochures/tk10-A_Turkey.pdf

+ Israel - 10 days Nov. 15-25 from $2098 with 7-day optional post-extension to Jordan, Petra, etc.

http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/!userfiles/brochures/hl10-c.pdf

So review the brochures and let us know this week which might interest you. Our goal is to have our own bus and guide with daily Mass in the holy sites. If Catholics from Anglican Use congregations and converts from Anglican and Episcopal backgrounds join us, we will use the Book of Divine Worship in addition to the Sacramentary. Educational Opportunities has made arrangements for previous tours. They have done an excellent job at an unbeatable price. We will not see these prices again, ever. We're not asking for a commitment at this point, just an idea of your preference if you decided to join us.

Faithfully,

Fr. Ernie Davis

St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church

Kansas City, MO

"And Mary Bore Sweet Jesus Christ"

2009-12-17T08:28:00.003-06:00

I grew up in a family with a long tradition of making a living from the northeast Florida pine forests and my father still had access to the land his family had owned for generations. So it was perfectly natural, when it was time to put up a Christmas tree, to go out to the forest to an area my father had previously scouted as a likely spot to find a good one. We always had a freshly cut red cedar, and because they grew naturally, they had all the quirks and faults of real trees. They had bare spots, were never quite symmetrical, and sometimes sported an old bird's nest tucked back into the branches. I have to admit I always wished we could get a beautifully shaped if not quite fresh blue spruce shipped from somewhere up north.

One year, while riding down one of the forest roads looking for a red cedar, we drove through an area that had recently been clear-cut. All the mature pines had been hauled off to the paper mill and only the scraggly pines, black-jack oaks and palmettos were left. And standing off by itself was a holly tree. My father had a particular reverence for hollies. Perhaps it was a feeling that went all the way back to ancient British respect for holly, mistletoe and ivy. We were never allowed to cut down a holly tree. But this particular holly tree had the bad luck to be growing in an area that would soon be bulldozed prior to replanting new pines.

The holly tree had a beautiful shape and dark green color. But holly leaves, even though they are evergreen, do not lend themselves to being decorated. They have defensive spines around the outside, just like a cactus. Would it make a Christmas tree? We kids were consulted. Would our mother like it? Because it would be bulldozed anyway, could the rule against cutting down hollies be relaxed just this one time?

We never did get a blue spruce. But that one year, we did have a unique holly Christmas tree. If I remember right, it never did get decorated to the extent that we decorated our regular cedars. We probably got pricked enough times that we quit the decorating and just let the tree itself shine through with its own beauty. That was one of the best Christmas trees we ever had.

Sometimes things mean more than we realize at the time. It was only later that I heard this old Christmas Carol that finds parallels between the holly tree and Mary the Mother of Christ:

The holly and the ivy,

When they are both full grown

Of all the trees that are in the wood

The holly bears the crown

O the rising of the sun

And the running of the deer

The playing of the merry organ

Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a blossom

As white as lily flower

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ

To be our sweet Saviour

Refrain

The holly bears a berry

As red as any blood

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ

To do poor sinners good

Refrain

The holly bears a prickle

As sharp as any thorn;

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ

On Christmas Day in the morn.

Refrain

The holly bears a bark

As bitter as any gall;

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ

For to redeem us all.

Refrain

The holly and the ivy

Now both are full well grown,

Of all the trees that are in the wood,

The holly bears the crown.

Refrain

Catholics Drawn to Anglican Use Liturgy

2009-12-14T21:25:00.002-06:00

Read how a layperson in Springfield Missouri is networking to create an Anglican Use community. http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=35022

Pipe Organ Installation at St. Therese

2009-12-11T18:59:00.003-06:00

The plans for the installation of our new-to-us pipe organ will be on display at St. Therese for the first time on Sunday. For a slide show of disassembling the Avila University organ click on this link which also includes slides of the renovations of the Avila Chapel from which the organ came. http://www.avila.edu/give/chapelphotos.asp The new organ will be linked with our existing Kilgen pipe organ and additional sections will be added as we are able to retrieve parts of abandoned organs from other Kansas City area churches. All work is being done by volunteers under the leadership of services contributed by Mid States Pipe Organ. Work will continue as funds become available.

Core Values

2009-12-02T12:56:00.001-06:00

The National Catholic Reporter did a very short article about St. Therese because we are the one parish in the country that uses the Ordinary Form of the Mass as well as the Anglican Use. Even though our former Anglicans have been here a year and a half, they are relative newcomers in a parish that has a well-established identity. That means St. Therese is a microcosm of the rest of the Catholic Church as we deal with two cultures that have so much in common and also some differences that are very important to each. It would be naïve of me to pretend that these differences are not the source of actual and potential conflict. It is much easier to believe theoretically that diversity is a strength than it is to celebrate it when someone else's spiritual and liturgical expression causes discomfort or symbolizes what one is afraid of. Some Anglo-Catholic liturgical practices that defined the "Catholic" wing of the Episcopal Church not only seem like dinosaurs to some Catholics but remind them of the pre-Vatican II days they were glad to leave behind. And some contemporary Catholic practices remind former Episcopalians and Anglicans of what they were trying to get away from. I truly doubt that some of those deep-seated preferences and convictions will change. Last week I was reading about the experience of some Anglican priests who converted to Catholicism and then returned to the Anglican Church. Something like 250 priests converted in England, and about 10% went back. Apparently they missed a feeling that they belonged, that they were personally known and welcome. They found their Catholic parish to be cold and impersonal. It struck me that in spite of differences, St. Therese's core values are very Anglican. There is nothing cold and impersonal about St. Therese. "Father says" is not a good enough reason to get something done here - people expect to be included and respected. If this experiment can succeed anywhere, it can succeed at St. Therese. It really doesn't matter whether the person bagging the groceries for the food pantry goes to 9:15 or 11:15, and everybody loves to eat. Newcomers and old-timers, 9:15 and 11:15 folks all met together to begin work on converting our school into a community center. There was a nice review of our 11:15 Mass at Church of the Week. He says he will be visiting our 9:15 Mass soon. You might want to visit it at http://church-of-the-week.blogspot.com/

Ordinariates and Ecumenism

2009-11-20T16:41:00.002-06:00

This is unattributed, but it makes a good point. How can it be that the Episcopal Church, which has done so much to take concrete steps toward disunity (communion for the non-baptized and non-Christian, "marriage" of same-sex partners, ordinations of those who have not intention to be chaste in singleness or in marriage, ordinations of women as bishops and priests) can be offended when the Pope makes a concrete interim step toward unity? Go figure.

"Bishop Christopher Epting, the Episcopal Church's deputy to the Presiding Bishop for ecumenical and interreligious relations, took Pope Benedict XVI to task, claiming that Anglicanorum Coetibus is “not necessarily very ecumenical" (which translated means “unecumenical,”) a “distraction,” and a violation of the real goal of genuine ecumenical dialogue which happens to be “ecumenical conversation.” http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_116893_ENG_HTM.htm

If I understand him correctly, Bishop Epting has single handedly established an entirely new goal for the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission. Formerly, the agreed goal was church unity. For example, Salvation and the Church states “The purpose of our dialogue is the restoration of full ecclesial communion between us. Our work has recalled for us still wider perspectives not only the unity of all Christian people but the fulfilment of all things in Christ.”  (SECOND ANGLICAN/ROMAN CATHOLIC INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION, Llandaff, 3 September 1986 , Feast of St Gregory the Great.) Now, with the click of the keyboard, the goal of genuine ecumenical dialogue has become “ecumenical conversation.” Now that we are clear on that point, the achievements of the ecumenical dialogue can become more easily measured. We came, we talked, we adjourned.

Perhaps, in readjusting the goal of ecumenical conversation, Bishop Epting has also erased the necessity for taking concrete steps toward that goal. Formerly, Anglicanorum Coetibus could easily have been recognized as an interim step toward unity. “The Malta Report of 1968 envisaged the coming together of the Roman Catholic church and the churches of the Anglican Communion in terms of "unity by stages". (The Authority of the Church I, 1976) If “full ecclesial communion” is no longer the goal, having been replaced by “ecumenical conversation,” then concrete interim steps can replaced by having little chats and keepings minutes no one will read.

It is quite bracing to hear such a clear rebuke to violations of true dialogue. After all, why shouldn’t the ecumenical officer of the Episcopal Church, which has rushed ahead with one-sided innovations time after time, without consultation with dialogue partners and in violation of previous agreements, get his nose out of joint when the Catholic Church takes a concrete step toward the agreed upon goal? Oops, I forgot, Bishop Epting has changed the goal. With such a clear rebuke, the Catholic Church is certain to repent."

Tabnernacle

2009-11-19T16:33:00.002-06:00

We’ve had our first discussion about the relocation of the tabernacle. One of my predecessors did a fine job of modifying the sanctuary for the new Missal of Paul VI. The altar is noble and the ambo is quite fitting for the proclamation of the Word. Two modifications have not stood the test of time. First, the new presider’s and assistants’ chairs were intended to be at the level of the old altar. That position was abandoned some time ago. Second, the tabernacle was relocated off center and at an angle beside the pillar to the sanctuary arch, a position I have observed would be more appropriate for a potted plant or a religious statue. Its position is neither noble, dignified, beautiful or prominent; nor is it on a side altar, on the old main altar, or in a chapel.

Some might think I am foolish for opening a discussion about this issue and would argue that I should simply get a ruling from the bishop to relocate the tabernacle to the “right” place. So, I am a fool, and on our first adventure into a discussion of the issue, I have learned a lot.

I learned that moving the tabernacle back to its central location in the sanctuary would symbolize a return to pre-Vatican II non-participatory Masses. For them, the new Mass is awe inspiring, and the movement of the tabernacle out of the center of the sanctuary was a key that opened the possibility of that new experience.

I learned that having the tabernacle close to the people made Christ very close and accessible at a very difficult time, and that moving the tabernacle behind the altar would put a barrier between them.

I learned that having the tabernacle off on the side makes it seem like Christ is not the center of our parish life, and that when some genuflect and some walk right by without acknowledging Christ’s presence it appears disrespectful. I learned that it is disconcerting to visit a church where the tabernacle is not readily visible, making one wonder, “What have they done with Christ?”

I learned that having the tabernacle close to the door by which people come and go makes it easy to ignore him when our minds are focused on something else.

I learned that even raising the issue makes some feel like it is a devious plot to foist an ad orientem celebration over on the parish. And I learned that what seems obvious and in keeping with our faith and the integrity of the building, means something else entirely to some others.

And above all, I learned that we can have a difficult but respectful conversation when we truly try to listen and understand. We’ve made a start and the conversation will take a while. I’ll keep you posted.

Cardinal Kasper on Anglicanorum Coetibus

2009-11-19T06:47:00.001-06:00

http://www.ncregister.com/daily/cardinal_kasper_on_ianglicanorum_coetibus_i/

St. Therese and the Requiem Mass for Father de Feydeau

2009-11-18T11:23:00.002-06:00

Preached this morning at his requiem by the Prior, Father Anderson - who on Saturday buried his own mother.

+ Requiem Mass

The Reverend Father Dom Francois de Feydeau de Saint-Christophe November 17, 2009

For unto thy faithful, O Lord, life is changed, not taken away: and the abode of this earthly sojourn being dissolved, an eternal dwelling is prepared in heaven (Preface of the Dead)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ;

My very dear Brother Monks,

The words just quoted from the Preface for the Requiem Mass express the Faith of the Church that shines in the face of the darkest trial that assails the human heart—that is to say the sad reality of death.

Rooted in the Most Precious Blood and water that poured forth from the side of the Savior on Calvary, the Faith comes to our aid in this moment of sorrow, reminding us of Christ’s eternal victory over sin, the world and the “enemy death that shall be destroyed last, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet”. (I Cor. 15:26)

Sharing in this same Faith and making it “earn interest” like the good servant of the parable, that great Theologian of the Little Way, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus of Lisieux gives us her particular insight into the reality of bodily death. As she neared her own end at the age of twenty-four this young Doctor of the Church made the boldest of

affirmations: “I die not; I enter into life.” When a man or a woman--in particular a religious--comes to that crucial moment of the great passage to the other side of things, the truth comes forth without pretention. Saint Therese affirms her belief in eternal life, not in order simply to comfort us, but rather because it is the truth.

Of course, the Saint of Lisieux did not mean to dismiss the possibility of Hell or Purgatory, but having made her great discovery concerning the Merciful Love of God, to which she consecrated herself as a victim of Divine Mercy, she simply was beyond doubting that the Judge of Heaven and Earth would forgive her every fault if she only remained small--very small--with the trust of a little child. And lest we be tempted to think that it was on her merits as a Carmelite nun that she felt so bold in presenting herself to the just Judge, she affirms categorically that she will appear before Him with “empty hands”, that is to say without the merits any good works to speak of--save her childlike confidence itself.

Saint Therese liked to quote the line from that other great doctor of Carmel, Saint John of the Cross, who said that “on the evening of this life it is on love that we will be judged”. Although she felt quite incapable of performing the feats of asceticism that we so admire in the great Saints, she knew for a fact that there was immense love in her heart—better yet, she knew that her vocation was to be the love in the heart of her mother the Church.

As we prepare to commit the mortal remains of a beloved monk to the earth, to that very earth from which the first man was taken, we do well not to forget the luminous path traced by so many saints—from Our Blessed Father Saint Benedict to Saint Therese of Lisieux--that have illumined the world and transfigured the experience of death. Above all we must not forget what Our Lord said about the need for the grain of wheat to die, in order that it not remain sterile but produce much fruit. If we cannot help feeling the bitter grief of seeing a father and brother stolen away from the visible plane of our existence, we must not act like the pagans of yesterday and today, who live without real love in this world and without hope for the next.

May Our Lady of a Happy Dying, Notre-Dame du Bien Mourir, so venerated at Fontgombault Abbey, our mother-house in France, who manifestly helped our brother through the narrow passage of his last days, obtain for us all to die so well. Thus having followed the path of our monastic spirituality, in imitation of the Ecce, Fiat of the Virgin of Nazareth, may we all come to take our places in the eternal liturgical celebrations of Heaven in the presence of God and of the Lamb. Amen.

History of Anglican-Catholic Reunion

2009-11-18T07:07:00.002-06:00

Click here for a short history of 400 years of proposals for Anglican-Catholic reunion.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/f0000491.shtml

Hiking the AT

2009-11-14T12:03:00.003-06:00

Wes, “Charlie” and I had a great hike on the Appalachian Trail. We met up at Amicalola Falls State Park, left one car there, and drove to our starting place at Neel’s Gap. We paid a quick visit to the Walasi Yi hiking store and admired their display of all the inadequate and worn out equipment left there by hikers who took the chance to upgrade after finishing their first 40 miles.

Our first stop was Blood Mountain. We had planned to go on to the next shelter because that would have divided our mileage into better portions, but I am glad we decided to quit early. The Blood Mountain shelter is an old CCC shelter and inadequate by today’s standards, but it sits near the crest with beautiful views in all directions. We sat up on top of the rock and watched the sun set and an almost full moon rise. If we had gone on as I had planned we would have missed one of the most beautiful sights in all my hiking.

