Devotional: Just as worship begins in holy expectancy...

Just as worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience. If worship does not propel us into greater obedience, it has not been worship. To stand before the Holy One of eternity is to change. Resentments cannot be held with the same tenacity when we enter his gracious light. As Jesus says, we need to leave our gift at the altar and go set the matter straight (Matthew 5:23, 24). In worship an increased power steals its way into the heart sanctuary, an increased compassion grows in the soul. To worship is to change. ...Richard J. Foster image by evoo73

CRS: Health Law May Allow Viagra Coverage for Sex Offenders

By John Stanton
Roll Call Staff
April 7, 2010

The Congressional Research Service confirmed in a memo Wednesday that rapists and sex offenders may get federally subsidized Viagra and other sexual performance enhancing drugs under the recently passed health care reform law — information that Republicans charge will haunt Democrats in upcoming elections.

“Providing child molesters with taxpayer-funded Viagra shows the folly of government-run health care. Senators who allowed this to happen will be haunted by this vote for years to come,” said John Hart, a spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). Coburn, who requested the CRS review of the health care reforms, sought to add last-minute changes to the health care reconciliation bill that would prohibit sex offenders from receiving drugs such as Viagra under the health care law. However, that amendment was defeated during the Senate’s vote-a-rama.

According to the CRS, under existing rules there are no prohibitions against providing erectile dysfunction drugs to rapists, pedophiles or other types of sex offenders. the rest

A.S. Haley: Arguing the Virginia Cases

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Virginia Supreme Court has set oral arguments in the appeals brought by ECUSA and the Diocese of Virginia in the cases involving eleven ACNA parishes in the Anglican District of Virginia. I have previously discussed what took place at the hearings below in this post, and in this one; they may serve as background to understanding the issues involved. In this post, I would like to sketch out the issues as ECUSA and the Diocese have presented them in their briefs. In a subsequent post, I will go over the arguments of the ACNA parishes in opposition.

There is no way, of course, to predict what the Virginia Supreme Court will find significant in the briefs and arguments presented to it. Moreover, I am not licensed to practice in Virginia; someone who is may pick up on points of Virginia law and procedure that I have missed. Thus do not use these posts as a basis to expect any particular outcome. Instead, to the extent they assist you in making your way through the forest of contentions and counter-contentions, and in evaluating their relative strengths and weaknesses, they will have served their purpose. the rest

Irish Primate: ‘Gracious Restraint’ Is Over

The Living Church
April 6, 2010

By electing and approving a second bishop in a same-sex relationship, the Episcopal Church is no longer showing gracious restraint toward other Anglican provinces, the Archbishop of Ireland has said.

“This is a development which I deeply regret,” said the Most Rev. Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, in a statement issued to The Church of Ireland Gazette.

The archbishop began his statement by quoting from a letter written to the primates of the Anglican Communion by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

The Presiding Bishop described the approval of the Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool, suffragan bishop-elect for the Diocese of Los Angeles, as representing “the mind of a majority of elected leaders in the Episcopal Church, lay, clergy, and bishops, who have carefully considered the opinions and feelings of other members of the Anglican Communion as well as the decades-long conversations within this Church.” the rest

Health care overhaul spawns mass confusion for public

By Margaret Talev
McClatchy Newspapers
Tuesday, April 6, 2010

WASHINGTON — Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them.

Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors' offices, human resources departments and business groups.

"They're saying, 'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?' " said Carrie McLean, a licensed agent for eHealthInsurance.com. The California-based company sells coverage from 185 health insurance carriers in 50 states. the rest

Oregon Doctor Warns Canadians to Reject Assisted Suicide Legislation

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
PORTLAND, Oregon
April 6, 2010

(LifeSiteNews.com) - A doctor practicing in one of the two U.S. states where physician-assisted suicide is legal has written an open letter to Canadians advising them to beware of the "misguided legislation" of Bill C-384, the bill that would legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.

"A message to my Canadian neighbors" was written by Dr. William Toffler, the national director of Physicians for Compassionate Care in Portland Oregon, a national organization of physicians who oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide in the U.S.

Dr. Toffler writes that, "Since assisted suicide has become an option in my state of Oregon, I have had at least a dozen patients discuss this choice with me in my practice. Most of the patients who have broached this issue weren’t even terminal." the rest

Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury, regrets Catholic attack

The Sunday Times
April 4, 2010

THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury has apologised for saying that the Catholic church in Ireland had lost “all credibility” because of its role in the child abuse scandal.

