Looking back again…

Hope you liked the poem in the last post. R S Thomas is one of my faves…

I have been rediscovering Anglo Catholicism at the moment.

I thing there are Three reasons for this

(1) My last post on social action and faith. The English slum priests were amazing at showing God’s love in action, without slipping into social gospel or reducing belief in any way.

(2) My father was an Anglo-catholic Priest who, now he has joined me in the RC’s, has bequeathed me many of his books. I am reading one in particular at the moment “The Parish Communion” which is both a practical handbook and apologetic for the Eucharist in the Church of England. It was written in 1937, when the Eucharist was generally just listened to ( as opposed to participated in) and sometimes celebrated as little as twice a year. The theology is wonderfully catholic, the pastoral understanding brilliant and the wisdom invaluable. 70 years later it is continuing to deepen my understanding and participation in the Eucharist.

(3) Driving past the local Anglican church which I thought was Evangelical and seen on their notice board times for DAILY MASS and Confession!
Go figure?

I have no real desire to go back to where I came from, but deepening my understanding of my families religious history, and studying some amazing theology and people (esp. Newman and Mascall), whose beliefs are pure Catholic and Patristic, is wonderful.

Didn’t the song say “Read the books your father read…” ? Hmmmm.

Heres a great bit from “The Parish Communion”:

In our worship of God through Christ in his Sacrament we are one in Him;
There we must go to find our unity, and by that road we shall come in time to a real understanding of one another…

As I celebrate the Eucharist tomorrow I will pray for our unity.
Please do the same.