After the ascent of Blood Mountain Wes decided the hike was going to be more than he could handle. Being a wise Scout leader, he chose safety first, and went back to the car while Charlie and I continued.

Charlie is my son’s dog who loves the opportunity to get out on the trail. He got lot’s of attention on the trail, carrying his own food in his saddle-bag-like pack. He provided me lots of entertainment and company. He’s trot up the trail ahead of me, then come running back to check on me.

I keep learning more every time I go. On the second evening I couldn't find the Good Gap Shelter. The trail guide gave very clear instructions: cross the road and take the blue blazed trail to the shelter, but I couldn't find the blue blazed trail. The guide said the side trail would come back to the main trail in about 1/3 mile so I took the main trail but after more than a mile there wasn't any sign of it. I found a good tent site - the wood was all piled up and ready for a fire, so Charlie and I used the tent that night. The next morning, after about another 1/4 mile, I passed the shelter. It was a new shelter in a new location since my trail guide was published. So on my next hikes I'm going to need to check and see if the trail has changed.

The second full day we covered fewer miles, but there weren't many water sources that afternoon. Charlie was thirsty so I have him half the water and ran out of water for myself. Because I didn't have any water I couldn't eat my candy bar, so by the time I got to the shelter I was really dragging. So I learned that I should make Charlie carry some water for himself. We were joined by three other groups of hikers. Two of the groups stayed in their tents, so the shelter wasn’t crowded. I had a nice talk around the campfire with a firefighter from Crescent Beach who knew a lot of Florida history.

The third full day of hiking we walked through hardwoods and then descended along Long Creek with beautiful waterfalls. The creek ran through some apparently virgin hemlocks, so moving they brought tears of gratitude. We got to the top of Mount Springer and to our last camping spot early in the afternoon. It was moving to think of so many hikers starting there to try to make it all the way to Maine, and the southbound hikers finishing their 2200 mile hikes there. We got there earlier than we had expected so we pushed on to Amicalola and the car. That meant hiking a little over sixteen miles that day – a bit longer than I like to do, but it was a nice afternoon and we were making good time.

Charlie didn't like having to be on a leash as we walked though the state park, and he really didn't like walking down the steps. The path down to the car went down the steps that go right in front of the waterfall. It was a beautiful sight. But the steps had open metal treads and Charlie had to look down at the ground or at the water through them and it spooked him. But he made it. We got back to the car about 4:45, just before the ranger station closed. Then we drove until about 10:00, got a motel and arrived home a day early.

I find the rhythm of hiking to be very conducive to prayer and reflection. It makes me wish I had more of the psalms memorized. Praying the Jesus Prayer helps me get through the difficult climbs. For some reason I keep losing my place in the Rosary, but the Angelus is perfect. Mary gave me a gift while hiking. Perhaps because I came from a Protestant background my relationship with her has been somewhat dutiful, but not affectionate. On this hike, for the first time, I felt her maternal love. It wasn't profound, but I am very grateful.

Charlie is already asking when we are going on our next hike. He really loves the chance to run without having to be on a leash.

The Real Shower of Roses

2009-11-14T11:38:00.002-06:00

http://catholicrelics.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/homily-on-the-occasion-of-the-visit-of-the-relics-of-saint-theres-of-lisieux/

St. Therese and Archbishop of Canterbury

2009-11-12T19:14:00.005-06:00

Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams referred to St. Therese of Lisieux while preaching at the All Saints Day Mass at All Saints Margaret Street. (All Saints is an Anglo-Catholic bastion in the Church of England.

"When we celebrate the Saints, we celebrate those who have given evidence, who have made God believable by how they have lived and how they have died. The saints are the people who recognise that arguments will finally not win the day. God does not make himself credible by argument. God does not respond to our doubts, our intellectual querying, our uncertainty, by delivering from Heaven a neatly annotated list of logical propositions with which we cannot disagree. (I'm afraid that Professor Dawkins can bang on the doors of Heaven as long as he likes if that is what he expects to happen.) God deals with us by our life and a death, by Jesus. And God continues to deal with us by lives and deaths that make him credible, that make Jesus tangible here and now. All those people who flocked into Westminster Cathedral a couple of weeks' ago to pay their respects to St Therese of Lisieux were recognizing that in her Christ became tangible for her generation and for ours and that is what the Saints do."

http://www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk/documents/BBC_Church_512k.wmv

Benedict XVI and Anglican Converts: Newman’s Perspective - Catholic Online

2009-11-12T16:07:00.000-06:00

Benedict XVI and Anglican Converts: Newman’s Perspective - Catholic Online

Bridging the Tiber

2009-11-10T09:18:00.000-06:00

I am trying to imagine how those Anglicans who have asked for unity must be feeling right now. If I can remember correctly, as an Episcopalian, I imagined unity with Rome as a kind of covering Rome would throw over the Anglican Communion, offering legitimacy, blessing, collegiality, and support for the Anglo-Catholic interpretation of Anglicanism, without being intrusive. I may have imagined a kind of unity that we could take off the shelf and use to our advantage when it suited us, and put back on the shelf when we were finished with it. It would certainly have suited us to have Catholic recognition of Anglican orders, Catholic endorsement of Anglican sacraments, Catholic representation at Anglican altars at special functions, Catholic bishops' hands participating at Anglican ordinations, and Catholic boosts to the Anglican ethos of having a special place and role to play as the bridge church. We would have been pleased to have Catholics at Anglican communion rails, and Catholic contributors in our pews. In other words, I imagined that we could be Anglican first, and Catholic when it suited us.

Based on what I have been reading and hearing, at least some Anglicans who asked for union with Rome hoped unity with Rome might be something like what I described. Now, faced with the offer of an Anglican Ordinariate in the Catholic Church, Anglicans are faced with an invitation to be Catholic, and the reaction of some seems to be, "But I don't want to be Catholic! I don't want to convert!"

I hope my fellow Catholics will not be dismissive of such reactions. I think it is absolutely necessary for Anglicans to wrestle with real issues and express the emotions related to them. Newman's entry into the Catholic Church did not happen in one day. Nor did he just think himself through the process, although thinking was absolutely necessary. Newman helps us realize that we reason not only mentally, but physically, emotionally and socially as well. If we try to shut down the process and demand instant gratitude for a gracious offer, then we demean those for whom this is almost a life and death issue involving one's core identity.

To be helpful to our Anglican sisters and brothers, Catholics should recognize, that Anglicans are faced with huge sacrifices. To take up Rome's offer, Anglicans are asked to trust the unfamiliar, to put more of a premium on hope than on their past, to be able to state with conviction they believe all the Catholic Church teaches, and to define themselves more as a people who are for something than against something. To become Catholic they will have to give up participating in the sacraments until they are prepared to make professions of faith as Catholics, and for Anglicans in irregular marriages, to forego the sacraments and enter the Catholic annulment process for a ruling on the status of their marriages. Anglican clergy, especially the TAC clergy who may not have seminary educations, are being asked to give up their ministries for what may be an extended period. Because only Catholic priests can be incardinated into the Ordinariate, former Anglican clergy will have to wait until the Ordinariate can establish the educational processes so they can meet Catholic standards and be ordained Catholic priests. If they are married, petitions still have to go to Rome and the Ordinariate will have to demonstrate that there is a need for their ministry. Some Anglicans may know right now, intuitively, that they ready to cross the bridge. But I imagine that for most, especially here in the U.S., it will take some time.

Some, perhaps many, Anglicans who hoped and prayed for an invitation, will decide not to accept it. Even making that decision will require a huge shift in identity. After hoping, praying, and working for unity with Rome as the solution to Anglicanism's problems, those who decide not to accept unity on Rome's terms will have to go through a huge process of reorientation toward a new and different future.

The gap between Rome's "Here is what you requested" and Anglicanism's "Is this what I was asking for?" is huge. The gap is between Rome's offer of an Anglican expression of Catholicism and Anglicanism's hope for a Catholic blessing of Anglicanism. Bridging that gap will involve a very real struggle and it is entirely dependent on the Holy Spirit working with people of good will and wisdom from both sides of the gap. As Anglicanorum Coetibus states, the Holy Spirit moved groups of Anglicans to petition for unity. The Holy Spirit is the principle of unity, establishing the Church as a communion. The Holy Spirit has brought us this far, and he will certainly carry us further.

Come Holy Spirit. Kindle in us the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created.

And you shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful. Grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may have a right judgment in all things, and ever rejoice in his holy consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Wilfrid, St. Hilda, St. Bede: Pray for us.

2009-10-30T23:46:00.002-05:00

Has anyone noticed the link between, St. Wilfrid who founded the See of Chichester, and the current Anglican Bishop of Chichester? Bishop Hind apparently made trips to Rome to appeal for a way for groups of Anglican to come into the Catholic Church and retain some of their Anglican patrimony. Now he is taking a leadership role in bringing Anglo-Catholics into the Catholic Church.

In his day, Wilfrid, a Celt himself with roots in the monastery at Lindisfarne, made several visits to Rome to study and to ask for Rome’s adjudication of English disputes. He began as a Celtic Christian and ended as a Catholic Celtic Christian. This is what St. Wilfrid said at the famous Synod of Whitby over which St. Hilda presided. His argument carried the day and brought all of England into harmony with the Catholic Church, especially in way the date of Easter is calculated.

“For although your Fathers were holy men, do you imagine that they, a few men in a corner of a remote island, are to be preferred before the universal Church of Christ throughout the world? And even if your Columba – or, may I say, ours also, if he was the servant of Christ – was a Saint potent in miracles, can he take precedence before the most blessed Prince of the Apostles, to whom our Lord said, “Thou art Peter ….” (Ecclesiastical History of the English Church and People, Chapter 26.)

I have to say that I am devoted to the Celtic saints for their gentleness, their love of the poor and their closeness to nature. St. Adian, St. Hilda, and St. Chad were admirable. St. Bede, although he always reminded his readers that the Celts were in some ways deficient, honored them for their holiness of life.

Are St. Wilfrid, St. Hilda, St. Chad and St. Bede also adding their prayers for the Anglican Ordinariate?

Anglican Ordinariate

2009-10-30T07:41:00.002-05:00

A reporter from NCR asked me, “Have you heard from any Episcopalians who may be thinking about converting?” Truthfully, I have not heard from a single one. After some reflection, I think it would be wrong to expect to. The question assumes that the Pope is “fishing in the Anglican pond,” “poaching,” “attempting to build up the Catholic Church’s traditionalist ranks,” “making a hostile take-over,” or “stationing his tanks on the lawn of Lambeth Palace.” If those accusations were correct, then the measure of success would be the number of Anglican fish on his string, the value of new acquisitions for the Catholic Conglomerate, or the number of Anglican prisoners of war he has captured that he can convert into Vatican troops. It is a bit silly.

The Pope’s establishment of new Anglican Ordinariates is a response to requests from Anglican bishops who affirmed the Catholic faith and requested a way of corporate reunion that could honor the Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. Just as the Pastoral Provision was Pope John Paul II’s response to requests by two organized groups of Episcopalians, Pope Benedict’s Anglican Ordinariate is a response to Anglican bishops in England and the worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion. The Pastoral Provision was a lower level response to lower level requests, and the Anglican Ordinariate is a higher level response to higher level requests.

The measure of success will not be how many Episcopalians choose to become Catholic, but how many of those who requested a method for corporate reunion decide to take the offer Pope Benedict has made. Anglican bishops in England and the TAC bishops made requests, but I have not heard of any Episcopalians who did. Some recent Episcopal bishops converted under the Pastoral Provision. But they came as individuals, not as representatives of groups or dioceses asking for corporate reunion. Will there be some Episcopalians who decide that this is the time? Certainly. But just as certainly their decision to act now will be the result of a long process of very personal prayer and struggle, not because the Pope has made any move to catch, capture or acquire them. In other words, there will continue to be a steady stream of Episcopalians, but I would not expect a big change. And whatever number it might be will not represent a victory of one church over another. If there are any victories, they will be victories of hope over fear, and conscience over inertia.

Locally, my concern is how St. Therese Parish can be of service to the clergy and members of TAC parishes whose bishops unanimously made the request which led to the offer of the Anglican Ordinariate. It is one thing to think about, hope for, and pray for corporate reunion. It is quite another to make the sacrifices and choices that would be required for it to really happen. We cannot know the future and we cannot expect people to commit themselves to something that does not exist, yet. But we can get to know each other. And if there are some others who decide this is the time to explore whether this is the avenue for them, I would welcome them, too.

Hiking Amicalola to Neels Gap.

2009-10-27T06:52:00.003-05:00

Sunday after Mass I am headed off to the mountains of north Georgia to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail. I'll take my son's dog Charlie and met Wes at Amicalola. Wes was my best friend from kindergarten until high school graduation. He was always ready for an adventure, which usually meant camping somewhere in the woods that surrounded my house. Chores had to be finished first, of course. In junior high we found an island in the middle of the marsh, accessible by boat at high tide. It was not exactly a Tom Sawyer existence, but it came close. After college our lives separated. Wes stayed in Fernandina, married at about 18, and helped his father run a construction firm. He continues going on adventures, usually with Fernandina's Troop 89. I'm already wearing my boots. They look funny with my black clericals. My pack is ready. Now, if I could just find my pocketknife.

"Anglican Ordinariate"

2009-10-26T07:47:00.001-05:00

In yesterday’s homily I mused that we may be like Bartimeas in the moment after Jesus told him, “Go you way. Your faith has made you well.” We can hardly see past the end of our noses and find the path to follow, much less how this will all turn out at the end of the journey.

I imagine that now there will be much soul searching among TAC Anglicans, some Church of England Anglicans and a few Episcopalians. It is one thing for bishops to say they are moving to Rome. It is quite another for the priests and laity. For those who imagine there will be large numbers, I would caution that the same thing was said after the publication of Apostolicae Curae. For all the interest Episcopalians used to have about unity with Rome, it was mostly about having Rome recognize the validity of Anglican orders and some kind of mutual recognition, perhaps a post-reformation peace treaty. Episcopalians would have been thrilled to have “open borders” with Roman Catholics. We would have been thrilled to have Anglican bishops invited to church councils, as long as they could still go home and be independent of the Vatican. But hardly anyone talked about what it would be like to answer the question all converts are asked – “Do you believe all that the Catholic Church teaches….” Hardly anyone considered what it would be like for Anglican priests to be vetted to determine whether they could be ordained Catholic priests. Hardly anyone talked about the kinds of parish closings and consolidations that could be required as tiny Episcopal and Anglican churches move into the Catholic Church.

Of course the new Anglican Ordinariate was the topic of conversation after Mass yesterday. We do not have the text, and more importantly we do not know how it will be interpreted and implemented. We had a good time speculating, but speculations are not a good foundation for taking action.

But that doesn’t mean there is nothing that can be done. We can be hospitable and at least get to know our TAC neighbors and any others who may be considering Pope Benedict’s invitation. We can share that most Anglican glass of sherry, read Evening Prayer and have a meal together. Those of us who have made the journey can share what it has been like for us to try to pick out the path as we try to make our path the same as the one Jesus is walking, even if we can’t see past the end of our noses.