Rowan Williams expressed “deep sorrow and regret” after a furious reaction from Irish Catholic leaders to his earlier claim that some priests in Ireland found it “quite difficult” to walk down a street wearing a clerical collar. the rest

Christian chapel assaulted by armed group in Pakistan

By Martin Barillas
Saturday, April 03, 2010

On the evening of April 2, following Good Friday services, a group of armed men and women assaulted the Gordon College Chapel in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. According to sources, the group was armed with automatic weapons and broke into the church compound, entering the chapel and adjoining residence. Having broken the locks at the main entrance, they installed new locks, while also destroying the sign advertising the chapel.

The group of assailants threw bibles to the ground and terrorized the women and children present, robbing them at gunpoint and then taking cash and jewellery. One of the captives managed to make a telephone call and informed a family member, Shaban Gill. Gill and Imran Nasir, whose 4 year-old and 18-month old daughters were captives at the chapel, informed the police and then themselves confronted the assailants. the rest

Obama Bans Islam, Jihad From National Security Strategy Document

The change is a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventative war.
April 07, 2010

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's advisers will remove religious terms such as "Islamic extremism" from the central document outlining the U.S. national security strategy and will use the rewritten document to emphasize that the United States does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terror, counterterrorism officials said.

The change is a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventative war and currently states: "The struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century." the rest

What Can the Catholic Church Learn From Married Priests?

Apr 7, 2010
Leonard Klein

I might well have been one of the most available priests in the diocese that Saturday afternoon. After four hours of shoveling, my driveway was clear before the rectory garage was plowed out. Because of a disability, our youngest lives at home. Because she needs a wheel chair, we own vans. They have four-wheel drive.

So I got to the church to celebrate mass for the small group that assembled that evening. On Sunday I said one mass at the parish to which I am assigned and one at a neighboring parish. I prepared an RCIA lesson. I shoveled some more snow. Before bed I switched on the hospital pager, since hospital chaplaincy is another part of my assignment. The four-wheel drive would have made the thirteen miles, had I been called.

Whatever the difference is between celibate clergy and us exceptions, it is, I am convinced, not availability. the rest

On sexual abuse scandal, the pope gets a bad rap

By Michael Gerson
Wednesday, April 7, 2010

By any human standard, Pope Benedict XVI and the American Catholic Church are getting a bad rap in the current outbreak of outrage over clerical sexual abuse.

Far from being indifferent or complicit, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was among the first in Rome to take the scandal seriously. During much of his service as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the future pope had no responsibility for investigating most cases of sexual abuse. Local bishops were in charge -- and some failed spectacularly in their moral duties. It was not until 2001 that Pope John Paul II charged Ratzinger with reviewing every credible case of sexual abuse. While poring through these documents, Ratzinger's eyes were opened. The church became more active in removing abusive priests -- whom Ratzinger described rightly as "filth" -- both through canonical trials and administrative action.

"Benedict," says the Rev. Thomas Reese of Georgetown University, "grew in his understanding of the crisis. Like many other bishops at the beginning, he didn't understand it. . . . But he grew in his understanding because he listened to what the U.S. bishops had to say. He in fact got it quicker than other people in the Vatican." the rest

Lutheran Pastor Defends Pope Against Abuse Crisis Attacks

The Pope and the New York Times
Cardinal Ratzinger did more than anyone to hold abusers accountable

Christ Jesus, Victor

April 03, 2010
Anthony Esolen

The greatest conqueror the world has known, and shall ever know, did not wield the sword or swing the battle-axe; did not lead men in marches upon famous cities, reducing them to famine or rubble; did not parry and thrust his way to the leadership of an empire, commanding the men he reduced to wards of the state to call him their benefactor and to pray for his continued success; did not file his wit to become the chief of a school; did not write a word that we know of, except perhaps the sins he traced in the sand, sins of the men who wanted to trap him.

I meditate upon his terrible beauty, as he hangs upon the cross. He was mocked, scourged, crowned with thorns, and led away to the death of a criminal, of one who was to sink below the dignity of a human being; the death of a no-one, of the ultimate victim. He was innocent, and because he was innocent, men could not abide him for long. They found a way to hate him; hate can always find its reasons. Yet he gave up his life for his persecutors, praying that they might be forgiven, for they did not know what they were doing. Nor do we, sinners as we are.

