As we recently celebrated the Assumption and the Queenship of Mary, I figured it would be a prime time to discuss proper devotion to the Mother of God.
Proper Devotion to the Mother of God
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Tag Archives: ecumenism
Catholic and Lutherans in Communion?!
The pastor of my sister’s ELCA church said in a sermon that very recently an agreement
was reached between the RCC and ELCA allowing members of each to share each other’s
communion. I haven’t heard of any such thing. Have any of you? Have I missed the
biggest ecumenical news story of the year somehow? A Google search seems to confirm
my immediate suspicion that the pastor is grossly misinformed. Can anybody shed
more light on this?
“Was Paul crucified for you?”
Dr. Andrew Jackson of Smart Christian is concerned that bloggers need to be reminded of 1 Corinthians 1:10-16.
"I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)"
Andrew writes,
"As much as we would all like to declare ‘we aren’t like the Corinthians,’ unfortunately, I do not think much has changed in the church, and yes it is often reflected in the Christian blogosphere."
"We all need to allow Paul’s words to the Corinthians help us reevaluate how we blog. If we are not careful, it is very easy for Christian bloggers to become identified by which Christian leaders or preachers or teachers they declare their allegiance."
"Does your blog loudly and publicly declare ‘I follow John Piper, Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis, John MacArthur, or R.C. Sproul?’ I could easily name others. "
I can’t say run into that problem much (if at all) on Catholic blogs, but I’ve definitely seen Charles Spurgeon get a lot of hero worship on Protestant blogs. It amuses me that some of the same people who spout Spurgeon quotes as if they were Scripture are allergic to the deutercanonical (aka apocrypal) books of the Bible.
Anyhow, Andrew’s concern casts Adrian Warnock’s recent request in an interesting light. I wonder how he’ll respond.
Favorite Living Preachers
Adrian Warnock has put out a call for Christian bloggers to name their favorite
living preachers.
“My proposal is that people link [and trackback] to this post and share on their blogs up to five preachers (in no order of priority) that are well known to many who have blessed them and why.”
“I am determined to learn the secret of seeking the good in all my Christian brothers and sisters.”
“For too long we have lived in our denominational silos, and many of the names people are suggesting I have not even heard of. Please, if you have commented with a list of names, tell me about them and what they mean to you. If you have a blog, do it on yours with a link to here as it would be great to get a sense of who are the preachers with influence over the Christian blogopshere”.
“If they have influence among christian bloggers, I am sure that each of these preachers have something to offer each of us, even if we might disagree with some of their theology. Bloggers have become good at respecting what other bloggers from different traditions have to offer. Now what about preachers from different circles?”
That sounds like a pretty good reason to me. 🙂
Most Rev. Joseph Ratzinger – Pope Benedict XVI: [details to come]
Father John Corapi, SOLT: [details to come]
Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap. – Archbishop of Denver: [details to come]
Update 11/09/06: Obviously I still haven’t added details to this post. Perhaps I’ll eventually write a new post to provide the details I promised.
Christian Simplicity and Integrity
In a continuing effort to expose Catholics and mainline Protestants to Quaker wisdom, here’s another sampling from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s 1972 edition of Faith and Practice.
"A life centered on God will be characterized by integrity, sincerity and simplicity. It need not be cloistered and may even be a busy life, but its activities and expressions should be correlated and directed toward the simple, direct purpose of keeping one’s communication with God open and unencumbered by that which is unessential. Simplicity is best approached through a right ordering of priorities."
"Simplicity consists not in use of particular forms but in avoiding self-indulgence, in maintaining humility of spirit and in keeping the material surroundings of our lives directly serviceable to necessary ends. This does not mean that life need be poor and bare or destitute of joy and beauty. All forms of art may aid in the attainment of the spiritual life, and often the most simple lines, themese or moments, when characterized by grace and directness, are the most beautiful."
Integrity, essential to all communication between man and man between man and God, has always been a basic goal of Friends. Great care should be observed in speech. Factual statements should be as accurate as possible, without exaggeration or omission."
"Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the ‘virtue of religion.’ Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor. ‘You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.’ ‘Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.’"
"Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: ‘Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart.’ Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: ‘Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites.’ In the New Testament it is called ‘moderation’ or ‘sobriety.’ We ought ‘to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world.’"