Jesus told Bartimeas, “Go your way.” He is the one who had to decide that going his way meant following Jesus to Jerusalem. Our TAC neighbors are going to have to decide what those same words mean to them.

St. Therese at work

2009-10-22T12:37:00.002-05:00

I received the following note today from another convinced that St. Therese is "spending her heaven doing good on earth."

Dear Father Davis,

Your story about the Anglican Ordinariate and St Therese (which came to me via England this morning) is very interesting. And I can tell you another connexion with her.

I am the Anglican Catholic Bishop of Canada in the TAC. I was present at the Synod of TAC Bishops in Portsmouth England in October 2007 which voted unanimously to ask for full communion, and signed the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The first full day of the Synod was October 1st, the 'new' date of St Therese's feast, and the actual vote to ask for full communion was taken on October 3rd 'old' date of her feast.

I also accompanied the Primate and Bishop Robert Mercer CR to deliver the Letter to the CDF where we had been directed by the Holy Father. My friend Mother Teresa of the Carmel in Edmonton had given me some holy cards with a piece of cloth touched to her relics. Each of us carried one of these cards, and we asked St Therese's prayers on our venture. We also had similar cards from Poland of the Servant of God John Paul II.

I have continued 'to bother her' about a favourable response to our request, and now thanks to the generosity and love of the Holy Father who has taken a personal interest in us for many years, and the prayers of St Therese, something wonderful has come about.

God bless you,

+Peter Wilkinson, OSG

Bishop Ordinary

Anglican Catholic Church of Canada

TAC

Anglican Ordinariate

2009-10-20T19:59:00.002-05:00

I have not posted anything since July because I have been working on a small book, but todays news demands some response.

People have asked me to help help them understand the new Apostolic Constitution and how it differs from the Pastoral Provision under which I was ordained a Catholic priest. Please remember that this is very new and the text has not been released yet.

First, the Pastoral Provision is local and provisional. The Pastoral Provision is in effect in the United States and provides a process by which former Episcopal or Anglican priests may be considered for ordination in the Catholic Church, temporarily suspends the discipline of celibacy during the lifetime of the priest's wife, and allows for groups of former Episcopalians to retain some of their liturgical traditions using an approved modification of the Book of Common Prayer called the Book of Divine Worship. The Pastoral Provision is also in force in Great Britain, but British bishops have not approved an Anglican based liturgy. The Pastoral Provision does not apply in the rest of the world, although individual priests may convert and be considered for ordination on a case by case basis. Second, the Pastoral Provision has a limited but indefinite time-frame. Its purpose was to allow Anglicans to be absorbed into the Catholic Church. An Apostolic Constitution is issued at a much higher level of authority and is not intended to be time-limited. So it is quite possible that the Pope envisions that an Anglican community will exist within Catholicism for quite some time and even provides the possibility of separate Anglican tracks within Catholic seminaries to provide for future continuity.

The new Apostolic Constitution can apply anywhere in the world, and it provides the possibility of much more autonomy for former Anglicans. They will not have the same level of authority as the sister Eastern Rite Catholics, but there will be some similarities. It is a very, very generous gift, made in response to petitions from as many as fifty different Anglican bishops around the world. It was said that the Episcopal Diocese of Forth Worth was discussing such a move. They have since separated themselves from the Episcopal Church, but have not said definitively that they want to become Catholic. Several small Anglican parishes in Kansas City may be members of the Traditional Anglican Communion that made a petition to become Catholic. The TAC is a worldwide body.

For the easily bored and sound-bite fed U.S. audience, most news outlets will reduce this to conflicts about women and gays and then move on to the next controversy. The truth is much richer. Anglicans have been converting to the Catholic Church since the reformation. Since the 1840s, some Anglicans have been working and praying for reunion. In the late 19th century an Anglican religious order, the Francisan Friars of the Atonement (Grayfriars) joined the Catholic Church to work for reunion from within Catholicism and since then have provided the leadership for the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Since Vatican II, Anglicans and Catholics have been in high level discussions aimed at creating the kinds of mutual understandings that would someday lead to reunion. Vatican II paved the way for Catholics to make the kinds of concessions Pope Benedict made that will allow Anglicans to retain some of their liturgy and spirituality, recognizing that Catholicism is enriched and not diminished by this kind of diversity. John Henry Cardinal Newman, the famous 19th century Anglican convert to Catholicism paved the way for Vatican II, and will be beatified in 2011 when the Pope visits England. Anglicans and Catholics flocked to visit the relics of Saint Therese of Lisieux as they made a very recent pilgrimage to England. Her relics rested on her feast day at York Minister, the Cathedral of the Anglican Archbishop of York. In other words, preparations for this Apostolic Constitution have been in process for 170 years, and some of the preparations have been made at levels that are higher than popes.

It is true that in the United States and Canada some Episcopalians have been willing to divide the church in order to introduce innovations to the sacraments of ordination and marriage without the authority of the rest of the church Catholic. Some believe that these actions are prophetic, and that church division is a price worth paying. For myself, these innovations raise the question of how a church that claims to be part of the Catholic Church while remaining separate from the Catholic Church can introduce fundamental changes in sacramental theology. I came to believe that simple majority votes within small slivers of the church are not sufficient to deal with fundamental doctrinal changes. It made me realize that the Episcopalian claim to be part of the Catholic Church is simply a beautiful illusion. I have always believed that the Catholic Church is essential to God's relationship with the world, and that if it was important for me to be Catholic, I needed to be in the Catholic Church. Finally realizing I was not Catholic, I joined the Catholic Church.

There's no way that all that can fit into a sound bite.

Come home to the Catholic Church

2009-07-21T15:16:00.009-05:00

No one should be surprised at the actions of the recent General Convention of the Episcopal church. It is a brilliant, but not final, victory for equal LGBT rights in the Episcopal church. This victory is unfolding exactly as did the victory for women's ordination. First came a request for dialogue, then came unauthorized action, then came authorized action and promises that the consciences of all would be respected. Finally, with the sincerest condescension, will be the demand for conforming action with the explanation that actions do not violate consciences because consciences are only internal and one's private thoughts may be retained.

At the Anglican Use Conference earlier this summer I talked with a younger former Episcopalian priest who is now Catholic. He was shocked to hear that the groundwork for this victory was being laid over 25 years ago. It probably goes back even farther. This victory is the result of decades of planning and work to gain power at every level.

Please do not assume that because I say the victory is brilliant, that I approve. I certainly do not. Its ruthlessness betrays its true nature. Witness the victors' lawsuits against departing dioceses and parishes. Their intention seems to be total victory at any cost, to take control of all the spoils by achieving the absolute surrender of the vanquished. They are willing to spend a century of the accumulated legacies of past generations intended for "domestic and foreign missions." It means the end of missions and ministries but at least the victors will get title to some nice old, but now empty and useless buildings. The victors have outmaneuvered all opponents and have destroyed all enemies who refused to get out of their way. The victors masqueraded as tolerant people interested only in the inclusion of all viewpoints only as long as they held a minority opinion or held an equal power, but have acted with ruthless power as soon as they outlasted and got rid of enough opponents. Final victory will come only when the orthodox no longer have the right to refuse ordination to the unchaste, just as they lost the right to retain the traditional all-male priesthood. The tragedy is that by then the Episcopal church and not just its buildings will simply be an empty shell. The Glory departed long ago. The victory will be a nuclear victory.

I have the greatest respect for those who have struggled to stay loyal, hopeful, or simply remain below the radar in spite of the Episcopal church's suicidal trajectory, and I have the same respect for those who have tried to find another Anglican option. But is there really any reason for Anglicanism to exist, apart from Anglicanism healed of its split from the rest of the Catholic Church? Isn't the action of Episcopal General Convention simply more evidence that one can't be Catholic outside the Catholic Church? Traditions do not make a person a Catholic, even if many of those traditions look very much like Catholic traditions. Catholicism is not an aesthetic. It is the Faith. I believe the opposite is true of Episcopalianism: it is an aesthetic, not a faith. Episcopalians have many aesthetic gifts to offer the Catholic Church. But the Catholic Church has the Faith to offer Episcopalians.

The Pastoral Provision is an extremely generous invitation to come home to the Catholic Church. Isn't the General Convention simply more evidence that it is time to look into it?

Anglican Use Weddings/Parish Growth

2009-07-20T17:27:00.004-05:00

I spoke with one of Kansas City's premier wedding planners to let him know that St. Therese and I are available to work with Catholic/Episcopalian or Anglican couples who need a beautiful church for a traditional Anglican Use wedding. Several Kansas City parishes serve as the site for many weddings because of the beauty of the buildings. St. Therese is a hidden gem - a beautiful building, outstanding acoustics and an incomparable liturgy for Catholics with an Anglican or Episcopalian connection.

I'd like to crow a bit about St. Therese. We have just finished a second year of solid growth. Giving increased 9% last year, a bit slower than the 12% growth we experienced the year before, but that still means we have made significant progress for two years in a row. Growth appears to be accelerating. I told the congregation we are heading out of the woods. We are not out of the woods, yet, but we're making progress. Giving is now equal to the giving ten years ago.

Last Sunday several members and former members of St. Mary's were in the congregation. When I asked for a critique from an Episcopal priest in the congregation, he said simply, "That's the way we used to do it at St. Mary's." That is a pretty high compliment.

I'm beginning to think it is time to add a Saturday evening Mass am wondering how we might do that without dividing the parish. We should avoid duplicating any of our existing services, because that would certainly be a disappointing experience.

Our new Knights of Columbus chapter provided a free dinner to everyone at all the Masses last weekend in gratitude for parish support in obtaining our charter.

The new Community Garden is installed and ready for church members and neighbors.

Simple House is working with us on a Block Party for the neighborhood in August. Plenty of parishioners have signed up to go door to door with invitations and plan the food and the games.

St. Therese is an exciting place to be right now.

Avila University Organ coming to St. Therese

2009-07-20T17:02:00.002-05:00

I have spent most of the day with a group of volunteers dismantling the pipe organ at Avila University. They have donated the organ to St. Therese - a very generous gift - after determining that they had little use for it and that it hindered their plans for chapel renovation. I have to admit it is a very large instrument for their small chapel. It was an enlightening experience working with organ specialists oohing and ah-ing over mottled metal and rounded thingamabobs in the trompettes. All 580 pipes have been removed, the smaller ones crated and all moved and stored in the balcony and shrine at St. Therese. In another half day the blowers and bellows can be dismantled and moved. Bruce Prince-Joseph and Keith Gottschall of Mid-States Pipe Organ are working out how the nine ranks of the Avila Organ can be combined with the four-rank Kilgen at St. Therese. How it will be installed is the next question. People rave about the acoustics at St. Therese and tell me the organ will sound fantastic in its new home.

As Avila officials were discussing the future of their organ and considering making the contribution to us, I asked Therese to intercede with Teresa of Avila for us. Apparently she did, and we are grateful. I have the feeling she is putting the pieces together for some new project she is revealing to us step by step. To give glory to Jesus, yes. To build up his church, yes. And something very special for the people of the inner city. Can it be of direct service in some way, such as to support the development of a Boy Choir? Bruce is very enthusiastic about the project. I don't think the organ - even if used weekly at St. Therese to support the Anglican Use Mass - is intended for the parish alone. Beauty is certainly not something to be restricted to the wealthy suburbs. If any of you know of examples of churches that use classical music and especially organ music to benefit inner city residents - to give Glory to God and build up the people - let me know.

Kansas City Star on St. Therese Little Flower

2009-07-06T18:42:00.002-05:00

The Kansas City Star Magazine ran an article on St. Therese Little Flower Parish recently. I am pleased to say that it was very well done. You may not agree with who we are, but this gives a fair idea of what you would find if you should visit. http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/1247074.html

General Convention of the Episcopal Church

2009-07-06T18:36:00.002-05:00

To all of my friends in the Episcopal Church: You, your parishes, dioceses and the Episcopal Church will be in my prayers during this Convention. May you have peace in your hearts, clear minds, and deep humility.

Rejoice and be glad!

2009-07-02T13:31:00.006-05:00

Episcopalian bishops and the Presiding bishop often declare that Episcopal priests and bishops who chose to enter a different Anglican province or become Catholic have "renounced their orders." In other words, the Episcopal Church is stating that they have repudiated their ordination and their ministry. Perhaps some have actually repudiated their previous ministry. Many times these same priests and bishops state they never did any such thing.

Before I made a Profession of Faith and entered the Catholic Church, I visited Bishop John Buchanan of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri and informed him of my intentions. He was surprised, but we had a cordial conversation. The very next day, I received a copy of an official notice from Bishop Buchanan, ratified by the Standing Committee, that I had renounced my orders. I never renounced my orders. When I made my Profession of Faith as a Catholic, I was not required to renounce them. When I was ordained as a Catholic deacon and priest, I was not asked to renounce them. I still honor my ordinations as deacon and priest in the Episcopal Church. The Catholic Church does, too. I am grateful for all the Episcopal Church taught me, and the Catholic Church, by accepting my seminary education, is apparently grateful, too. I still believe all of my Episcopalian sacramental and pastoral acts had all the validity the Episcopal Church had to offer. In declaring that I had renounced my orders, the Episcopal Church declared I said things that I never felt, believed, said, or intended. The way I see it, the Catholic Church has honored my integrity more than the Episcopal Church.

To be honest, though, I do renounce one particular misunderstanding about my ordination as an Episcopal priest. I renounce my misunderstanding that the Episcopal Church had any authority to ordain me as a Catholic deacon and priest. It seems so clear, now. But I have never renounced and have no intention of renouncing my ordination by Episcopal bishops as an Episcopal deacon and priest.

To those priests and bishops who are receiving copies of declarations that they have renounced their orders when they have never done so, I say, consider who is saying these things about you. Don't worry about it. The words of Jesus give comfort and strength: "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad!" May you always be so blessed!

“Subject: Why is there an Anglican Use Mass at your parish?”

2009-05-13T13:14:00.002-05:00

I received this note from the website

and thought you might be interested in it and my response

“Subject: Why is there an Anglican Use Mass at your parish?”

“I am writing because I’m wondering why y’all think that it is a good idea to have the Anglican Use Mass at your Parish. I mean I’m not a regular Catholic but the word on the street is that you are having a bunch of ultraconservative white people come trapsing (sic) into your church on Sunday morning who couldn’t care less about what is going on in your community. I mean what do people in your neighborhood think about this, or do you really care?”

Dear ____: A little controversy can be a good thing, but I do not expect that rumors and negativity will easily sway this parish from our commitment to worshiping God, serving our neighbors and working for justice. You may not realize that Anglo-Catholicism has a very long tradition of social justice involvement and has the reputation of being unafraid to go into the slums in London and poor areas around the world. For example, St. Mary’s – the Anglo-Catholic parish in Kansas City – was in the red-light district and still serves the urban poor. Anglo-Catholic parishes have attracted the very rich as well as the very poor.