His body was broken open, but he had always been broken open -- his very being was only for the Father, and, therefore, only for us his brothers and sisters. In his sacrifice we see the mystery of being itself, which is also the mystery of love. For God who created a world that was good redeems man who falls away from the good. It is his extravagant love for us that we see emblazoned upon Jesus, on the cross, giving himself away, giving himself forever in the sacraments that flowed from his pierced side. Here is the secret of greatness that the world had always overlooked; the greatness of Jesus who became as nothing, so that we might become something, even sons and daughters, sons in the Son.

The world is old, and stupid. It wears the sniggering leer of the demagogue, the avid glance of the privateer of finance, the smug half-smile of the professor in the know. It does not want to understand the Cross, and Jesus who suffered upon it, because it is afraid of the new life that springs from Him; because that new life can take you where you do not know you want to go. But Jesus, who died for us, conquers by dying, conquers by giving of himself utterly. If we would be conquerors, if we would be as God himself, we must make ourselves one with Jesus, and give utterly. That cross, we feel, is too heavy for us to bear. It is too heavy; we cannot carry it. Then we must confess our nothingness, our weakness, and, as Therese of Lisieux says, let the cross carry us. We would be soldiers alongside our captain; first let us be as nothing, acknowledging that without Him who emptied Himself for us, we too are empty, like wooden idols, or like the waste and void before God said, "Let there be light."

I look upon Jesus, crucified, and see that once the Lord has come, there is no choice but either to grasp after the delusions of power, or the sillier delusions of pleasure, or to be carried forth with him on the adventure of being, the adventure of love. link image

Doctors sue to overturn ObamaCare

Bill Bumpas
OneNewsNow
4/6/2010

Another complaint was filed Friday by a group of nearly 5,000 American physicians as the lawsuits continue to pile up in an effort to overturn the new healthcare reform legislation.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is the first medical society to sue to overturn the newly enacted healthcare bill. Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of AAPS, says several issues are of concern.

"It's an issue of freedom, it's an issue of saving the country from bankruptcy, it's an issue of access to medical care -- all of these things," she says. "This bill is a monstrous threat to Americans; and the more they find out about it, the more they dislike it [and] the more they fear it."

Dr. Orient further explains that the legislation is unconstitutional on several grounds. "There are no enumerated powers anywhere in the Constitution for the government to force people to buy insurance or to allow the government to intervene in the relationships between patients and physicians," she argues. the rest

Obamacare: President Obama is Still Clueless About Delivery of Medical Care

Obama Removes Jesus from Easter Message

Vince Haley
posted April 6, 2010

President Obama literally edited Christ out of his “holiday greeting” today when he excerpted a sermon given by a military chaplain on Iwo Jima on Easter Sunday 1945.

Here

X-rated Internet explosion wreaks havoc with troops’ careers, lives

By Jon R. Anderson - Staff writer
posted 4/5/10

Excerpt:
Civilian pornography use is high: The most recent studies suggest as many as one in 10 people in the general population suffer from pornography and others sexual addictions fueled by the Web.

But military use, given the largely young and male population, is believed to be much higher.

“Twenty percent would not shock me. That would be a conservative estimate,” says Navy Lt. Michael Howard, a licensed therapist and chaplain who specializes in treating sexual addiction. He has helped dozens of troops and their spouses overcome sexual addiction issues, he says.

Porn can destroy marriages as easily as the infamous “other woman.” According to a 2002 survey of 1,600 top divorce lawyers, more than half of all divorces involved a spouse hooked on porn sites. That same year, Army Lt. Col. David Bartlett Jr. strangled his wife with a computer cable after an argument about his online porn habit.

But the online videos available then are nothing compared with what porn users can find today, thanks to the same Web 2.0 technologies that have fueled revolutionary social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube. Porn 2.0 is as much user-created and traded as it is industry-generated and sold. Online do-it-yourself porn is creeping out from sites such as RedTube and Adult FriendFinder onto mainstream social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. the rest

Hank Johnson: US Congressman claims Guam 'will capsize from military influx'

A United States Congressman, Hank Johnson, has become an unlikely internet hit, after he claimed the Asia Pacific island of Guam would “tip over and capsize” from a planned influx of American troops.
By Andrew Hough
02 Apr 2010

The 55 year-old Democratic member of the US House of Representatives claimed he was "obviously" joking when he made the remarks during evidence with a senior Naval officer about the US Military's build-up on the American territory.

