St. Peter's Chains

A View From the Sacristy ^ | 1/20/2005 | Fr. Reich

[sionnsar]

I had a very disheartening conversation the other day.  I have sworn to stay away from writing about such things, but I do so to ask for prayers.  I had chance to converse with a priest the other day who was somewhat disheartened at the actions of the ‘right’ (his words).  He couldn’t understand how priests and laymen could be so hateful towards some of the ‘progressive’ Bishops and out right say that these Bishops no longer desired to remain in the Communion.  I responded the actions they have undertaken, they have in the eyes of the ‘right’ declared as much.  He asked me to explain.  I told him that such and such a Bishop who denies the physical resurrection of Christ, by he public renouncement implies in the eyes of the ‘right’ a wonting break from the received teaching of the communion and therefore a break from the communion itself.  To which he replied, “Well, who believes in the physical resurrection of Christ anymore, anyway?”  And I will leave our conversation there.  But, before anyone cries foul with regard to the Anglican Church…I heard the very same type of statement not two weeks ago from a Roman priest and have heard the same such thing from a regional Greek Orthodox clergyman.  So its not just us…the lack of faith goes much deeper than that. 

And I say lack of faith, because I happened to have this conversation as I was preparing to say mass on the Feast of Peter’s Chains/ of Peter’s Throne/ of the Confession of Saint Peter. 

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

One of the things on my mind that day was the fact that Peter’s confession was not rational, was not reasonable, was not logical in human or modern terms.  Our Lord even said so “flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”  Peter’s confession is faith in something revealed…not a logical critical look at God and the practice of faith, but simply faith.  And in our own day, when we try mightily to explain or reason out matters of religion, we miss something divine and we lack sorely in what is required of us to follow Our Lord…we lack faith in that something revealed…we lack a faith and trust in God Almighty. 

So I say all of this to ask your prayers this day for priests of every swipe and allegiance. 

 

O God, the glory of the priesthood,

who didst bestow thine Only-Begotten Son upon us

 as the High Priest and most watchful Shepherd of souls;

and didst give unto him priests and deacons as his companions

 in offering a pure victim and in promoting the salvation of the human race:

 we beseech thee, at the intercession of the blessed ever-Virgin Mary and of all holy priests,

that thou wouldst deign to stir up in thy Church the Spirit of grace whom they served;

that, filled with the same Spirit, we may study to love what they loved,

and to practice that which, by word, deed, and example, they taught;

through the same Christ our Lord.  Amen

(St. John Eudes)  

[sionnsar]

Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.

FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this list.
This is a moderately high-volume ping list (typically 3-7 pings/day).

Resource for Traditional Anglicans: http://trad-anglican.faithweb.com

[Mr. Jeeves]

To which he replied, “Well, who believes in the physical resurrection of Christ anymore, anyway?”

LOL! Hey, at least he's honest. Major Christian denominations today seem to be run by the spiritual heirs of Ellsworth Toohey. ;)

[NetValue]

In a Godless world the inalienable rights of man do not exist. Marriage has no meaning so we can define it as we wish. Mass murder of the unborn is no crime. Life itself has no purpose.

I wonder how much evil you will need to see before you turn/return to God out of necessity.

[Kolokotronis]

"Peter’s confession is faith in something revealed…not a logical critical look at God and the practice of faith, but simply faith. "

Oh, this is EXCELLENT!

By the way, I wish I knew who the heretic Orthodox priest is. He'd be defrocked so fast it would make his head spin if he's in America (or probably anywhere else for that matter.)

[Agrarian]

I have never so much as heard or read even the most indirect statements from an Orthodox priest regarding a denial or questioning of the physical resurrection of Christ. The services of the Orthodox Church are so brutally specific on this point that there is no room for parsing or equivocation -- only for outright, straightforward dishonesty, theft, and fraud.

For that is what any clergyman is doing who denies the physical resurrection of Christ -- certainly any Orthodox clergyman: committing fraud, theft, and lying through his teeth.

I, too, would love to know who this is.

[good_fight]

>Hey, at least he's honest.

I can appreciate the heretics who talk plainly. I know where they stand. It's the two-faced -- or maybe six, seven, eight or more-faced -- that are destroying the Church.

Give me a man who says, "In our church, we don't believe in the Resurrection (or Incarnation or...)" anytime over the glib equivocators who claim to be Christians while "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."