People from outside the parish should certainly ask this same question about any of our Masses, “Why do they do things that way when we don’t do things that way at our neighborhood parish?” We can ask those questions about each other, and for those with open minds there are very good answers. Each of our Masses is liturgically ultra, but ultra in different ways. We are all Catholics. We are not boring. We are different, and if we weren’t different, there would be no reason for us to be here.

St. Therese has found a mission in welcoming people into our parish community who do not fit at their local parish. Whoever is informing you about those coming to our 11:15 Mass is misinformed. The director of the Human Rights Office of the diocese is a member of this parish and attends that Mass. People who attend that Mass volunteered for our parish Christmas Basket program, contribute the parish’s Emergency Assistance Fund, and support the 64130 Holy Ground service. The core group of our Anglican Use Mass will tell you about St. Therese’s warm and healing welcome and they now extend that welcome to others. As long as we stay focused on serving our neighbors, welcoming the outcast, and worshiping God, I think we will meet the purposes for which this parish exists. Very few of our members at any of our Masses live in this neighborhood, but our members from outside our neighborhood make it possible to continue to serve the residents of the neighborhood. I welcome them, and hope there will be many more.

I hope you will come visit sometime.

Fr. Ernie

"Are you a real priest?"

2009-05-12T17:49:00.001-05:00

I was back in Fernandina Beach for Aunt Kathleen’s funeral several weeks ago. My sons and Keen’s other great-nephews were her pall bearers. After they carried her casket up the long flight of stairs at the entrance of Memorial Methodist Church a couple of hours before the funeral was to begin, I invited them to walk downtown to get a cup of coffee. They stood out from the crowd, dressed in their blazers or suits, especially compared to everyone else dressed in Florida casual style. I didn’t consider how I stood out, dressed in clerics.

The barista stared at me when I said, “I’ll get the coffee for everyone here who is wearing a tie.”

“Are you a real priest,” she asked me? “This isn’t for a movie or anything?” I assured her that I am that this was not. Her astonished response to my assurance that I am a priest and this was not a movie flabbergasted me. “I’ve never seen a real priest before. And I am Catholic!”

Married Priests

2009-04-30T08:43:00.000-05:00

Recently the Kansas City Star ran as story about married Catholic priests, perhaps not remembering they ran a similar story about six years ago. http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/1160841.html

The nice thing about this year’s version of the story is that they avoided repeating the erroneous claim that ordaining married men would prevent child abuse. I tried to steer the editor in a more worthwhile direction, but had no success. Here is what I suggested would actually be newsworthy as well as the full answers to questions that were submitted to me.

“I would like to suggest that the really interesting story that has not been written would be about the number of protestant clergy who are converting to the Catholic Church. Many times it means great sacrifice, the loss of income, shunning by former colleagues and family members, a loss of status. For many if not most, especially those who do not come from an Episcopal background who receive special consideration, the Catholic Church does not have procedures that are able to evaluate their talents and experience and then deploy them for ministry, whether as lay ministers or ordained deacons or priests. Even if convert clergy are willing to return to seminary and even though the Vatican is often willing to give permission for them to be ordained, most do not get the chance because there is not a local seminary and dioceses/seminaries are not equipped to provide education for married seminaries especially if they have families. Yet there are many protestant clergy converting to the Catholic Church every year. Check out information from the Coming Home Network www.chnetwork.org. I received many advantages through the Pastoral Provision for former Episcopal Clergy established by Pope John Paul II and then Cardinal Ratzinger. It is said that as Pope John Paul II gave instructions to Cardinal Ratzinger on how to set up the Pastoral Provision, he said, “Don’t make it too hard on them.”

In answer to your questions:

1) Preliminaries: I understand that you were an Episcopal priest. For how long? When did you convert? I was an Episcopal Priest for a little over 15 years. I was “Canon Missioner” at St. Michael’s in Independence until I converted in 1998. Bishop Raymond Boland was very helpful. I met with him for about a year before I converted. He knew that I would convert whether or not he was willing to consider me for ordination as a Catholic. He was very gracious, but also very careful to make sure that the other priests of the diocese would not be offended or opposed

2) How long was the process from Episcopal priest to Catholic priest? The process from conversion to ordination was about four years. The Pastoral Provision process evaluated my seminary education and accepted most of my previous preparation. I had to prepare for examinations for competency in all the areas that a Catholic seminarian is required to be competent, even areas that I had not studied. Diocesan priests and faculty members at Conception Seminary assisted me.

3) How accepted are you, not only in your parish, but from other Catholics? Since there are 53 married clergy in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, even though I am the only priest, there has been very little problem in being accepted. Sometimes people have questions, and sometimes I am a lightning rod for people who think that priests who took a vow of celibacy ought to be able to get married and remain active in priestly ministry. Others need assurance that I am not dishonoring the gifted ministry of priests and seminarians who are true to the celibate way of life. But those conversations occur only very occasionally. I am a priest, and only very rarely does being married ever come up in conversation. In most situations and most of the time it is a non-issue. I am almost universally accepted. If I am not, people are too polite to say so.

4) Any special advantages to being a married priest, and is there a downside? I think being a married priest is like being a married entrepreneur, restaurant or business owner, or medical doctor. This is not a 40 hour a week job. Without some balance it could kill a marriage. I was married before I was ordained in the Episcopal Church. Valerie went to seminary with me and has been part of this ministry directly or indirectly since the beginning. My family keeps me balanced and rooted. Sometimes they are my biggest challengers. I love being a husband and father. I do not know what is like to be a priest and be celibate. I can certainly see some advantages for the celibate priest, especially when I am telling Valerie that I am headed out for the fourth evening meeting in week.

5) Why is your title "pastoral administrator" and not "pastor"? I am in parish work as Pastoral Administrator because Bishop Finn recognized that St. Therese needed a priest and thought that I had the ability. It is a true honor and privilege to be assigned to parish work and I am grateful to him for the opportunity to serve St. Therese Parish this way. When Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger set up the process in the early 1980s the church had very little experience with married priests and even though they were courageous in granting permission for married convert clergy to be ordained, they were unsure of how we would be received and wanted to make sure that we did not cause a scandal. So they originally envisioned that we would be assigned as teachers and in other support jobs and not as pastors. Being Pastoral Administrator can be considered as one of those support jobs. Having the title Pastoral Administrator has the additional advantage of salary and benefits that are appropriate for someone with a family.

Holy Ground Prayer Service

2009-04-29T11:58:00.001-05:00

Read about the Holy Ground Prayer Service in this coverage from The Catholic Key. It was powerful! http://www.catholickey.org/index.php3?gif=news.gif&mode=view&issue=20090417&article_id=5649

Bruce Prince-Joseph new Music Director/Artist in Residence

2009-04-29T11:09:00.002-05:00

I can finally say officially that Bruce Prince-Joseph has accepted the position of Music Director and Artist in Residence for our 11:15 Anglican Use Mass! He has an amazingly creative spirit. He has already brought our Kilgen pipe organ out of the shadows and back into use, has been rehearsing cantors, and is helping shape our liturgy based on his many years of experience with Catholic and Anglo-Catholic liturgy. He has been inspired by our parish's dedication to serving out neighbors and is already planning to establish a new Kansas City Boys Choir with neighborhood kids and students from parochial, private, public and home schools who want to learn to sing classical music. Do you know any third-grade nerds who aren't intimidated by Bach?

Catholic priests at Episcopal Cathedral

2009-04-03T07:57:00.003-05:00

"How did it feel to be back at Grace and Holy Trinity?" one priest asked. Another asked, "Did you and (Fr. John) Jay (Hughes) feel uncomfortable when Dean White asked Jay to autograph his book (Absolutely Null and Utterly Void)?" "Was it hard to make these arrangements?" another asked. "These are the best arrangements we have ever had. Can you set this up so that we can be back here next year?" Several senior priests shared memories of the close ecumenical, personal and theological relationships they used to have with Episcopalians.

Yesterday the Catholic priests of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph met for our annual Chrism Day of Reflection at Founders Hall at Grace and Holy Trinity (Episcopal) Cathedral. Fr. John Jay Hughes, a Catholic priest, son and grandson of Episcopal priests and former Episcopal priest himself, author of Absolutely Null and Utter Void and his recent autobiography No Ordinary Fool, gave three talks. The Cathedral was open as a space for quiet reflection, and the view north from Founders Hall gave us a clear view of Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception where we celebrated the Chrism Mass later yesterday evening. Dean Terry White and his staff including Maryann Mansfield whom I have known since my days in the Episcopal Diocese were very hospitable. Culinary Cornerstones, the catering arm of the Kansas City Community Kitchen supported largely by Episcopal Social Services provided an excellent meal.

Fr. Hughes reflected at one time, "Becoming Catholic was the best decision I ever made." I couldn't say it better.

I am glad that former parishioners and seminary classmates have rarely expressed animosity over my similar decision to seek the fullness of Catholicity in the only Church where it may be found. I was glad to receive the occasional invitation by former Dean Cavanaugh to represent a Catholic presence at Episcopalian weddings at Grace and Holy Trinity. I look forward to sharing social events, social services, and prayer services with Catholics. I enjoy sharing with Catholics some of the beauty and hospitality that Episcopalians enjoy. I am glad that we can share some seeming humor at having a Catholic priest sign his study of Apostolicae Curae for an Episcopalian.

Catholics and Episcopalians at one time shared a hope for true unity, that in the not too distant future we would not only share dinner tables but also the Altar and the Sacred Ministry. In those days Catholics and Episcopalians shared a common conviction that innocent human life is sacred and inviolable, that the human family is founded on a relationship between husband and wife that is established by God, and that a common foundation in Apostolicity would build future unity. Sadly, those days are gone and those illusions are shattered. What we shared yesterday is more realistic. And it is much easier to live in reality.

Holy Ground Prayer Service April 8 at 7:00

2009-04-01T12:49:00.002-05:00

The pastors of churches in the 64130 zip code have just finished planning our Holy Ground Prayer Service next Wednesday at St. Therese. Some of the church staff commented on all the laughter coming from the Rectory living room. I have to say that I am very impressed with my colleagues' lively faith, their commitment to their neighbors as well as their parishes, and their hopes that we can continue to work together. Some have commented that this zip code can't be Holy Ground because of our troubles. Our troubles are certainly out in plain view for all to see. Troubles are also hidden behind manicured lawns and electric garage doors, too. But if the quality of these pastors is any indication of the liveliness of their congregations, there are plenty of places where Christ is present with those who gather in his name, just as He is present with all who walk the Way of the Cross in any city, suburb, small town or countryside. I'm happy to have these men and women walking the Way of the Cross with me.

Hiking Ozarks Highlands Trail with Simple House, Chet and Charlie

2009-03-28T15:43:00.001-05:00

Lent is a difficult time to find time to be away from the parish, but some disciplined calendaring preserved the week of the Feast of the Annunciation free of appointments. Rather than complete another section of the AT, my son Chet and his dog Charlie and I planned sixty mile hike on the Ozarks Highland Trail. Jim, Kelley, Heather, and Sylvia from Simple House in Kansas City joined us.

The Ozarks are amazingly beautiful this time of year, a transition from the open spaces and distant views made possible by “leaf-off” to the earliest bits of green on the tips of trees, trillium and wild iris combined with pinks of redbuds, whites of serviceberries and earliest dogwoods and reds of maples. Life seemed to be gasping for light like a swimmer gasping for air.

The folks from Simple House were great company and great hikers. It was good to get to know them better. They are tough graduates of great Catholic colleges – University of Dallas, Franciscan University, and Ave Maria, giving a year or more of time to building friendships and evangelization among the poor in Kansas City. We were able to celebrate Mass together – perched on a rock beside a stream the first night after a hard slog through a path obscured by limbs from winter ice storms, the second evening at sunset on a rock outcrop after the welcome sun had helped warm us after a thunderstorm. For the Feast of the Annuciation we said the Angelus at a double waterfall about noon and then celebrated Mass back the Lodge at White Rock Mountain. Our final Mass was under a tarp as we hiked down to meet Chet at his final campsite.

The Ozarks Highland Trail is even more challenging and in some ways more beautiful than the AT. Chet and I had surmised that because the Ozarks are not true mountains, it would be an easier hike. Not so. The ascents and descents are just as steep and are more numerous. The OHT does not have the benefit of so many trail volunteers, and some sections were not cleared of last winter’s debris from the ice storm. Stream crossings are more of a challenge, too. We had to wade through knee deep streams, and the trail crossed several that were impassible at the trail the crossing, requiring substantial detours. But the beauty of the trail more than made up for its challenges. I have never seen so many waterfalls. Jim was great at spotting wildlife – a bear, turkeys, and deer. I identified what I believe was an elk hoof print.

We didn’t make the miles we intended, but getting picked up early meant an unplanned stop at the General Store in Oark – an opportunity you should not miss if you ever pass through there deliberately or by chance. We had fresh baked pie with ice cream! The town pig wandering outside was no extra charge.

Organ update

2009-03-21T07:56:00.002-05:00

After being tuned for the first time in decades our Kilgen is ready to go. A number of parishioners have never heard it played and will get a chance to hear it for the first time tomorrow. After the 9:15 Mass tomorrow our organist will play a couple of short pieces to demonstrate what it is capable of. At the 11:15 Anglican Use Mass we will get a chance to hear the organ during a Prelude and Postlude as well as the Mass. Laetare Sunday comes at a great time to let us get a taste before we revert to Lenten simplicity for the next few weeks. While not a concert instrument, our forebears got the best organ they could afford, and sixty years later it is ready to go back to work. St. Therese is blessed with great acoustics, and our organ is able to use them to its advantage. In addition to putting the organ back into full use, Laetare is an appropriate day to receive Professions of Faith and convalidate a Marriage.

Gregorian Chant for Cantors

2009-03-11T15:17:00.002-05:00

Look for an official announcement about our new Music Director for the Anglican Use Mass at St. Therese. He is beginning to train our first home-grown cantor in Gregorian chant. Will you join him? Come visit any Sunday at 11:15.

Ozarks Highland Trail

2009-03-10T20:34:00.002-05:00

I'm trading my spring hike on the AT for a hike on the Ozarks Highlands Trail with my son. The only other time we have hiked together was six or seven years ago when he went with me on my my first visit to the AT since I was a college student. We did the loop hike at Standing Indian, and since then I have been section hiking the AT once or twice a year. He has become a proficient hiker on his own, doing a major section of the Long Trail after he graduated from high school and tackling some sections of the AT with friends. We compare notes and equipment as we simplify and cut our pack weight. For Christmas his dog Charlie got his own pack from Santa Claus and this will be Charlie's first real hike. We're going to do the section between Ozone and White Rock Mountain. It takes a lot to make me give up hiking the AT, but this is an opportunity not to be missed. Who knows when or if it will ever happen again. It's one of the special privileges of being a father.

Community Garden?

2009-03-09T21:04:00.002-05:00

We are in the process of exploring the possibility of developing a Community Garden on the empty lot south of the Rectory. We have applied for a small grant that would allow us to develop it for the use of our neighbors. We think it would be another opportunity to get to know each other. In return for the use of the space and advice on gardening from a professional gardener, we would ask for a tithe of the produce for our food bank. Want to lend a hand?

