Fr. Longenecker: Anglican Agonies
From Fr. Longenecker’s great blog:
Let me speak from the heart. I was an Anglican for fifteen years: for most of that time I was an Anglican in England, first a theological student, then a priest. My visit this weekend to Church of the Atonement, San Antonio, made me feel nostalgic for those days, and for the great traditions of the Anglican Church.
Add comment June 8, 2009
The Mass Revealed
While talking with some folks at Ascension Press yesterday, they suggested that I have a look at a new DVD that is coming out on the Mass. This new DVD can be previewed online here >>>
It looks beautiful and very well done, perhaps a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the Mass. It’s also refreshing to see the liturgy done so well and with such reverence. Check out this video today.
P.S. Fr. Robert Barron’s Catholicism Project is also coming along nicely, you can check it out here >>> There are some great resources and evangelistic tools in the works– stay tuned!
Chris
Add comment June 6, 2009
Thin Places
by Chris Findley
Sheryl and me at the Cliffs of Moher, 2003
In 2003 my wife and I went to Ireland on vacation. I had been looking forward to this trip for years largely on account of my Irish blood. Honestly, that Irish bloodline has been quite diluted over the course of several generations, but it is there and I claim every little bit of it! There’s a part of me that’s always had a bit of a romance with the Emerald Isle, but when I visited there I knew that I was in this for the long haul –this was going to be a long-term love affair! I feel that I connected with Ireland more than any other place on earth.
I distinctly remember watching the west of Ireland pass below the airplane as we made our descent toward the Shannon airport. The thought of coming home, as totally irrational as that sounds, was very strong. And every moment I was there it felt, well, special. From the incredibly busy streets of Dublin to the beauty of the hills near Kilkenny to the tranquility of Kinsale to the farmland of Clare—everything seemed to almost envelope me with a sense of home. It was as if I had been placed under the spell of the island. That spell seems to still be working.
Why do we connect to a place? What is it about the Divine that seems to reach down in touch a place? What is it about us that senses the specialness or the significance of a place for our lives?
The Irish are very open to the idea of heaven and earth intersecting. The country is dotted with sacred places, monastic ruins, grottos, and roadside markers. Never mind all the Irish lore of fairies and gnomes and tales of magical adventures. Sometimes these places are called “Thin” places because it seems the barrier between heaven and earth seems so thin there.
In our day and age the idea of the Divine, of God reaching down into the stuff of earth may seem a little odd. There’s a part of us that likes to neatly categorize things and much of the time we draw imaginary boundaries where we think God might or might not work. We may expect to find a strong sense of His presence in Mass, but maybe not at the dinner table. We may expect to find him speaking through the beauty of nature, but probably not during the grind of rush-hour traffic.
But this is human nature. One glance through the Scriptures and we see that many of our forebears in faith were quite surprised at the places they found God. Just consider Jacob.
He’s on the run from his brother Esau, from whom Jacob had stolen his Father’s blessing. While on the run he’s quite surprised to stumble upon a place where the presence of the Lord is strong, a place where the Lord speaks…
Add comment June 5, 2009
People We Should Know: Charles Lwanga and Companions
Today is the memorial of Catholic martyr Charles Lwanga and companions. I am struck once again by the incredible faith of the people of Africa —today one of the fastest growing Christian areas in the world. Read his story below from Catholic.com.
Chris
For those of us who think that the faith and zeal of the early Christians died out as the Church grew more safe and powerful through the centuries, the martyrs of Uganda are a reminder that persecution of Christians continues in modern times, even to the present day.
The Society of Missionaries of Africa (known as the White Fathers) had only been in Uganda for 6 years and yet they had built up a community of converts whose faith would outshine their own. The earliest converts were soon instructing and leading new converts that the White Fathers couldn’t reach. Many of these converts lived and taught at King Mwanga’s court.