While questioning Admiral Robert Willard, the head of the US Pacific fleet, the two-term Congressman from Georgia expressed concerns about the plans to post up to 5000 extra marines, and their families, to the island.

“My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize," the former judge told the House Armed Services Committee hearing. the rest

Episcopal Bp. Greg Rickel, other local Protestant leaders get creative about revitalizing their churches

Bishop Greg Rickel, head of the Episcopal Church in Western Washington, is preaching on this Easter Sunday at St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle. Rickel is one of several recently arrived heads of mainline Protestant denominations who are trying new ways of operating in a swiftly changing culture.
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter
April 4, 2010

Excerpt:
Rickel gets that, nowadays, it's not enough for churches to say what they're against; they must convey a positive message of what they're for. He tries to guide church members into a clear understanding of who they are and what they have to offer so they can communicate that passionately, especially since so much of how churches grow these days is by word-of-mouth.

He tells an anecdote about a local professor who sent his students to St. Mark's. The students reported back, saying parishioners there "really believe in what they're doing. We just don't know what it is (they believe in)."

Rickel himself is liberal on many issues — in support of expanded domestic-partnership rights for gays and lesbians, and of immigration overhaul, for instance. He has ordained, and says he will continue to ordain, gay and lesbian clergy. He cherishes his denomination's embrace of a wide variety of viewpoints, and he decries the actions of conservatives who've left the church over disagreements about homosexuality and interpretation of Scripture. the rest

In the Olympia Diocese, which covers Western Washington, the number of Episcopalians declined from about 38,000 to 31,000 between 1985 and 2006 — even as the state's total population grew. Rickel's had to close one parish, and his predecessor two, because of dwindling numbers.

EASTER MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER AND ‘URBI ET ORBI’ BLESSING

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Excerpt:
The Christian people, having emerged from the waters of baptism, is sent out to the whole world to bear witness to this salvation, to bring to all people the fruit of Easter, which consists in a new life, freed from sin and restored to its original beauty, to its goodness and truth. Continually, in the course of two thousand years, Christians – especially saints – have made history fruitful with their lived experience of Easter. The Church is the people of the Exodus, because she constantly lives the Paschal Mystery and disseminates its renewing power in every time and place. In our days too, humanity needs an “exodus”, not just superficial adjustment, but a spiritual and moral conversion. It needs the salvation of the Gospel, so as to emerge from a profound crisis, one which requires deep change, beginning with consciences.

the rest

ACI: Statement On South Carolina

The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

Excerpt:
We conclude with these observations about the fundamental facts of our polity:

1.The Presiding Bishop’s office is regulated by the constitution and canons and exists historically for the good order of the church. It is not a metropolitical office. The title ‘presiding Bishop’ was chosen with care and inheres with the notion of good order when the wider church gathers. It is not an office with independent political authority.

2.The existence of diocesan canons in The Episcopal Church is a departure from the model typically followed in the polity of other provinces of the Anglican Communion. The existence of these canons goes hand in hand with the history and sovereignty of the diocese in The Episcopal Church as the basic ecclesial unit of catholic Anglicanism.

3.That no mandate exists that can be enforced by canon law for dioceses to pay assessments beyond the good operating of their own affairs is likewise evidence of the catholic and missionary integrity of the dioceses of this church.

4.Diocesan Chancellors exist to assist the Bishop and Standing Committee of the Diocese in maintaining the legal good operating of the Diocese and the undertaking of its internal affairs.
5.General Convention resolutions as such have no canonical force. They represent the mind of those gathered and are not legislative in character.

6.As a province, The Episcopal Church has no single authoritative voice, but exists with a dispersed character at the provincial level, involving individual diocesan Bishops, diocesan conventions, a triennial General Convention, House of Bishops meetings, and the office of Presiding Bishop.

We fully support Bishop Lawrence and the diocese of South Carolina in their defense of these principles.