Relics of St. Therese

2009-03-09T20:56:00.002-05:00

A visitor on Sunday shared that he came to St. Therese because he had once had the opportunity to visit the relics of St. Therese in Vancouver. Perhaps she led him here. Few appear to know that we are the Shrine of St. Therese for Kansas City. Her relics may be venerated in her Shrine Monday - Friday until 4:00 p.m. Please use the Rectory entrance, 5814 Euclid Avenue. Her Shrine is also open any time the Church is open. During Lent a relic of the True Cross may be venerated at the St. Joseph altar.

A Simple House

2009-02-24T10:08:00.002-06:00

It appears to me that God is sending us people and partners to help claim our neighborhood as Holy Ground. A Simple House has chosen to partner with St. Therese, making this their parish home. They are a community of young adult volunteers dedicated to evangelization through friendship with the poor. They were looking for a parish that would welcome their friends. Jude Huntz, the director of the diocesan Human Rights Office brought them to St. Therese. Once they experienced for themselves the kind of warm welcome St. Therese offers all visitors, they knew this is the place. Read more about them in this article from The Catholic Key http://www.catholickey.org/index.php3?gif=news.gif&mode=view&issue=20090116&article_id=5478.

And this article from The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/16/AR2009011602401_pf.html.

Stations of the Cross

2009-02-22T14:11:00.001-06:00

You are welcome to join us for Stations of the Cross on Fridays during Lent, at 12:00 noon and at 6:00 p.m.

More on "Holy Ground"

2009-02-13T10:01:00.002-06:00

Protestant pastors from across the 64130 Zip Code met at St. Therese yesterday to talk about how we can work together to claim our neighborhoods as Holy Ground. Several others telephoned to express their support. Pastors expressed a desire to work together with CCO to learn how to reach out and listen to our neighbors and speak with a united voice. Several also supported the idea of joining together for a service of praise and intercession for our neighbors.

Presentation on Anglican Use Liturgy Available

2009-02-13T09:55:00.002-06:00

The Junior and Senior students at Conception College Seminary were very encouraging at the first presentation of my program, “The Anglican Use of the Roman Rite: Is there anything here to interest Catholics?” Based on their positive responses, I am willing to visit parishes and groups in the Kansas City area. The program gives a taste of the Sarum Use – the pre-Reformation Catholic liturgy used in most of England - and the Protestant Anglican Book of Common Prayer liturgy that replaced it. I show how the Anglican liturgy very quickly embraced a very Protestant theology, and then gradually restored some Catholic structures and practices. The embrace of Catholic styles surged beginning with the 19^th century Oxford Movement as Anglicans re-adopted aspects of historical English and Catholic liturgy. I argue that Anglicanism’s fairly recent embrace of Catholic liturgy means that Anglican converts to Catholicism have a different experience of Catholic liturgy worthy of consideration by Catholics who rushed to embrace modern cultural forms from the 1970s.

Reopening our Parish School

2009-02-06T17:06:00.000-06:00

St. Therese Parish School was merged into a multi-parish school decades ago. Sadly, it closed at the end of the 2007-2008 school year, a result of years of decline, loss of focus on its mission, and poor management. The Pastoral Council has endorsed an effort by parishioners to re-open the Early Childhood Education Center focused on serving children of working poor families in our parish, zip code and deanery. Our dream is that this would be the first step in reopening the possibility of Catholic education for poor and minority residents of the inner city. Catholic schools used to open doors of evangelization for African-Americans and prepare the way for success in school and in life. Catholic Nativity-Miguel and Cristo Rey Schools are making Catholic education accessible for many. We are currently applying for a grant that would help us develop a business and educational plan to reopen our Early Childhood Education Center as a first step.

Holy Ground

2009-02-06T17:04:00.000-06:00

The Kansas City Star insulted residents of our neighborhood by calling us a “Murder Factory.” It was poor sociology and gave little recognition to the work of St. Therese, the Blue Hills Neighborhood and CCO have been doing for years. It is true that neighborhood needs are great and perhaps the additional attention will help.

St. Therese has invited the ministers from all the churches in the zip code for lunch on Thursday February 12. Along with CCO we will introduce the idea of declaring the neighborhoods around our churches to be Holy Ground. We will propose the idea of a joint Prayer and Praise service with massed choirs to launch our individual and common efforts to claim our neighborhood as Holy Ground.

As I reflected in my column in this Sunday’s bulletin, Catholic and Anglican churches used to make themselves highly visible to their neighbors. We used to “beat the bounds” of our parishes on Rogation Days, carry our worship into the streets in processions on Corpus Christi and patronal festivals, invite our neighbors to parish celebrations, and conduct a regular census. Can some of these venerable practices be dusted off? Can we make an effort to listen to our neighbors and assure them of our prayers? Invite them to Mass and to our “Financial Peace” classes? We are already doing so much in our neighborhood, but do they help make our neighborhood Holy Ground?

2009-01-16T14:13:00.004-06:00

Working with CCO – Communities Creating Opportunity – St. Therese sponsored an event on Tuesday to help people avoid mortgage foreclosure. Our neighborhood was targeted by sub-prime lenders and now our neighbors are paying the price. Representatives of neighborhood housing groups sent counselors that gave everyone an opportunity to discuss their situation in person. Countrywide/Bank of American sent mortgage adjustors to meet with people about restructuring their mortgages to try to save their homes. Volunteers from St. Therese and other churches provided hospitality so that people were welcomed warmly and treated humanely. We gave about thirty five people a chance to save their homes.

For two hours I met with those who had completed the process and had talked with a counselor and adjustor.

Everybody was very pleased and their emotional responses ranged from demonstrative thanks to tears of gratitude. But that does not please me.

They were so grateful because they finally had the opportunity to meet a representative from their lender who had the ability to at least delay a foreclosure while refinancing options were explored. It shouldn’t take churches planning events like this to make it possible for people to get action from their lenders.

Several people told me they had been calling and speaking with people at Countrywide over and over again. These homeowners were motivated and were trying to do the right thing. They were not ignoring the problem. But they were literally weeks from losing their homes because they could not make contact with anyone who had authority to work with them. At our event they were able to meet with somebody.

The bad news is: this tells me there are thousands of people trying to work through their problems, but they will end up losing their homes because the mortgage companies do not have systems in place to make authoritative decisions. There are millions who have given up trying. Our event may have been very good public relations for the lender because they flew adjustors into Kansas City to meet with a few people in danger of foreclosure. But that's not what people need. People need a process so that anybody anywhere can get a chance to work out their mortgage problems with a loan agent who has authority to act.

Here's the other thing that makes me angry. The only adjustments that people were offered were the old conservative modifications. Half of them will will be in foreclosure again in six months. People were offered the opportunity to fold their overdue payments back into their loans or pay them on the tail end. Some, who had high ARMs, were offered the possibility of lower fixed interest rates. But nobody was offered the possibility of having the amount of their mortgage reduced to reflect the current market value of their homes, and nobody was offered any debt forgiveness. The only offers made by the lender were variations of the theme “Pay up or get out.” Already some of the blocks in our neighborhood are half vacant, for sale, or bank-owned. None of the $700 billion bail-out money showed up here for the people who took part in our program. They walked out of here with just as much debt as they came in with, and almost always their new payments were just as high or even higher than before. If they were “upside down” on their loans when they came in, they were upside down when they left. If they couldn't manage before they came in, they might have been able to get their foreclosure put on a temporary hold, but nobody got their real problem fixed.

I think we can be proud of ourselves that the event showed compassion and that so many volunteers were involved. I am pleased that people had the chance to meet with a counselor and a loan modifier. But I don't think the lenders did us a favor. The report of the event on the news sounded like we are naïve do-gooders doing nice things to get people to pick up the phone and talk to the nice mortgage people who are standing by ready to help them get their situations straightened out. The news made it sound like the mortgage problem can be solved by garage sales and baby sitting.

If the millions of parishioners and neighbors who are in danger of losing their homes are to have any hope of getting their mortgages adjusted in a way that will give them a reasonable chance to keep their homes, then we will have to have a nationwide mandatory strategy. People will have to know that when they make an effort to work with their lenders, they will be able to contact someone who can take some action. Lenders will have to be motivated to work with large numbers of people. And everyone needs to know what methods can be used to reduce amounts of loans and amounts of payments. Without that, there is no accountability. While we are waiting for a nationwide mandatory program, thousands of families will be put out of their homes this week. And it will continue next week. And the week after that.

Christmas at St. Therese

2009-01-02T12:04:00.000-06:00

If you would like to see a slideshow movie for this year’s Christmas Basket Program you can view it at this website - http://picasaweb.google.com/wjoparkspics/Movies#5286190067419385986

St. Therese is a small inner city parish with approximately 200-225 families. The Christmas basket program served 262 families this year in our neighborhood with gifts of food, clothing, toys and other merchandise.

Feel free to share this website and video with anyone you want.

Thank you to Bill O’Neill for sharing this with us.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Presentation at Conception Seminary, Christmas

2008-12-29T15:31:00.001-06:00

I have been asked to make a presentation about the Anglican Use Mass to the students at Conception Seminary College. It will be a challenge to make it interesting and cover the important details in about an hour. I’d like to give them an introduction to what Cranmer accomplished – a dignified vernacular liturgy with lay participation in prayer, worship and communion; restoration of the Prayers of the Faithful; a serial reading of much of the Bible in the language of the people. I’d also like show how his liturgy included didactic elements opposed to the Catholic understanding of Eucharistic sacrifice. Then I’d ask the question – If a church and its theology become anti-Catholic, is it possible that its Catholicism can be restored? We will look at how a few of the radical Protestant ideas were toned down and some Catholic ones reintroduced. I’ll ask whether these stylistic changes were enough to make the Anglican liturgy fully Catholic. We’ll look at how the Oxford Movement awakened a hunger for Catholicism from Patristic and Medieval English sources as well as from their Catholic contemporaries. That would allow us to consider the possibility that some Anglo-Catholic liturgy could be an example of how a vernacular liturgy with lay participation could avoid the over-zealous introduction of 1970s and 1980s popular culture into the Catholic Mass. Then we could look at the Anglican Use Mass as a theologically Catholic Mass that preserves much that is good from many historical periods.

This is going to be a challenge for me. I’m not a scholar and I often over-reach. I’d be open to advice.

Our Sunday morning Anglican Use Mass has progressed to the point that it is now a sung mass with incense. As we develop and grow it will be possible that the Solemn High Mass will be the standard, but we are not there yet. And we may have to take a step backwards. Our gifted organist, Tyler Henderson, has decided to move on to other things. This is a difficult challenge for Catholic organists and Tyler was up to it, but not for the long-haul.

Our Christmas Gospel Mass on Christmas Eve was well-attended, as was the Anglican Use Mass on Christmas Day. For several parishioners it was their first experience with the Anglican Use and they seemed appreciative. For more than a decade St. Therese was yoked with another local parish and we did not have Christmas Day or Easter Day Masses. Now we are able to add Masses on these and other holy days. Soon I hope to be able to add a daily Mass. There is almost no support for a daily Mass from the local community, but we could certainly support a Mass that would meet the needs of a special community such as the Anglican Use community. Let me know if you are able to assist either early morning, at noon, or late afternoon.

Christmas Baskets at St. Therese

2008-12-11T12:11:00.001-06:00

Our neighbors will give us a wonderful gift this week – the gift of graciously allowing us to give them Christmas Baskets. As much as they may appreciate receiving them, our joy in giving them is even greater. It is probably worth thinking about just a little bit, and worth much more in just doing it.

For fifty one weeks of the year we worry with our neighbors as we provide help from the food pantry and with different kinds of emergency financial assistance. We struggle along with them to help keep their homes warm and utilities on. Sometimes we even help them bury their dead. We keep advocating for help with housing repair and curbs on violence. We speak out for economic development and help to restructure loans to keep families in their homes.

But for one week of the year, no worries are allowed. Instead of focusing on plain necessities, we provide the fixings for a family feast, and then some. We make sure there are gifts for adults and children. There’s nothing extravagant, but everything is clean and new, the results from months of bargain hunting that began with the post-Christmas sales last year, and continued with the delivery a semi-truck load of frozen turkeys and tons of other food and staples.

People who work here during Christmas Basket Week tell us that this is what Christmas is all about – the joy of giving. And our neighbors make that gift possible. If you’d like to help out beginning Saturday, December 13, beginning with unloading the semi, or to assist in other ways during the week, give B.J. a call at 816-444-5406.

First Anglican Use Mass at St. Therese

2008-12-09T17:35:00.000-06:00

We celebrated our first Anglican Use Mass at St. Therese on Sunday morning, November 30, the first Sunday of Advent. Our organist was off for the day, so it was a Low Mass, which is probably the way it should have been – simple and quiet. Except for the Eucharistic Prayer, Rite I in the Book of Divine Worship is almost identical to Rite I in the Book of Common Prayer. The flow of language is almost the same as what we used every Sunday growing up. There was no choice then. I used that language for the first Mass I ever celebrated as an Episcopal priest and I used it every Sunday for at least one Mass from the time I was ordained until I moved to Missouri in 1992. As far as I can remember, I have not said those words in sixteen years. And I have not celebrated Mass ad orientam for twenty-five years.

Without trying to sound like a media critic the celebration seemed graceful. Its gracefulness had more to do with the liturgy than the celebrant. I was aware of the congregation as all of us faced the same direction. I felt that they were backing me up. We all seemed to be in the same arc of prayer and worship as we focused forward, upward and outward. I do not mean to say that facing the congregation I am not aware of God’s immanent presence in the community. But this is different, and it is good, too.

On occasion as I turned to the people I had the experience of not knowing what I was to say next, but I heard myself saying it. Apparently the words still reside somewhere deep within. On occasion, I heard some of our group who never experienced the somewhat simplified 1979 Book of Common Prayer continuing to pray in the more expansive words of 1928. And it was OK. The words reside in them, too.

I wonder what this all means to those who have never experienced either. What could it mean to Catholics who have no experience with the Book of Common Prayer, or Episcopalians who have never experienced the traditional liturgy or the eastward orientation? That remains to be seen. I seemed to detect a note of respect from one of our Catholic parishioners who had been faithfully participating in the Liturgies of the Word since September. Finally being able to participate in the Mass, I think she got it. “I can see that our Church can be the home of two liturgies.” That is progress. God willing, there will be more.

Anglican Use Mass at St. Therese

2008-12-07T16:58:00.001-06:00

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.

Abraham's Way to the Catholic Church

2008-12-05T16:26:00.000-06:00

Visiting the Holy Land helped make me a Catholic and two of my professors at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church laid the groundwork for it. First, Fr. J. Robert Wright, the noted ecumenist and Professor of Church History, ensured that all of his students were familiar with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. With his Xeroxed copies of articles and floor plans, he introduced us to its history and its place in the development of the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter. Dr. Boyce Bennett, Professor of Old Testament, introduced us to the intersection of Biblical and Archeological studies. Both of them encouraged a spirituality of place, of the expectation of encountering the Divine in the places which enshrine the memory of previous human encounters with God, places where “prayer has been valid.”