King Mwanga was a violent ruler and pedophile who forced himself on the young boys and men who served him as pages and attendants. The Christians at Mwanga’s court who tried to protect the pages from King Mwanga.
The leader of the small community of 200 Christians, was the chief steward of Mwanga’s court, a twenty-five-year-old Catholic named Joseph Mkasa (or Mukasa).
When Mwanga killed a Protestant missionary and his companions, Joseph Mkasa confronted Mwanga and condemned his action. Mwanga had always liked Joseph but when Joseph dared to demand that Mwanga change his lifestyle, Mwanga forgot their long friendship. After striking Joseph with a spear, Mwanga ordered him killed. When the executioners tried to tie Joseph’s hands, he told them, “A Christian who gives his life for God is not afraid to die.” He forgave Mwanga with all his heart but made one final plea for his repentance before he was beheaded and then burned on November 15, 1885.
Charles Lwanga took over the instruction and leadership of the Christian community at court — and the charge of keeping the young boys and men out of Mwanga’s hands. Perhaps Joseph’s plea for repentance had had some affect on Mwanga because the persecution died down for six months.
Anger and suspicion must have been simmering in Mwanga, however. In May 1886 he called one of his pages named Mwafu and asked what the page had been doing that kept him away from Mwanga. When the page replied that he had been receiving religious instruction from Denis Sebuggwawo, Mwanga’s temper boiled over. He had Denis brought to him and killed him himself by thrusting a spear through his throat.
He then ordered that the royal compound be sealed and guarded so that no one could escape and summoned the country’s executioners. Knowing what was coming, Charles Lwanga baptized four catechumens that night, including a thirteen-year-old named Kizito. The next morning Mwanga brought his whole court before him and separated the Christians from the rest by saying, “Those who do not pray stand by me, those who do pray stand over there.” He demanded of the fifteen boys and young men (all under 25) if they were Christians and intended to remain Christians. When they answered “Yes” with strength and courage Mwanga condemned them to death.
Add comment June 3, 2009
Back!
Well, blog readers, I’ve been out of contact for a while. Lot’s going on including my renewal of my pilot’s license and current work on renewal of my Flight Instructor’s license. I’ve also just been dealing with a few curve balls that just came our way over the past few months. So much has been going on and I’ve got lots to post. If you’re still out there, more posts will be coming soon!
Chris
1 comment June 1, 2009
The Love of God and the Lull of Lent
by Chris Findley
The other day at Mass I saw something that really spoke to my heart. It was simple, so simple that I almost missed it. As we were waiting for our time to go up to receive the Sacrament, I was watching the people rise and file out of their pews. It was then that I saw her.
She was about 7 years old, with sandy-blonde hair and fair skin. She was asleep, limp, totally out and being carried by her father forward toward the altar. There was something in that sight, that spoke to my heart, as if God was saying, “That’s the way you should rest and trust me.”
Consider for a moment what you must feel before you can rest. You must feel secure. I go through my ritual every night of shutting down the house, of checking all the doors, of making sure all the lights are out, of setting the alarm. Why? Security. We sleep best when we are secure. When we do not feel secure, we fight sleep and are on guard, listening for threats.
But here, in a very public setting, she felt secure. She was secure in her Father.
The temptation of Lent is that we can focus way too much on ourselves, on our failings and on our sin. If we give in to this temptation, we are lulled into thinking that it is all about us. We can all too easily move from healthy awareness and sorrow for sin into neurotic scrupulosity about our failures.
Lent should lead us to the place where we see with blinding clarity that this little girl’s posture in the arms of her father is the posture, and the only posture, we have with our Father. Remember Jesus’ words:
“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” Matthew 11:25
“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3
My self-examination during Lent shouldn’t drive me to despair, but to collapse. It should remind me that the only thing I can do is surrender myself to the God who carries me. It is to become a little child again, not childish, but child-like. It is the call to utter dependence and joy and security in the Father’s love and provision, especially his provision in dealing with the sin that entangles me and at times, overwhelms me.