Full Statement

My Easters With Robert Duvall

Apr 4, 2010
Dimitri Cavalli

Excerpt:
So on Easter Sunday in 2000, still tired from my last job but filled with hope that I would be starting my new writing job the next day, I watched Tender Mercies. My choice to watch it wasn’t preplanned. It just happened to be conveniently on when I had some free time. I enjoyed the film and found, in some ways, that it deeply resonated with what was going on my own life back then. Since 2000, I made watching Tender Mercies on Easter Sunday a personal tradition.

Tender Mercies is not explicitly about Easter. Its themes of redemption, forgiveness, hope, and personal transformation through religious faith, however, reflect what Easter represents. It seemed so appropriate that it happened to be broadcast on Easter Sunday. the rest image

Albert Mohler: Render Unto Caesar? On Paying Taxes After Obamacare

We do not “render unto Caesar” because of our confidence in Caesar. We render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, because we are committed with our lives and confidence and consciences to render unto God that which is God’s.
Monday, April 5, 2010

A significant number of Christians are now wondering about the moral implications of the Obama health care overhaul. While any number of moral questions will demand attention, the question of abortion stands at the center of concern. And with the question of abortion comes the question of taxes.

Without the legislative remedy of the Hyde Amendment or similar protections, it is almost certain that the new health care legislation will lead to tax-supported abortions. At the very least, the legislation will lead to either direct or indirect taxpayer supported subsidies for some abortions. At the extreme, it could mean outright coverage of abortion services.

Though President Obama’s Executive Order offers some limitations on taxpayer support for abortion, both sides in the abortion debate recognize that his order cannot take precedence over statute, can easily be removed by a court, and does not cover all arenas in which abortions will be provided or subsidized. the rest image

What Obamacare will cost doctors

April 05, 2010
Chris Link, MD

One of the most interesting, if unanticipated, effects of posting YouTube videos is managing the "comments" section. I have a series of politically oriented song parodies that I have posted over the past eight months. The first, "One Single Payer System", has more than one million views (thanks to links posted in blogs such as The American Thinker). However, I did not realize I would be taking up the job of de facto moderator for a running debate with more than 1,200 entries in the case of "Single Payer".

One post asked a very good question: "Why can't we just put everyone in the country on Medicare?" Aside from the problem of a huge expansion in the unfunded obligations for the Medicare program, currently estimated to be $89 trillion, my immediate thought was that you can't stay in business as a physician at Medicare reimbursement rates.

I used my specialty, anesthesiology, to illustrate the problem. Using the best information I could find and the example of my own solo practice, I came up with some sobering figures. the rest

Hugh Hewitt: The president's popularity plunge
The president's popularity is plummeting -- down to a 44 percent approval rating in the most recent, post-Obamacare CBS poll -- and his rhetoric is getting angrier as he tours the country demanding that critics of Obamacare shut up.

A FORREST GUMP LOOK AT HEALTHCARE REFORM
Quote from Dr. Watson: “Dr. Leo Alexander wrote, “Science under dictatorship becomes subordinated to the guiding philosophy of the dictatorship.” No statement better describes Obamacare, and every doctor who will defend his/her patients should read “Medical Science Under Dictatorship” to understand just how close we are to dictatorship. Then each doctor can OPT OUT of Medicare and fight as a free man, or wait and struggle against his/her chains of captivity.”

Ritual sacrifice of children on rise in Uganda

By JASON STRAZIUSO
The Associated Press
Monday, April 5, 2010

JINJA, Uganda -- Caroline Aya was playing in front of her house in January when a neighbor put a cloth over her mouth and fled with her.

A couple of days later, the 8-year-old's body was found a short walk away - with her tongue cut out. Police believe she was offered up as a human sacrifice in a ritual killing, thought to bring wealth or health.

"If it is a sickness you try to treat it, and if they die that is one thing," said Caroline's father, Balluonzima Christ. "But when you slaughter a person like a goat, that is not easy."

The practice of human sacrifice is on the rise in Uganda, as measured by ritual killings where body parts, often facial features or genitals, are cut off for use in ceremonies. The number of people killed in ritual murders last year rose to a new high of at least 15 children and 14 adults, up from just three cases in 2007, according to police. The informal count is much higher - 154 suspects were arrested last year and 50 taken to court over ritual killings. the rest

Interfaith movement gains new strength

Breaking barriers, creating bonds with other religions
Monday, April 5, 2010
By Julia Duin

This is the first in a series of reports that will look at new efforts — driven largely by American faith leaders — to bridge old divisions among the nation's and the world's believers.