Episcopalians on a pilgrimage are at a disadvantage in the Holy Land. Episcopalians are not just Protestants who encounter God mainly through a Biblical text with geography providing interesting background. Episcopalians can share the Catholic and Orthodox experience that places themselves are holy and that the Bible witnesses to that holiness. We resonate with the naïve offer made by Peter, James and John on the Mountain of the Transfiguration: “Let us make three booths for you.” For us a church can in some way mediate the experience of the event that is remembered and celebrated.

The Episcopalian disadvantage is that while we may think of ourselves as Catholics at home, in the Holy Land we are almost always treated as Protestants. Except for the Chapel of Abraham at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Episcopalians and Anglicans cannot join in celebrating Mass at the holy places in the Holy Land. We may visit the churches but we do not belong there. Episcopalians’ Catholic illusions have no meaning there. We are expected to read the bible and we pray like other Protestants.

For Catholics but not for Episcopalians, the Incarnation is not up for debate, and neither is the Resurrection. Catholics do not make pilgrimages to the places which illustrate interesting articles of a faith in which we no longer believe, but places made holy by living faith. We are in communion with Peter, and with all of those throughout the world who are in communion with Peter’s successor. During our November pilgrimage we said Mass at the “Rock of Peter” on the shore of the Sea of Galilee before visiting Peter’s House in Capernaum and later the Church of St. Peter Gallicantu in Jerusalem. We encountered Peter. We prayed the Angelus at the Virgin’s Well in Bethlehem before visiting the Church of the Annunciation and celebrating Mass at the Church of St. Joseph and visiting the Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem. We encountered Mary. We celebrated Mass on Mt. Zion beside the Upper Room and Mass in the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We encountered Christ.

While I was still an Episcopalian seminarian, Fr. Wright made sure that we knew there was one holy place in the Holy Land at which Episcopalians had the privilege of saying. And on my first actual visit to the Holy Land as an Episcopal priest, Dr. Bennett made sure that I had the opportunity to say Mass there: the Chapel of Abraham at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The privilege of saying Mass at the Chapel of Abraham was granted to Anglicans by the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem back in 1885. It is literally a “back door” privilege. As gracious a concession as it is, Anglican priests must relay their request to use the chapel through the Dean of St. George’s Anglican Cathedral who must send a messenger to the Orthodox convent whose nuns maintain it. Sometimes the request is inconvenient to the Dean, as was my request back in 1998, and sometimes it is inconvenient to the nuns. When the request is granted, the entrance to the chapel is not found inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which might imply that Anglicans are on the same level with the other churches which have rights in there. The chapel is not visible from inside or from the outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Episcopalians must enter through the Russian Hospice next door and find the way though hallways and staircases. But once in the chapel, one is very close to, or even above Calvary.

The Mass I celebrated there in 1987 with seminarians from General Seminary gave me one of the insights and images that allowed me to trustingly lay my Episcopalian priesthood aside for the greater good of becoming a true, not an imaginary Catholic.

Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac is one of the Old Testament “types” of Calvary. The Father’s sacrifice of his Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ and Christ’s trusting willingness to offer himself on the Cross is prefigured in this dramatic story from Genesis. It is one of the seven readings from the Old Testament at every Easter Vigil. As Kierkegaard elucidates the story, Abraham makes a full and complete offering of his son to God without any reservation. In his offering, Abraham is expressing absolute trust and hope that God remains faithful to his promise to give him a future through his son. In this absolute sacrificial offering of his future in the person of his son Isaac to God, Abraham maintains hope because it is the God to whom he is sacrificing who is the guarantee of his hope. He is sacrificing the sign of his hope to the God of Hope. As Kierkegaard puts it, Abraham hopes against hope.

At the Chapel of Abraham at Calvary, an Orthodox fresco shows Abraham with his knife-wielding hand upraised, ready to thrust it into his son. A pudgy angel speaking from the cloud stops Abraham just in time. Having offered his son to God, Abraham receives him back from God. Abraham does not withhold his son, and the God of Hope keeps his promise.

Priesthood, whether Anglican or Catholic, is a gift. It is a person’s identity and character, a vocation in a spiritual sense as well as professional and economic. It is a priest’s life and livelihood.

When an Episcopal or Anglican priest considers becoming Catholic, it is impossible to bring one’s priesthood along. It must be left behind. While the Catholic Church does not require us to renounce our orders or admit heresy, she does not make deals. The sacrifice must be absolute. Episcopal clergy must make a sacrificial offering of priesthood back to the one who gave it in the first place. Any Episcopal priest who has ever considered becoming Catholic has struggled with whether to make this sacrifice. It is a fearful thing to consider taking one’s own identity, vocation, and hope for the future, to give it back to the God who is the giver of the gift, and let go of it. The most fruitful image I can imagine for the depth of this sacrifice is the image of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son, Isaac.

Like Abraham also, it is also possible to maintain faith in the God of Hope, to hope that the sign of hope, one’s priesthood - like Abraham’s son Isaac - might be returned as a gift. But there is no way to make the sacrifice without accepting the possibility that it will not be returned, that the voice will not speak from the cloud, that the hand will not be stayed, that God will allow Isaac to die and one’s priesthood to end. There is no way to find out without making one’s own journey to Mt. Moriah.

We cannot know what would have happened had Abraham been allowed to kill his son. Yet that is exactly what happened on Calvary. Christ died, and the Father accepted his sacrifice. But inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, through the front door and not through any hidden entrance or side staircase, is the Anastasis. Christ is risen. The tomb is empty.

I cannot promise how the God of Hope will respond to the sacrifice made by Episcopal and Anglican priests who enter the Catholic Church. I cannot promise that the way back home from Mt. Moriah will be any easier than the journey to Mt. Moriah, or that the Way of the Cross promises that the Way of the Resurrection will be pain free. But I can promise that God remains the God of Hope. I trust that the God who raised Jesus is still at work in the world and that he will continue to work in the life and ministry of anyone who offers one’s best self and one’s future to him. I believe that God is glorified in such sacrifices and that being in Christ’s Catholic Church with Mary, Peter, Mary Magdalene, and all the pilgrims who are still on their pilgrimage and those who have found their way to the heavenly Jerusalem, is worth the sacrifice.

It is not necessary to make a pilgrimage to Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem to meditate on the sacrifice of one’s priesthood. The image of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac is as close as one’s Bible, the stained glass in church, a holy icon, or in the heart of every priest at Mass. If I could speak individually to any Episcopal or Anglican priest considering becoming Catholic, I’d tell each one that it is my conviction that the only way to come into the Church is Abraham’s way. Make the sacrifice to the God of Hope. Be ready to live as if you are not a priest. Be hopeful. And if God wills it, perhaps he will offer it back to you.

Moving ahead

2008-11-06T09:31:00.000-06:00

Rob Rodgers of the Coming Home Network will speak on “Evangelization” at St. Therese Little Flower at the Anglican Use Liturgy of the Word on Sunday, November 9. Rob is just one of the many gifted people who have been willing to give time and attention to this band of pilgrims entering the Catholic Church. Bishop John Buchanan, the former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri said one time, “Evangelism is one hungry person telling another where rice is to be found.” Rob and many of our speakers have found food for their souls, their daily bread, the true bread from heaven – Jesus Christ - in the Catholic Church, and they are willing to share the good news with others. Our new members are already showing great talent in sharing the good news.
The rest of this post will be a digest of recent happenings. There has simply been too much going on to write about it regularly. Along with everything else I have been preparing to take a group of thirty people on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and then continue to Mt. Sinai and Egypt. Let us just say this will be a fall to remember.
A couple of weeks ago St. Therese Parish had a Town Hall meeting to talk about the Anglican Use community forming here. I made a historical introduction about the Anglican liturgy and the Pastoral Provision and then Cristen Huntz talked about her pilgrimage. Many good questions were asked our new members were warmly welcomed. Several months ago our former Anglican members expressed a desire to be full members of St. Therese Parish without any separate membership structure. We recognize that there will be a challenge to create a parish community with two different liturgical expressions. One of the links between the two will be our parish Sunday School for religious education, scheduled between the two services. Our Lady of Hope Society will continue, but it will not operate as a parallel semi-autonomous organization. St. Therese is a unique parish, and it is privilege to serve here.
After much consultation with our parish Worship Committee and Parish Council, and with the blessing of those preparing to make their Profession of Faith and receive Confirmation and First Communion as Catholics, I have decided that it would be best to receive them during a regular parish Gospel Mass on Sunday morning. It is very important that we express our parish unity this way as we launch, God willing, a new parish liturgy. Bishop Finn has graciously allowed us to postpone his visit to St. Therese, so there will be no Confirmation at St. Therese on December 10.
Bishop Finn has petitioned Archbishop Meyers of the Pastoral Provision Office for permission for us to begin celebrating the Mass according to the Anglican Use of the Roman Rite in the Book of Divine Worship. If permission is received, we hope to begin on the First Sunday of Advent.

"Keep doing it right"

2008-09-23T15:59:00.002-05:00

“It is dangerous to keep taking your temperature” is one of the maxims I learned from friends and mentors working to start new congregations and grow old ones with Bishop John Buchanan in the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri. It is kind of like taking bread out of the oven to see if it is done. It ruins the bread. It is more important to do things right and keep doing them and then to watch the trends.
Nevertheless, it is encouraging when “doing things right” leads to results. And it is encouraging to meet new people at our liturgies and welcome visitors back. May the results we are seeing help us get through those times when we may not see any, and keep us on track and doing things right.
I often learn so much from our visitors. A couple of Episcopalians visited on Sunday. A friend of theirs who had converted to the Catholic Church had emailed them about us. They are fairly new to the Episcopal Church, and have begun to be troubled that they are finding a liturgical fundamentalism that is not linked to an emphasis on the fundamentals of the faith. They were curious about us and came to visit. I hope they come back
Another couple visited for the first time. She is an Episcopalian who has been going to mass with her Catholic husband and children for about fifteen years. They read about us in the Catholic Key. She wants to be able to say sincerely that she accepts all the Catholic Church teaches and is eager to learn. The RCIA process has been a barrier so far and wants to know if we can help her become Catholic. We are ready and eager, with the permission of her pastor. I believe they will be back.
Another couple visited again after missing a Sunday. I used to serve on diocesan councils with the husband and met his wife on occasion at diocesan events. She asked a very good and pointed question. “I believe in transubstantiation. Why am I not welcome as an Episcopalian to come to Mass and communion without converting?” I responded that as an Episcopalian I had believed in transubstantiation, too. But that it could be just as likely that an Episcopalian would believe something very different about what it means to come to Mass and Communion. So the Catholic Church cannot welcome Episcopalians in general. When it comes to beliefs, the Episcopal Church welcomes all options, but the Catholic Church proclaims a single faith. Converts are not asked about a single item of the faith, but they are asked about it all: “Do you believe all that the Catholic Church teaches?” I pray they will come back. I sense their integrity and their struggle.
We celebrated the liturgy on Sunday without an organist or cantor. It actually worked quite well. Knowing we were on our own actually helped me to relax and enjoy the liturgy without worrying about it. As our guest speaker, Grayson Warren Brown told us, we all have a song to sing and the Holy Spirit assists us to open our mouths and let it out. I think we sounded quite good and that God was glorified. We do have a song in our hearts.
We are developing the ability to celebrate the liturgy with beauty and dignity. Tyler Henderson will be our organist on most Sundays. I am eager to secure the assistance of Bruce Prince-Joseph, formerly of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City. He brings a wealth of experience with Anglo Catholic liturgy as well as artistic creativity. He will be our organist on a couple of Sundays in October. Sr. Claudette Schiratti will be our organist on Sunday, October 5 when Bishop Emeritus Raymond Boland will be speaking to us about Mary. Come for a visit if you are in the area.

Impressions from First Anglican Use liturgies in Kansas City

2008-09-15T16:51:00.000-05:00

I’ve begun to feel a little guilty that I have not written about the beginning of the Anglican Use in Kansas City. Perhaps that is because I have only a series of unlinked impressions and no coherent story to tell. But let me share with you what I’ve got.
Matt Teel gave a wonderful presentation on the Gift of Authority from his experience as a former priest in the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri and now a Catholic layman. As we spoke afterwards, he said that our Gospel Mass was the first time he he found happy people during a Catholic liturgy – that previously he had decided that Catholic liturgy was something to be endured because it is good for us – like fasting. He said that the Gospel Liturgy was filled with joy and happiness from the first greeting as he entered the church to the last. He also shared that our Anglican Use liturgy – as simple as we may be at this beginning stage – was gave him a taste of the beauty he used to enjoy at St. Mary’s. I think I also saw signs of happiness on the faces of those in the Anglican Use congregation.
My second impression is that we may be stirring up something that is trying to trip us up – sometimes literally. On the first Sunday I had a wardrobe malfunction. Let’s just say that my first experience with a lavalier mike and battery pack connected through cassock, surplice and cope was not as graceful as it could have been. Humility is an essential ingredient of good liturgy. On our second Sunday we had just enjoyed started Willan’s Gloria when the organ died and all the lights went out. The cantor and congregation didn’t miss a beat and the organist slipped around to the piano and we continued the liturgy by candlelight.
My third impression is from a comment by an Episcopalian woman who has gone to mass with the Catholic husband and children for the past 15 years. She said, “My husband is a cradle Catholic and because he was raised in the Church he is able to pick and choose what he agrees with and disagrees with. When I come into the Church as an adult, I have to be able to accept it all.” She hit the nail on the head, I thought.
My fourth impression is from a comment made by our organist last Sunday, Tyler Henderson, and our cantor the past two Sundays, Sandy Prothman. “This Anglican Use Liturgy is a lot of work!” It is not easy, even for gifted liturgical musicians, to provide leadership at an Anglican Use Liturgy. I don’t think it is ironic that liturgy means work.
And finally, all the recent attention has not brought an outpouring of new people for the Anglican Use liturgy. But it seems like our earlier Gospel Liturgy is benefiting greatly from the attention.
All of these pieces will find their proper place, given God’s grace, when we can get enough perspective to see how they fit together.

From Jack Smith's Catholic Key Blog

2008-09-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

World's First Anglican Use / Gospel Mass Parish

St. Therese Little Flower Parish in Kansas City was an early host of Charismatic Catholicism in the U.S. Situated in a largely African American neighborhood, St. Therese offers a liturgy drawing on charismatic and more traditional Gospel forms of worship. The parish is also a magnet for those seeking cultural diversity in church life.

Today St. Therese is led by a married man, Fr. Ernie Davis, who was an Episcopal priest for 15 years. In 2002, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood for Kansas City.

Now a group of Anglicans and Episcopalians looking to "come home" to the Catholic Church is meeting at St. Therese and is beginning the area's first Anglican Use liturgy which lives alongside the existing Gospel-themed Mass at St. Therese.

"Both liturgies are Catholic to the core," Fr. Davis said.

The following article appears in the upcoming issue of The Catholic Key:

By John Heuertz

KANSAS CITY - A new organization has formed in Kansas City called the Society of Our Lady of Hope offering guidance, comfort and support to local Anglican Communion members who wish to become Catholics.