Can we trust like that? Can we rest like that little girl? Do we dare realize that our union with God is dependent primarily on his faithfulness, generosity and love? Can that realization give us the security we usually seek by our own effort?
Lent’s time of preparation and observance must lead us deeper into this mystery, deeper into restful trust of God. This may be the most difficult task of our Lenten observance, letting go of ourselves and falling into Him.
Add comment March 25, 2009
Biblical Roots of Catholicism
For those of you in the Nashville area I wanted to invite you to attend a class I am teaching called “The Biblical Roots of Catholicsm” It is a part of the adult education program at the school where I teach. The Program is called “JPII at Night” and more info can be found here. It meets on Tuesday nights starting March 31, 6:00-8:00pm and the cost is $75. Email Ginger Farry to register.
Add comment March 8, 2009
Consider This (Part I)
by Chris Findley, Editor, H2R
Not long ago I was in the waiting room at my dentist’s office. As I was thumbing through the only magazine available, which unfortunately was “Ladies Home Journal”, I noticed that the man sitting across from me was watching me. He looked vaguely familiar and I think I looked familiar to him. We sat there for an awkward moment until we simultaneously realized that we did indeed know each other. He had come to a Bible study I had led when I was an Episcopal priest. I hadn’t seen him in a few years, certainly not since my family’s conversion to Catholicism. As we caught up, he noted the obvious lack of my black clerical shirt I had worn as minister and he asked if it were my day off. This opened the door to tell him a little of my journey to Catholicism.
He seemed to enjoy the conversation and yet he seemed a bit mystified as to why someone would join the Catholic Church. As I talked I could see the “look”. It’s a look that I’ve grown used to seeing when I talk about the Catholic Church with non-Catholics. It’s a look that says, “I’ll listen because it’s polite, but I really think you are crazy.” I realized too, that sometimes my explanation rambles, moves from event to event without the benefit of filling in crucial gaps in thinking that were bridged by my study of the Church. In the end, he was very kind and we parted company on good terms. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wish I had answered better than I did. I began to ask myself, “What were the things that really motivated me to move deeper into the life of the Church?” So I offer the following ideas as an answer to that question. I also offer them to you, for your own investigation of Catholicism.
Scripture
As an Evangelically trained Anglican, Scripture was of utmost importance to me. I had (and still have) a deep and profound love of the Bible and readily ascribe to its authority in the life of a Christian. I had always assumed that the Catholic Church was full of unbiblical (contrary to the Bible) or at least extra-Biblical (added to the Bible) practices and beliefs. I know I was not alone in that conviction. But that conviction was rooted in caricatures and stereotypes, not in actual knowledge of what the Catholic Church teaches.
I began to see that the church’s doctrine on many things that seemed strange to me actually had a Biblical basis. Everything from the Papacy to marriage to baptism to the saints finds its roots in scripture. And perhaps the most important thing for me was the realization that the Reformation doctrine of “sola scriptura” (by Scripture alone) is false. I had grown to realize that even those churches that really strive to hold to the notion of “Scripture Alone” have had a hard time doing so. Luther had his catechism which held authority for the Lutherans. Calvin had his Institutes which held a particular traditional authority as well. If all these reformers needed was Scripture alone, why then bother with writing such works? Additionally I became increasingly bothered by the idea of private interpretation. Of course everyone can and should be encouraged to engage in reading the Bible. However, there has to be some sort of authority in its final interpretation. Do we not see evidence of fragmentation and fracturing in the various denominations because they each believe they have the authority to interpret scripture on their own? With each split we see Scripture used as justification for that split, “But we’re being faithful to the Bible.”
In my own teaching as a pastor, I noticed that I was using the phrase, “The Church has always taught that…” One priest friend (who had become Catholic) gently asked me, “Chris, what church are you talking about when you say that?”
I realized I was talking about the Catholic Church.
(more…)
2 comments February 12, 2009