NEW YORK When FaithHouse Manhattan has its twice-monthly interfaith gatherings, the guest list is a carnival of religious belief and creed.

An Islamic Sufi dervish greets you at the door, but the program director, an Episcopalian, makes the announcements. A rabbi, a female Muslim and a Seventh-day Adventist share leadership of the meeting.

The night's program at FaithHouse, in a posh office just off Fifth Avenue, was the Jewish holiday of Purim. Oranges, nuts, apricots and hamentaschen, a Jewish holiday pastry, were offered as snacks. Participants put on costumes to act out the biblical story of Esther.

"People who have a hunger for religious experience can have a taste of it here," said Samir Selmanovic, the Adventist co-leader. Born in Croatia to a Muslim father and a Catholic mother, he helped found FaithHouse 18 months ago. Then he wrote a book, "It's All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian," on the plethora of religions that Americans are increasingly sampling. the rest

Planned Parenthood's Advice to Girl Scouts

Unhealthy and Unhappy
Wed, Mar. 31 2010
By Chuck Colson
Christian Post Guest Columnist

I almost fell out of my chair when I read the news. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts hosted a panel in New York, part of the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. According to the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, the Girl Scouts allowed Planned Parenthood “to distribute brochures containing sexually explicit material to the young girls.”

The booklet is titled “Healthy, Happy, and Hot.” Much of the content is so pornographic, I wouldn’t dare talk about it over the air or post it online. But you need to know that the sex guide advocates every imaginable kind of sex. As the guide blithely puts it, “There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!”

It also tells girls that “some people have sex when they have been drinking alcohol or using drugs. This is your choice.” Clearly, nothing is off limits-even for children below the age of consent. the rest

New bend in the road: Reflections at the end of life

Dame Maria Boulding had been a biblical scholar, a writer, a novice mistress and a hermit before being diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 80. Urged by others, she set down her thoughts as she approached death. She found that her last days were a time that bore the marks of Easter
Maria Boulding
5 April 2010

I was on a journey, a joyful journey full of interest, beauty, friendships and happiness. I knew I must be getting near the end, and was filled with gratitude for all that had been given to me on this journey that had been my life. At every stage along the road, I had been convinced that my ­experience made sense only in the light of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection. I had been born in Eastertide. Later I received the monastic habit in Easter week, made my first vows in Easter week the following year, and took solemn vows for life in my community three years later, again at Easter.

Another certainty emerged in the years that followed; it was to do with my name. I had been baptised as a baby with the name Mary. Nothing else was added, though suggestions about a second name had been pressed upon my parents. For some reason, my father insisted that his first daughter (he had two sons already) was to be called simply Mary. As I came to love the Scriptures and find inspiration in them, I identified first with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and then with other Marys in the gospels. There was already someone called Mary in the monastic community, so eventually I edged as close as possible with Maria. I came to glimpse something of the function of these Marys as symbolic figures as well as flesh-and-blood people. In their several ways, they represented something of the reality of the Church in relation to Christ. My prayer and my life became centred on the Scriptures, an endless source of inspiration and joy along the way. I could understand my vocation only as somehow “being the Church”. the rest image by Memotions

Bp. Martyn Minns Easter message: Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

It is the greatest cry of triumph that the world has ever known! It needs to be shouted loud and often because the resurrection of Jesus changes everything for everyone.

It changes how we look at life. Most people live as if this life is all that there is. “You only live once, so why not go out in style?” is the way actor Jack Nicholson puts it in the recent movie, “The Bucket List.” The premise of the movie is that his goal, along with actor Morgan Freeman’s, is to discover the joy in their lives before it’s too late. Lots of people live with this as their unspoken assumption. All this changes once we hear the resurrection cry. This life is not all that there is; in truth, this life is just the beginning of life eternal and the next life is more exciting and satisfying than this life will ever be.

It changes how we look at death. According to Benjamin Franklin, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Both are bad news! Death is so often seen as the end of all that we love and is to be avoided at all cost; but sadly, in the end, it is something to which we must all submit. Not so fast, says the apostle Paul who writes, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Once we profess the truth of the resurrection then death is no longer to be feared. It loses its power over us. We know that death is not the end of everything but the beginning of a new life in the presence of the One who is the Lord of life.