Beginning Sunday, September 7 and continuing through November, society members will celebrate the Liturgy of the Word each week at St. Therese Little Flower parish in Kansas City using the Book of Divine Worship - the Catholic Church-approved liturgy for Catholics with an Episcopalian or Anglican background.

Each week until December 1, the first Sunday of Advent, the liturgy will be followed by a talk on some aspect of the Catholic faith. If all goes as planned, the full Anglican Use Mass will begin on that date at St. Therese's.

Speakers will include Bishop Emeritus Raymond Boland and former Episcopal priest Mat Teel and every talk is open to the public.

"I get excited about these things," says Jude Huntz of Gladstone, who is helping coordinate the process. "I get emotional. I guess I'm in the right business."

Huntz, RCIA formation director at St. Michael the Archangel parish in Leawood, also has a personal interest.

"I have a five year old son and I really wanted him to feel he could attend the same church as a child and as an adult," says Huntz's wife Cristen, a society member and lifelong Anglican. "But I don't see that viability in the Anglican continuum anymore."

The goal is for Bishop Robert Finn to administer the sacraments of confirmation and holy Communion to society members - and to all who join them in this faith journey - at St. Therese's on December 10.

The liturgy and the talks are the first step to a complete "Anglican use" Roman Catholic Mass at St. Therese's each Sunday.

"They're already Trinitarian and very sacramental, so it's not the full RCIA program," says Father Ernie Davis, St. Therese pastoral administrator and the group's guiding spirit. "We're emphasizing things they might stumble over as new Catholics."

Anglicans live everywhere, and most Episcopalians are Americans. Both are part of the Anglican Communion, the Church of England’s international family.

In recent years, ongoing Anglican Communion disagreements over issues including abortion and euthanasia, ordaining women, and gay marriage have caused a crisis of conscience for some communion members.

Father Davis himself experienced this crisis, and he was an Episcopal priest with 15 years of loyal service at the time. Why would a lifelong Episcopalian become a Catholic when he still loved the Episcopal Church?

“The short answer is, because I finally realized I wasn’t a Catholic,” he says. “And even though the practical steps were much harder than actually converting, I’ve never regretted my decision to leave.”

He points out that cradle Catholics might be surprised to learn that many Anglicans and Episcopalians consider themselves part of the Catholic Church now.

On the other hand, the similarities help to lower the natural barriers to religious conversion.

The process got started late last winter, when a group of local Anglicans and their pastor, Father John Cochran, explored entering the Catholic Church in a body.

“I had thought about this basically twice before in my lifetime and it’s finally culminating,” says society member Luanne Fliss of Raytown. “I’m tremendously thrilled to be joining the mother church.”

The Society of Our Lady of Hope hopes to focus on evangelization for all who wish to join or return to the Catholic faith. It’s one of a growing number of similar Catholic organizations nationwide.

But it’s also unique. After December, St. Therese’s will be the only Catholic parish in the United States that has added a regular, weekly Anglican-use Mass.

“There’s been some anxiety, but the parish has been very welcoming,” Father Davis says. “The Anglicans say they’ve never experienced such a warm and welcoming parish.”

In fact, St. Therese may be the only Catholic parish anywhere with two unique Sunday liturgies — the joyous and exuberant African-American inspired Gospel Mass, and the Anglican-use Mass with its rich spirit of contemplation and recollection.

“There is a lot of beauty in the Anglican tradition,” Cristen Huntz says. “And I felt the presence of God at the Gospel Masses.”

“Both liturgies are Catholic to the core,” says Father Davis. “But neither one is a white-bread liturgy.”

“For me, the time since May has gone like lightning,” he continues. “I see divine intervention everywhere in this process.”

For further information, contact St. Therese the Little Flower parish at (816) 444-5406 or visit the society’s website. More information is also available on Father Davis’ weblog.

John Heuertz is a freelance journalist living in Kansas City.

St. Gregory, Pray for us!

2008-09-03T10:02:00.000-05:00

It was good to read in today’s Office of Readings that St. Gregory the Great felt pushed, pulled, and distracted at times. I am certainly feeling it. Gregory, you might say, has been looking after me for a good while. I was ordained an Episcopal priest on his day in the Episcopal calendar – March 12. And we named our first son Aidan Gregory. The Venerable Bede reports a wonderful tale about the incident which inspired him to send Augustine to England as a missionary. Seeing some slaves for sale in Rome, he was told they were Angles. “Not Angles,” he is reported to have responded, “but Angels.” Bede also records the wisdom, focus, and tolerance with which he inspired his missionary work.
In this week before we offer our first Anglican Use Liturgy of the Word and a presentation about the Catholic faith, I am feeling overwhelmed. Its not that we aren’t prepared, it is simply that I am feeling overwhelmed by all the other work that must be done this fall and I am feeling like I cannot do any of it well enough. But in this crucible of work and prayer, I believe the Holy Spirit is at work. I am no longer praying for success, but that we will be worthy and useful for the work Christ is doing to heal his Church and save souls. Ego driven success would be a failure. But a worthy sacrifice could be a success if Christ can made use of it.
Most of Christ’s work is being done in secret, heart to heart, in his relationships with prayerful souls and people who are needy and hurting. We are not privy to that. But the Holy Spirit can direct souls to catch a glimpse of an ad in the paper, hear about us from a friend, or read about us in The Key or on the internet. If he finds us worthy of assisting him in bringing people home to Christ in his Church, then we will be here to welcome them.
St. Gregory, St. Therese, and Our Lady of Hope pray for us. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Practicing and praying

2008-08-31T14:54:00.000-05:00

I'm just back from Mass. Usually I am ready for a nap, but today I'm energized. We're getting ready for our Parish Mission in just a few weeks, then we start an expanded Sunday School program for our young people, then we have our Homecoming in October. We keep having new people every week and also people who were members years ago are coming back to check us out. After Mass we ran through the Anglican Use Liturgy of the Word for our presentions beginning next week. I hadn't sung the Willan Kyrie and Gloria in years until I introduced them to Sandy our cantor and Kathy our organist last week. They are so positive. Kathy raves about the organ, and Sandy reports many supportive comments and curious inquiries from area musicians and liturgists. The members of Our Lady of Hope were so at home with the Kyrie and Gloria I couldn't get them to stop. They seem to be afraid to get their hopes up, asking "Will anybody come? Will we be the only ones?" I keep looking at the signs and I see answered prayers all around us. We now have three aspiring deacons who will assist in the liturgy. But I am praying that God will send us many more people who are ready to come home to the Catholic Church, others who are curious, and other people of good will who can help out. We'll keep praying and practicing.

Fr. Eric Bergman to visit October 6 - 8

2008-08-28T20:20:00.000-05:00

Fr. Eric Bergman of the Anglican Use Society will be in Kansas City October 6 – 8. He will meet with Our Lady of Hope Society on Monday evening to offer us his encouragement and insight. On Tuesday during the day he can be available to meet privately with Episcopal and Anglican clergy about the Pastoral Provision and Anglican Use. People who want to meet with privately and confidentially can contact him through the Anglican Use Society website or by calling me at St. Therese Little Flower Parish in Kansas City 816-444-5406.

Fr. Bergman will speak to the public Tuesday evening. Details about his topic, its time and location will be announced as soon as possible.

Dwight Longenecker spreads the word

2008-08-23T16:42:00.000-05:00

Check Fr. Longenecker's blog- gkupsidedown - for some helpful and critical comments about Our Lady of Hope and St. Therese - the parish and the society not the saints!

Chad helps spread the news

2008-08-22T18:57:00.000-05:00

Chad helps spread the word. Thank you, Chad.

David Virtue helps spread the word

2008-08-22T18:18:00.000-05:00

David Virtue included this notice in his most recent post. Thank you, David. "
In the ROMAN CATHOLIC Diocese of Kansas City, MO, - St Joseph, Fr. Ernie Davis of St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church, wrote VOL to say that his parish was going to provide another haven for orthodox Episcopalians and Anglicans in Kansas City."We are beginning September 7th at 11:15 with the Liturgy of the Word (Rite I) from the Book of Divine Worship followed by an instructive talk. Presentations will be made by Catholics with Episcopalian or Anglican backgrounds. These liturgies and presentations will continue through Advent when we will launch the Anglican Use mass. It is not necessary to intend to convert to the Catholic Church. People can visit and participate as long as they like, but Catholic discipline on reception of the sacraments will apply." Orthodox or lapsed Episcopalians who may be willing to give the Anglican Use a visit are welcome, he said. People can visit his blog www.gospel-anglican.blogspot.com, or his website: www.ourladyofhope.org. "

Vocations

2008-08-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

I've just had two people speak to me about a possible vocation! Keep the prayers coming! We haven't even started yet and there are hints of a bountiful harvest.

Keep us humble

2008-08-21T19:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening a met with a member of the Our Lady of Hope Society who agreed to help get our sacristy in order for the Anglican Use. When I shared how excited I am about this new work, she brought me back to earth right away. She said, "I am willing to work for this Anglican thing, but really all I want to do is be a member of this parish. I appreciate the history behind the Anglican Use and there is nothing better to help me prepare for Lent. But it is more important to me to be a Catholic." Whoa. Don't we all need to hear that. I especially need to hear it. It reminds me of an article by John Jay Hughes, the author of "Absolutely Null and Utterly Void," the great study of the controversy about Anglican orders and Apostolicae Curae. As an Anglican curate he was deflated by a woman who had stopped attending the elaborate Mass at his Anglo-Catholic parish for a humble Catholic parish closer to her home. She told him, "It amounts to the same thing." I'll post the link and look forward to your comments.

Creating the Ritual

2008-08-20T21:25:00.000-05:00

I worked with Chad yesterday evening walking through the ritual of the Anglican Use. Our delegation to the Anglican Use Conference brought home the Ritual from Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston. I would like to give people an experience of the Anglican Use right from the beginning, recognizing that we must start simply. So my goal is to create a basic structure requiring only the celebrant and one server taking the place of the what Our Lady of Walsingham calls the Clerk. That term will take some getting used to. Percy Dearmer describes the role of the Clerk in his Parson's Handbook, but this is actually what we called the subdeacon at S. Stephen's in Providence. Of course Anglicanism has not had subdeacons since the Reformation. Since we are beginning with the Liturgy of the Word until we begin the Mass in Advent, this should work quite nicely. As others join us we can add roles until we are ready for the full Solemn Mass. Having a deacon full time would be a great blessing. "Gabe" is the son of one of our Society of Our Lady of Hope members and he is eager to find someone to serve with him. I've got two who are eager to serve as clerk and one of them is ready to try a vocation as deacon. But that won't help the liturgy and ministry at St. Therese for a long time! We have an organist to help us get started - a wonderful Lutheran woman who has facility with Anglican music. She'll soon be putting the organ through its paces. Now we need a cantor and sacristan. Anybody want to help polish brass? Ours hasn't been used or polished in decades.

The Anglican Use liturgy will work quite well at St. Therese. It is a lovely church with wonderful acoustics. The people who built this church may not have been rich, but they loved their church and it has been well cared for. The sanctuary was modified for the novus ordo, but I have to say it the renovations were done with great care. We will be able to use an eastern orientation. Every space has its own integrity and has an effect on how the liturgy is celebrated in it. And every space has its quirks that we have to live with. One of the major ones I don't have a solution for is the lack of an altar rail. It wouldn't be appropriate at our 9:15 Gospel mass. But how do we make up for one at the Anglican Use mass when there will certainly be people who receive communion kneeling. I found the old kneeling pads. But what do we do without the rail? I'm open to suggestions.

What a Parish!

2008-08-20T20:08:00.000-05:00

It is occurring to me that when St. Therese begins an Anglican Use Mass, we may be the only existing Catholic parish that has added an Anglican Use Mass to their normal Sunday schedule. If I am wrong, I hope someone corrects me. Part of the reason is probably that most Anglican Use communities and parishes began with a priest and accompanying converts. Most Episcopal priests convert individually, however, and are delighted to serve wherever we are needed in Catholic parishes. Most parishes do not have the capacity to divert resources and time to establishing a Sunday mass for a relatively small community. And if they did, they might not want to face the questions and conflicts that would certainly arise, such as, "Why can't they worship like the rest of us, if they really want to be Catholic?"

St. Therese is a unique parish. We lived through the cauldron of racial conflict and "block busting" by unscrupulous real estate agents. The parish suffered, but created an new identity made of neighborhood residents who stuck it out, new African-American residents and converts, community service and organizing, and Catholics who wanted to be part of a diverse and energetic community. Presiding at the liturgy is amazing. I have had many experiences of subbing for masses at other parishes that begin with a layperson saying, "Good morning! In the spirit of celebration on this X Sunday of Ordinary Time, let us all turn and greet out neighbors." You might see some good natured or resigned nodding and hand shaking. At St. Therese, that is never said. It is not needed. People are glad to see each other and glad to welcome visitors. Participation in the liturgy is full and intelligent, not because people are instructed to act that way, but because that's just what they expect. I have yet to see anyone looking at watch as if to say, "Is it over, yet?" Nobody. Get this. Nobody leaves after communion. It is amazing! Gospel music reigns, with guitar, bass, and percussion backing up a rocking piano.

Is it crazy to think that one parish and one priest can worship in two very different liturgical styles? I really don't think so. Neither the Anglican Use nor the Gospel Mass are typical white bread Catholic liturgies. Each of them has a basic integrity. And our parishioners can readily identify with people who believe they have been cast out. Many of our parishioners are quite curious about what is going on, and have expressed a desire to at least come and visit the Anglican Use liturgy. They want to come hear the Sunday morning talks about the Catholic faith by people who have embraced it, many of them converts themselves. People at St. Therese aren't immune from feelings of unease about change. But I can tell you that I am looking forward to hearing from our Gospel Mass parishioners after they visit the Anglican Use, and vice versa!

We'll have some deliberate opportunities to grow into one parish community, notably through our Sunday School (yes, Catholics can have Sunday School!) between the two masses. But more about that later. This is a great experiment, and I am eager for it. I think St. Therese of Lisieux (the saint, not the parish) is eager for it too. And if answered prayers are an indication, Our Lady of Hope is eager for it too, for the honor of her Son and his Church. Keep praying for us. And send your lapsed friends in our direction. Then come for a visit yourselves.

The Anglican Use Sacramentary

2008-08-15T08:28:00.000-05:00

As I arrived at the rectory this morning I decided to open a package that had been sitting around for a couple of days. I had assumed it must contain bulletin inserts for the next special collection or a book someone had ordered, but I didn’t recognize the source: Lulu Enterprises. When I opened the box, I found treasure! The Anglican Use Sacramentary, Volumes I and II! A perfect gift for the Society of Our Lady of Hope on the Feast of the Assumption! The outside of the volumes is nothing to brag about, an orangish slick red. But inside it is another story. Just thumbing through it for a few minutes I am in awe of the amount of work done by the editor, C. David Burt, to make the Book of Divine Worship useful for a celebrant. The pages are nicely laid out, the prefaces and sung portions of the liturgy are noted, and the rubrics – you guessed it – are red. It solves the problem I was just beginning to consider – how to actually put the Book of Divine Worship into use. I was beginning to think I would have to use a notebook with things copied from the Catholic BDW and from the Episcopalian Altar Book, a pretty sloppy way of presiding at a liturgy. This will take care of that problem quite nicely, indeed.

