Affirming Catholicism Newsletter September 2015 St Michael and All Angels (29 September) Everlasting God, You Have Ordained
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Affirming Catholicism Newsletter September 2015 St Michael and All Angels (29 September) Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and mortals in a wonderful order: grant that as your holy angels always serve you in heaven, so, at your command, they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. A prayer for the refugee crisis: Heavenly Father, you are the source of all goodness, generosity and love. We thank you for opening the hearts of many to those who are fleeing for their lives. Help us now to open our arms in welcome, and reach out our hands in support. That the desperate may find new hope, and lives torn apart be restored. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son, Our Lord, who fled persecution at His birth and at His last triumphed over death. Amen. (https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/topical-prayers/a-prayer-for-the-refugee- crisis.aspx) ***** Watchword for September 2015 (from the Herrnhuter Losungen) Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 The biblical "Watchwords" of the Herrnhut Brethren (Moravian Church) have been published every year since 1731. ***** Gospel Imprint: “Is God calling you to be a priest?” “Made in the image of God, we have the capacity to respond to the call to love and serve, and we can endure hardship and sacrifice if we believe that the cause is worthwhile. Priestly ministry is challenging and at times is Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, September 2015 page 1 Follow us on Twitter @AffCath Facebook (Affirming Catholicism) emotionally and spiritually demanding, for, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it: When Christ calls us he bids us come and die. …” You can find the rest of the leaflet at: http://www.gospelimprint.com/GI- documents/Is%20God%20Calling%20You%20To%20Be%20a%20Pries t%20-Jul08.pdf Please print it out and make it widely available! Try putting a selection of these leaflets at the back of your church. Gospel Imprint is the fresh voice in Anglicanism sharing free resources with all Christians who are seeking to learn, worship and witness to the generosity of the Kingdom of God. It is supported by Affirming Catholicism and the Society of Catholic Priests. ***** Congratulations… … to the Revd Dr Nicholas Chamberlain, Rector of St George’s Jesmond and Member of the Affirming Catholicism Board, who is to be the next Bishop of Grantham … and to the Venerable Christine Hardman, former Archdeacon of Lewisham and Greenwich, and long-standing supporter of Affirming Cahtolics in Synod, who is to be the next Bishop of Newcastle. Nick will be consecrated at Southwark cathedral at 11:00 on Thursday 19 November. Christine will be consecrated at York Minster at 11:00 on Monday 30 November (St Andrew’s Day). ***** Working group on the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the seal of the confessional – your views wanted! Affirming Catholicism members are probably already aware that the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have established a working group to consider a proposed revision of the ministry of absolution in light of the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy. The current situation is that, where the formal ministry of absolution, as described in Canon B 29 is sought, if the penitent makes a confession with the intention of receiving absolution, the priest is forbidden to reveal or make known to any person what has been confessed. That requirement of absolute confidentiality applies even after the death of the penitent. The working group will carry out theological and legal work in order to inform a discussion of the purpose and effect of the requirement of absolute confidentiality, and specifically, will consider whether to recommend to Synod that this requirement be mitigated. The working group is seeking to discover what is the present practice in the Church of England and the way in which the provision for confidentiality impacts on the Church’s ministry, not least in the area of safeguarding. The working group would Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, September 2015 page 2 Follow us on Twitter @AffCath Facebook (Affirming Catholicism) be particularly glad to hear form those who hear confessions regularly, especially in regard to the following questions: What is your practice in respect of confession? Do you operate any boundaries with regards to confidentiality? Are there occasions when these boundaries have led you to encourage a penitent to inform relevant authorities, or to do so yourself? Are there circumstances in which you would not give absolution? If so, what? Do you offer conditional absolution? Any responses (preserving