The Sheepcat

God Bless Pontificator

Fr Al Kimel, a.k.a. Pontificator, writes a poignant farewell to blogging.

I owe Fr Kimel a great debt for the stimulating readings he assembled, for his thoughtful essays on questions close to my heart, for the irenic community he drew together in his combox, all of which helped me immeasurably in my journey to Catholicism.

I wish I could leave him a note of appreciation, but comments are closed and the only e-mail address I have for him is unavailable. My prayers go with him. The Lord bless him and keep him; the Lord make his face shine upon him and be gracious unto him. The Lord lift up his countenance upon him and give him peace.

Will Anglicans Listen to First Nations?

My name is Dean Sewap from Cree Pelican, the Diocese of Saskatchewan.  If this is passed I would feel that to be faithful in my walk with Jesus, I would need to leave the Anglican Church.  I don't want to leave.  I live my church.  First nations parishes feel strongly about this but I feel that our voice is not being heard.  Please be patient with us.  Now is not the time to go ahead with this.  God bless you.

This nugget from the debate on same-sex blessings has been brought to you by felix hominum.

Keep Praying for Canadian Anglicans

No decision yet from the Anglicans in Winnipeg, so keep praying. Resolution A186, to allow same-sex blessings, apparently ran out of time for the evening at 9 Central Time, so debate will continue tomorrow. Lots of procedural manoeuvring on this resolution, with the result that a 50% majority is all that's required. Now, if I understand correctly, 21 of 37 bishops voted in favour of an unsuccessful motion to refer the issue to a theological commission (haven't seen the text of the motion, so I can't be more specific), but this may mean that A186 has a decent chance of failing to get the required majority of bishops. Which would be very good news.

Stay tuned. And how about maybe fasting until the vote tomorrow? In any case, please keep praying, "Thy will be done."

In other news, the Canadian Lutherans, also meeting in Winnipeg, have defeated  (181-200) a motion to encourage Synods to develop ways “to best minister to people who live in committed same-sex relationships, including the possibility of blessing such unions”.

The Sheepcat Wades into the Anglican Fray

Over on the Essentials blog, someone was complaining that people weren't engaging with her words in favour of same-sex blessings. So I had a thing or two to say in response.

Now please, keep praying. One friend suggested: "May the Lord rid all his people of oppression by the arrogant ungodly in high places." Amen to that!

A Teaching Archbishop

An encouraging profile of Archbishop Wuerl in The Washington Times. His Lenten pastoral letter on the Sacrament of Penance has drawn wide interest. God bless him.

Now Close Your Browser and Pray for the Anglican Church of Canada

Anglican Essentials has a blog coming from General Synod in Winnipeg, which officially opens this evening. The Synod elects the new Primate on Friday, and Saturday's when same-sex blessings come up on the agenda (though they're obviously the main item of interest all week).

I can't completely resist watching TitusOneNine's Canadian category and CaNN's Synod blog for news and commentary, but mostly I'll be praying the Sorrowful Mysteries. I've just posted Robert Gagnon's rebuttal to one piece, but really, at this point, prayer is the only thing that's going to turn the ACC away from the iceberg towards which it's steaming at nearly full throttle.

Holy Martyrs of Uganda, pray for us.
Holy Martyrs of Midland, pray for us.
St John Chrysostom, pray for us.
St Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.
John Paul the Great, pray for us.
Cardinal O'Connor, pray for us.
St Peter Damian, pray for us.
St Augustine, pray for us.

Gagnon Demolishes Thorp's Case for Blessing Same-Sex Unions

Biblical scholar Robert Gagnon thoroughly demolishes a paper by one Professor John Thorp entitled "Making the Case: The Blessing of Same Sex Unions in the Anglican Church of Canada," which has been circulated to all the delegates at the 2007 General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Although Thorp apologizes in his preface for the limited scope of his essay, this does not stop him from making many bold claims. He ends with the following: “Gay liberation is clearly the work of the Spirit. How can it reasonably be judged otherwise?” (p. 29; his emphasis). He believes that the case he has made for blessing homosexual unions at three levels—Scripture, Tradition, and Reason—“easily overcomes the surface prohibitions” against homosexual practice in Scripture (p. 19; my emphasis).

Not a lot new in Gagnon's paper, but then so long as the proponents of same-sex blessings keep failing to engage with the arguments that have sustained two thousand years of constant Church teaching against homosexual practice, we "reasserters" have to keep just reminding "reappraisers" such as Thorp of the truths that still haven't changed no matter how unfashionable they've become in our current society.

Dean Invites Graduating Seminarians to a "Bloody" Spiritual Adventure

From the Commencement Address at St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Westchester County, New York:

The first and most important thing is that we are boundlessly loved by God who blesses us to love Him boundlessly in return.

I can also tell you that we can love God as He loves us only by faith and grace, by His own divine power, and that we prove our love for Him by loving everyone and everything, beginning with our worst enemies, just as He does, with the very same love with which He loves us, the very Love that He Himself is.

And I can tell you that being loved by God, and loving Him in return, is the greatest joy given to creatures, and that without it there is no real and lasting happiness for humanity.

And I can also tell you, alas, that such loving is always a violent, brutal and bloody affair.

Read it all. The illusion of autonomy, the temptation to spiritual pride, C.S. Lewis's Abolition of Man – the Very Rev Thomas Hopko covers a lot of ground.

Link via CAEI.

Portuguese-Canadian Marchers Make Pentecost a Movable Feast

Every year the Portuguese procession with its marching band comes through my neighbourhood. Last year I still wasn't sure what the occasion was. Today someone told me it's for Pentecost--the sashes say "The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit." But wait a minute--wasn't Pentecost Sunday three whole weeks ago? Well, yes, but apparently other parishes have their processions earlier so Santa Cruz postpones its own.

Anyway, I've been experimenting with Flickr and have posted a set of photos there. I'm still new at this, so let me know there are any glitches.

Lest Anyone Imagine the Rot in the Anglican Church of Canada Is of Recent Origin

Six--count 'em, six--retired archbishops of the ACC have urged it to approve same-sex blessings. They say to get on with other issues including "concern for our aboriginal brothers and sisters," yadda, yadda, though even liberal spinmeister Michael Valpy acknowledges, "Some of the most adamant opponents of same-sex blessings are aboriginal bishops."

Lord, have mercy.