Looking further into The Anglican Use Sacramentary, one will notice other useful devotional material for use in the liturgy and private prayers said by the celebrant. There is, for instance, and expansion of the private prayers at the Breaking of the Bread which seem to come from the Anglican Missal. Indeed, Mr. Burt notes in his Preface that he has drawn on material from the Anglican Use Gradual, the Anglican Service Book, the Anglican Missal, the Priest’s Handbook, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, the Knott Missal and from the Roman Sacramentary. Thumbing through it makes me eager to share it with Fr. Frowin Reed at Conception Abbey, and especially with the Society of Our Lady of Hope here in Kansas City with whom we will soon begin using the Anglican Use.

While I wish it had a more beautiful cover reflecting the dignity of what is included inside, I can live with it until someone shares an alternative. But there is something lacking which makes me hesitate to put it into use. There is no imprimatur. The title page notes that this is just a draft, a work in process. But perhaps it is just far along enough that local bishops can give permission for it to be put into use until the final version is issued. I hope so, and will certainly check with Bishop Finn.

And being just a draft means there is another chance to take care of embarrassing typos. And can’t we do something about the highly inaccurate description of the Roman Canon in Rite I as an “Old English Translation.” Is it old as in antique? But I didn’t think things from the 1940s counted as antique, and if this is Knott’s translation of the Canon, it is certainly 20th century. On the other hand, this is no “Old English” like I have ever seen. Beowulf was written in Old English. I can’t make heads or tails of Beowulf, and this is elegant enough to stand beside a Cranmer collect or preface. If this is Knott’s translation, why can’t we just say that? That is just a quibble, but it will make me cringe every time I see it, even more than the orange cover. But don’t let that give the impression that I disapprove of The Anglican Use Sacramentary. This is a magnificent piece of work. Mr. Burt and his team are to be commended.

The Society of Our Lady of Hope in Kansas City owes a debt of gratitude to our friends of the St. Thomas More Society who sent us this gift. Thank you very much. We will remember you every time we use it.

Bishop Finn gives his blessing!

2008-08-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

Bishop Finn has given his blessing to St. Therese Parish as we welcome The Society of Our Lady of Hope! As soon as we can get it on his calendar, we will announce the date for Confirmation and the date we can move from the Liturgy of the Word to the full Anglican Use Mass! We are still aiming for Advent. Bishop Finn does express his understanding of disappointment that for various reasons some may not be able to receive the sacrament of Confirmation as early as some others, but he urges us all to persevere. The wait is worth it!

Bishop Finn also expressed his approval about our series of Sunday morning talks with the Liturgy of the Word. His only concern was that we not leave people behind if they get started late! I assured him that we will make every effort to help people catch up. He also urged that we try to get the word out through the Catholic Key so that we include as many people as possible, both those who may be interested in learning more about the Catholic faith as well as people who may be willing to help us get started.

If you are in the Kansas City area, please plan on joining us at St. Therese Little FLower Parish, Sunday mornings beginning September 7th at 11:15 for a taste of the Anglican Use and an important presentation about the Catholic faith.

I had a very encouraging meeting today with Dr. Bruce Prince-Joseph, the renowned organist most recently at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. He offered much encouragement and expressed a great deal of interest in helping us in some capacity. We still need an organist to help us get started! Keep praying! Use the Novena to Our Lady of Hope. Visit our Shrine of St. Therese. Everything else is falling into place, this will too.

Our distribution list keeps growing as more and more people want to be included. Please send me your email address if you would like to receive direct e-mails about our progress. edavis-sttherese@kc.rr.com.

Why I became a Catholic

2008-08-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

People often ask, “Why did you become a Catholic?” My short answer is, “Because I finally realized I wasn’t.” For an Anglican or an Episcopalian, that answer might make sense. They might not agree, but they can understand it. Catholics may be mystified by it.

I loved the Episcopal Church, and being a priest was all I ever wanted to be. It took me a long time to accept it and admit it, but it’s true.

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church www.stpetersparish in Fernandina Beach, Florida, is a jewel box of a church. It was built in the glory days of the first Florida boom when the congregation was filled with people of intelligence, taste, and financial means. They were able to express in architecture the faith they believed, expressing in native yellow pine, tabby, and stained glass the reformed Catholicism of the Episcopal liturgy. The church was made for the sacraments. The priests of the parish made a lasting impression on me. Fr. Neil Gray was the most intelligent person I knew, and I believed him when he taught us in confirmation and in acolyte training that Episcopalians are Catholics who did away with corruption and superstition in the Reformation. I believed him when he taught us that our liturgy and our faith were the liturgy and the faith of the undivided Catholic Church, and that the Catholic faith continued unbroken and essentially unchanged through the Anglican and Episcopal Churches. Fr. Gray and his successor, Fr. Ralph Kelley, were small town heroes for justice during the difficult days of church and school desegregation. St. Peter’s and St. Michael’s Catholic Church were the only churches in town that had a history of racial inclusion – not perfect, but it made me proud. When the KKK threatened to burn a cross on the rectory lawn, Fr. Kelley let it be known that he owned a shot gun. That impressed me. I remember my mother planning her Sunday school class with Mrs. Frances Holliday, an African-American woman, and it made me proud of my faith and family.

The first chink in the myth that the Anglican and Episcopal Churches are Catholic came when I visited Williamsburg, Virginia, as a pre-teen. According to the myth that Catholicism continued in an unbroken line, one would expect that colonial Anglican church building would reflect that faith in the sacramental nature of the liturgy and the church. Instead, I was surprised to see that the colonial Anglican churches looked very much like Methodist or Presbyterian churches. They emphasized the preaching of the word, and not the sacraments, the plain gospel and not traditional beauty. I didn’t know what to make of it. The evidence didn’t fit the myth. But it didn’t knock me off track, either. I loved the myth, and I loved the Episcopal Church.

Because I loved the myth so much, when I had choices, I always chose experiences that tended to support the myth. When choosing a seminary, I avoided the ones that emphasized the protestant and word-oriented roots of the Episcopal Church and visited the ones that supported my pre-conceived notion of what the church should be. The priests I respected most recommended Nashotah House, the semi-monastic Anglo-Catholic seminary in Wisconsin www.nashotah.edu. For various reasons I chose instead to go to the General Theological Seminary www.gts.edu. GTS had a strong academic reputation, prided itself in being a “little Oxford,” and based its community life on the daily round of Morning Prayer, Mass, and Evensong. We had some great professors, whom I still admire. Fr. J. Robert Wright grounded us in the church fathers, and Fr. Phil Turner took us back to the last great Anglican moral theologian, Kenneth Kirk, the Anglo-Catholic Bishop of Oxford who based his texts on Thomas Aquinas.

It was while I was at GTS that I had to face that while the myth of the continuity of Catholicism within Anglicanism may be beautiful, it is largely untrue. As we studied liturgics and church history, it became clear that the myth I loved was largely the creation of the 19th century Oxford Movement in the Anglican Communion. That what I loved about the Episcopal ethos, its beauty and sacramental focus, its style of Eucharistic celebration, were learned from 19th century Catholicism and from a study of pre-reformation Catholicism as it was practiced in England.

Also at GTS I had to face that our Episcopalian method of doing theology and ethics left a lot to be desired. It was hard to tell the difference between life lived in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan and life within the seminary close. As far as sexual ethics were concerned, we were required to avoid “predatory” behavior. Everything else seemed to be approved of. In fact, the seminary faculty came down hard on anybody who talked about seminary life to anyone outside the seminary community. I made the “mistake” of talking to my bishop, the bishop made the “mistake” of talking the dean, and the faculty nearly blackballed me. I learned to keep my mouth shut and my head down. I studied hard, found much to enjoy about life in New York, and graduated with honors. For my thesis, I wrote about the changes in the use of blood in Old Testament sacrifice.

When I graduated from seminary, there was a surplus of priests, and there was no opening for me in the diocese that sponsored me, the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida. But I had the great privilege of finding a position as Curate at S. Stephen’s Church in Providence, Rhode Island www.sstephens.org. Sometimes called “Smokey Steve’s,” S. Stephen’s is one of the great Anglo-Catholic parishes in the northeast. It was my first experience assisting at mass with full Anglo-Catholic ritual, with great music, great dignity, and full-sacramental focus. When I was ordained, it was with the full understanding and intention that I was being ordained for the Catholic Church. Capital C. Capital C.

For fifteen years I served as a priest in the Episcopal Church. I loved every parish and every challenge. But these years finally destroyed the myth which formed the foundation of my love of the Episcopal Church. I don’t think it was any particular innovation during those years that finally dispersed the fog. Some I embraced, some I accepted, and some I resisted. If I even mention the hot-button issues it will lead some to say, “Aha! I knew it all along. He left because he opposed ‘X’! Fr. Davis is a reactionary! We don’t need his kind in the Catholic Church!” I’ll take that risk, because I want to share the truth of the way I finally came to be a Catholic. And for my own freedom, I need to be able to tell you the story.

To me, all these innovations share a common fault: the embrace and defense of abortion and euthanasia, the opening of the sacramental ministries of the church to those not ordained in apostolic orders, the opening of holy communion to the non-baptized and the non-Christian, the ordination of women, and same-sex marriage. These innovations could only be embraced by a church that considers that the sacraments are not essential to the church, that we are not actually in an unbroken relationship with a God who reveals his truth in a trustworthy way in all the ages of the church, and that Episcopalians are free to establish new doctrines and enforce new disciplines that conflict with the universal Church. Whether I agreed or disagreed with any of them, they all pointed to the same fault. The Episcopal Church is not Catholic because it makes doctrine and enforces discipline based on the ephemeral notions of what is currently important to a very small group people who happen to take their own comfort as the standard by which to measure everything. Dare I say it? I just did, and I was one and could have been one for a lifetime.

People sometimes tell me, “It must have been hard to leave the Episcopal Church. It must have taken you a long time to decide.” Let me tell you, it was not hard to decide at all. It was quite easy. Once I realized that the answer to the question, “Is the Episcopal Church really part of the Catholic Church?” is really, “No. Never has been. Never will be,” the myth dissolved and I knew I was standing in the light of day. I simply knew, “If I’m not a Catholic, then I need to get to where the Catholic Church really is.” It is always easier to live in the truth than to live in a falsehood, and I’ve never regretted my decision to leave.

The practical steps were much harder. Leaving a faith community is never easy. Trying to act responsibly toward the souls that have not shared my inner journey was difficult. Finding a way to make a living outside the comfort and dependability of a well-run organization with a very generous salary structure and pension fund was stressful. I do not recommend that anyone make the same journey assuming that someone will be there to catch you when you walk off the edge of the cliff. You’ve got to find a path, and sometimes that path goes through the wilderness.

I’ve been a Catholic now for ten years, five of them as a priest. Sometimes Catholics wonder why I left because, for them, the Episcopal Church looks like the answer to a Catholic’s dream. Some want to push one of the Catholic hot button issues and see how I’ll react. I hardly ever do. Sure, there are issues that bother a lot of Catholics. Sure, some would make very different decisions than the Catholic Church is has made. For me, it means everything to be part of a church that does not rush things, especially the ones on which our lives and our faith depend. I am proud to be a Catholic and a member of a church that can speak the capital T Truth to power on behalf of the world’s poor, our children, our disabled, our aged, and on behalf of the sanctity of nature and of life itself.

What it comes down to is this. Is it important to be a Catholic? If it is, then get to where the Catholic Church is. It is easier to live in the light of reality than in a myth. Much easier.

I hope you will visit the website for a growing group of former Anglicans and Episcopaliansin Kansas City who are coming home to the Catholic Church www.ourladyofhopesociety.org.

Let's start!

2008-08-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

I'm Fr. Ernie Davis, and I'm having the time of my life! It is crazy-busy, but thrilling, too. For the past year I have been pastor (actual title Pastoral Administrator, but more about that some other time) at St. Therese Little Flower in Kansas City. This is a gem of a Catholic parish, where the people are here because they want to be, the worship is genuine and full of joy, the people are friendly, and the parish is a cornerstone in the neighborhood. People sing the gospel from their hearts and live it in their lives. Some of the great pastors in our diocese left their legacies here, and we count a couple of bishops and even a cardinal amount those who have assisted here in their younger days. It is truly a privilege to be a pastor here.

And if this wasn't enough, we now have a growing group of former Anglicans and Episcopalians who are making this their home parish. Their arrival here stirred in me some feelings that may be similar to St. Paul's feelings as he wrote of his affection for as well as his hopes for his Jewish heritage (Romans 9:1-5). As happy, relieved, secure, and at home in the Catholic Church as my family and I have been for the last ten years, I long for the complete reconciliation of the Anglican Communion with her mother, that we can share the unity of the faith we used to share in the undivided Catholic Church. I'm also nostalgic for the beauty and grace of the Anglican liturgy. The Our Lady of Hope Society has stirred my passion. Why should we wait? The Pastoral Provision and the Anglican Use give us the possibility of welcoming our separated brothers and sisters into the fullness and richness of the Catholic faith.

How could that work at St. Therese? Perhaps God has been preparing a place here and smoothing the path for this to happen. For a number of years St. Therese was yoked with another parish, and in that relationship we had two early morning masses on Sundays, at 8:00 and 9:15. When Bishop Finn assigned a priest here full time, we tried our best to move the 9:15 mass to 10:00 - but for a number of reasons it just didn't work. That has left the late morning time-slot available for a new mass.

We have a group of former Anglicans and Episcopalians ready to begin their preparation for confirmation. So beginning on Sunday, September 7 at 11:15, we will celebrate the Liturgy of the Word from the Book of Divine Worship (the Anglican Use liturgy for Catholics from an Episcopalian or Anglican heritage.) Afterwards we will listen to a talk on a topic important to people thinking of conversion. A number of gifted people, many of them Catholic converts themselves, will be helping out. I'm looking forward to listening to them myself!

Matthew Teel will be giving a couple of talks. Folks at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Kansas City will remember him. He is a former Episcopal priest who converted to the Catholic Church in 2005. Rob Rodgers, from the Coming Home Network will also be giving a talk. He is a former evangelical protestant as well as an Anglican, now a Catholic, who works full time to assist protestant laypeople and clergy who are on the journey home. Fr. Eric Bergman from the St. Thomas More Society will be coming down speak with us so that we can learn from their experience. Check out the ourladyofhopesociety.org website for the full schedule.

In addition to welcoming those who are thinking of becoming Catholic, we need help from people who have already made the journey. We need choir members, cantors, and an organist; altar guild members, ushers, lectors, and extraordinary ministers of holy communion; altar servers, Sunday School teachers, and confirmation sponsors. Members of St. Therese will be helping out a lot, but we are a small parish and people are spread thin. This could be a chance to do something exciting and new, and I invite you to think and pray about joining us, even if it is just to help us get started this first year! You could be part of something historic! I'll try to keep you posted about our progress, and share a bit about myself and my journey.