confidentiality) will help to inform Affirming Catholicism’s response to the consultation process. Please respond to [email protected]. ***** Thinking about refugees: In a letter published in The Times on 4 September 2015, the Rt Revd David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, and one of Affirming Catholicism’s vice-presidents, wrote: Sir, The drive for peace and stability in North Africa and the Middle East is, as the Prime Minister says, the proper priority for a long term solution that addresses the ever increasing numbers of people fleeing north into Europe. It’s a welcome acceptance that the problem is not the attractiveness of life in Malmo or Middlesbrough, it’s the impossibility of living safely and securely any longer in their homelands. But for those desperate enough to risk their children’s lives, in rickety boats and airless container lorries, the luxury of long term hope is not an option. The crisis is here and now. Charities and churches in the UK stand as ready as their counterparts in Germany and elsewhere to play a proper part in helping assimilate an equitable and realistic number of refugees into Britain. We did so with past crises in Vietnam and Uganda; we can do it again. We call on political leaders of all persuasions to seize the present moment, and work with us so that Britain once again becomes a haven for those for whom life has become a hell. + David Walker Bishop of Manchester @BishManchester (https://www.canterburydiocese.org/bishop-of-manchesters-letter-in-the-times/) Back in April, Bishop David also commented in the Guardian’s “Comment is free” column in a piece which is still relevant: “Briefly, last week, migration got a face, a human face. It’s not usually handled like that across much of the UK media, but the tragic plight of desperate families drowning in the attempt to cross the Mediterranean into Europe forced us out of our comfortable discourse about an amorphous ‘them’. … A political rhetoric that characterises them as wilful criminals rather than helpless victims is as unworthy as it is untrue.” Read the remainder of his piece here: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/25/bishop-of- manchester-leaders-look-on-asylum-seekers-with-compassion. ***** Affirming Catholicism Newsletter, September 2015 page 3 Follow us on Twitter @AffCath Facebook (Affirming Catholicism) Extract from a sermon preached on 19 September 2015 at St Margaret Newlands, by Charlotte Methuen: A few weeks ago we were looking at Mark 7, and the question of whether we are made unclean by things that come from without or within. Kyle Childress writes of that passage: While worrying and flurrying over building bigger walls to keep out illegal outsiders, strangers, or different religions that might (or might not) be threatening, or hunkered down inside of our own churches staying pure while afraid that evil is lurking outside ready to pounce on us when we let our guards down, Jesus says that the problem is within us. It’s our own fear and hatred, anger and hostility that is the issue. It’s our own lack of trust in God that is the cause for alarm. (http://www.ekklesiaproject.org/blog/2015/08/inside-and- out/#sthash.qcEZDuIT.VJ7G0hhF.dpuf) I wonder: What would happen if we stopped being afraid? If we stopped worrying about our own position? If we lived out Christ’s call to us to serve others, to speak out on behalf of those who have no-one to speak for them, to welcome into our midst strangers, children, others who are powerless in society? What would it mean? I am not sure I know – but I do think that it is our calling. You can find the complete sermon at: https://cmethuen.wordpress.com/2015/09/19/proper-20-b- 20-september-2015/. ***** Christian Aid suggests how to help: To support refugees in Europe and to help people in the countries they are fleeing from, please donate to the Christian Aid Refugee Crisis Appeal here: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/donations/Donate/Step/1?ApproachCode=A024729. Those specifically wishing to support work in Calais might wish to contact Caritas France (Secours Catholique): http://donenligne.secours- catholique.org/abov/abovision2.php?P1=SCC&P2=MIGRA_uk&PG=FAIRE1DON&typa bo=1. Christian Aid is working with Act Alliance-EU. A full statement about the refugee crisis from the Act Alliance-EU can be found here: http://www.aprodev.eu/files/HOME/act%20eu%20statement%20on%20refugee%20 crisis.pdf. Act Alliance partners working on the crisis include, in Greece, the organisation International Orthodox Christian Charities which is providing food and non-food items, and improving conditions at reception centres, as well as undertaking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities on the islands of Chios, Samos, and Kos. In August alone, an average of 2,100 refugees were arriving on the three Greek islands of Chios, Samos and Lesvos every day.