It changes how we look at Jesus. “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history,” wrote H.G. Wells. There have been lots of other people who have claimed to be the Messiah but none of them have ever been raised from the dead! The resurrection makes him unique. Jesus beat death! He is the only man ever to do so. But what is even more astonishing is that Jesus promises that all those who put their trust in Him will beat death also.

It changes how we look at ourselves. “Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible and does the things that others cannot do,” according to that old Gospel chorus. Once we hear the resurrection cry we know that nothing is impossible for God. When we look at the challenges in our own lives and in the world around us we do so with confidence. We know that Jesus overcame the very worst that the world could throw at him and in his Name we can do the same. That is the glorious promise of Easter Day. It is a promise to be proclaimed to the whole world because it changes everything.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

The Rt. Rev’d Martyn Minns
Missionary Bishop of CANA
link

Prayer for Rev. George Woodliff III

A personal Good Friday
Lent and Beyond

2 Corinthians 12:9a
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

My husband, Rev. George Woodliff III, has been diagnosed with a colon tumor and will undergo surgery on Monday. Jill Woodliff

Lord, Your grace is indeed sufficient. We pray for Your perfect strength and healing. Amen.

Easter Sunday: For Judah's Lion burst his chains...

Ye choirs of New Jerusalem,
Your sweetest notes employ,
The Paschal victory to hymn
In songs of holy joy!

For Judah’s Lion burst his chains
And crushed the serpent’s head;
Christ cries aloud through death’s domains
To wake the imprisoned dead.

Triumphant in his glory now,
To him all power is given;
To him in one communion bow
All saints in earth and heaven.

All glory to the Father be,
All glory to the Son,
All glory to the Spirit be
While endless ages run.
...Fulbert of Chartres image by clairity

Holy Saturday: O LORD, God of my salvation...

O LORD, God of my salvation;I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!

For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
You have put me in the depths of the pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves.

You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O LORD;
I spread out my hands to you.
Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you?

Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

But I, O LORD, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness. -Psalm 88 image by hoyasmeg

The spring morning here in Syracuse is simply breath-taking! The red, pink, orange sunrise, birds everywhere singing and flying around in almost a dance. Creation gives vision and voice to this holy weekend. Raymond had his coffee out on the patio early this morning and shared what he wrote in his journal: "These days have everything. Thursday is the promise of life; Friday is the pain of life and death; Saturday is the hope of life; and Saturday night and Sunday is the gift of the fullness of life both now and eternally. Oh blest four days of the year!" -PD

Good Friday: Come to Calvary's holy mountain...

Come to Calvary's holy mountain,
Sinners, ruined by the Fall;
Here a pure and healing fountain
Flows to you, to me, to all,
In a full, perpetual tide,
Opened when our Savior died.

Come in poverty and meanness,
Come defiled, without, within;
From infection and uncleanness,
From the leprosy of sin,
Wash your robes and make them white;
Ye shall walk with God in light.

Come in sorrow and contrition,
Wounded, impotent, and blind;
Here the guilty free remission,
Here the troubled peace, may find.
Health this fountain will restore;
He that drinks shall thirst no more.

He that drinks shall live forever;
'Tis a soul-renewing flood.
God is faithful; God will never
Break His covenant of blood,
Signed when our Redeemer died,
Sealed when He was glorified.
...James Montgomery image

Holy Thursday: So great and wonderful was the work...

"The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" Matthew 20:28

So great and wonderful was the work that Jesus had to do for the sinner, that nothing less was necessary than that he should give Himself to do that work. So great and wonderful was the love of Jesus towards us, that He actually gave Himself for us and to us. So great and wonderful is the surrender of Jesus, that all that same thing for which He gave Himself can actually and completely come to pass in us. For Jesus, the Holy, the Almighty, has taken it upon Himself to do it: He gave Himself for us. . . .And now the one thing that is necessary is that we should rightly understand and firmly believe this His surrender for us. . . .

When I receive Him, when I believe that He gave Himself to do this for me, I shall certainly experience it. I shall be purified through Him, shall be held fast as His possession, and be filled with zeal and joy to work for Him. ...Andrew Murray image

Full Meditation