Our Lady of Hope Society

New Position

2008-10-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

This past week I began a new job in the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. I serve as the Director of Human Rights for the diocese. This job entails education to the diocese on the Church's teaching on social justice, outreach to the poor and marginalized through grants our office oversees, and advocacy for those on the margins through contact with elected officials.
Please pray for the work of our office, and I hope that readers would consider helping us in the work we do throughout the diocese in the areas of human rights. If you would like to find out how you can help, you can email me at huntz@diocesekcsj.org

Seeds and Sowing

2008-09-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

I've often thought that a person needs to know something about gardening and agriculture to understand many of the points Jesus is trying to make in the Gospels. Most of us live in cities and our lives are generally detached from the earth unless we have home gardens. Those of us who do know the value of these metaphors Jesus gives.
For example, gardeners know that things don't grow overnight, no matter how much Miracle Grow you put on it. Growth takes time and patience on our part. We also know that no matter how much effort we put into growing something, there is still a great deal that is outside our control that either helps or hinders our efforts. We don't control the weather, insects and other pests (though we're getting better at that!), or the other factors that help in the growth of plants. Nevertheless, if we don't do our part - plant, till, water, feed, remove weeds, protect the plants from pests as much as possible - then our garden will not be a success. We have to do our part and hope and pray for what is beyond our control to work in our favor.
The spiritual life is a lot like gardening, which is why farmers are such good church goers. We have to do our part in the growth of holiness within us, and yet it is God's initiative and work ultimately. Still, we have our part to do. That lesson is also true in maintaining parish life and new ventures like the Anglican Use. We do our part: invite others, advertise, live as a good example for others, and above all pray. We leave the rest to God.

Our First Liturgy

2008-09-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was our first liturgy of the word service for the Anglican Use at St. Therese Little Flower Church. Our practicing was well worth the effort as the community was treated to a lovely service. We still have some glitches to overcome; it is to be sure a work in progress as we all learn together.'

Fr. Davis gave a terrific presentation on the Catholic faith as already being present within the Anglican tradition. The continual references and prayers for the "holy, catholic church" in the Book of Common prayer and in the other official liturgical and catechetical texts of the Anglican tradition testify to that presence. What was found lacking, in Fr. Ernie's estimation, is the living of that reality. If we believe in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, where is it to be found on earth? Who claims to be this entity to which we must belong?

Only the Catholic Church makes such a claim, and so a person who realizes this fact faces three possible courses of action:

1. Remain in the Anglican/Episcopal Church and wait for corporate reunion, a task that has been at work for more than 100 years, but a reality that seems more remote with each passing day.

2. Find a local Catholic parish, sign up for RCIA, and belong to one of the geographical parishes in the Catholic Church.

3. Retain what is good, true, and beautiful in the Anglican tradition and celebrate it in the Catholic Church through the Pastoral Provision and the Anglican Use Liturgy.

No doubt many people have chosen options 1 and 2 with varying degrees of success. What we hope to establish here in Kansas City is the third option, and it is for that reason that Our Lady of Hope Society exists. With the blessing of Bishop Finn, we hope to make available this third option for those who desire such.

My Connection

2008-09-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Some people may be wondering how a cradle Catholic such as myself became involved with the Anglican Use liturgy. It began eleven years ago when I met my wife and we decided to marry. Cristen was a member of a continuing Anglican community, and through our marriage I learned a lot about the Anglican tradition. We often talked about, hoped, and prayed for unity between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.
When we lived in Dallas, however, we came to see what unity might look like in attending St. Mary the Virgin Parish in Arlington, Texas. It was a wonderful experience to be shepherded by Fr. Alan Hawkins and to experience the beauty of the Anglican tradition within the safety of Mother Church. That experience began a conversation in my wife’s home church in Kansas City about such a possibility for them. However, all was not yet in place for God’s plan to be carried out.
We moved to Kansas City four years ago and my wife attended her church while I attended my local Catholic parish. I was friends with the community of worshippers at Cristen’s Anglican community, particularly with the pastor, Fr. John Cochran. As their conversation about the Anglican Use grew more serious and eventually bloomed into a wonderful relationship with Fr. Davis and the people at St. Therese Parish, our prayers for unity were answered, though not perhaps in the way we had envisioned. God’s plans are always better than our own.
Now I find myself learning a new liturgy and helping others in their journey toward full communion with the Catholic Church. I can’t begin to say how happy I am that my family is worshipping together for the first time. I can’t begin to say how happy I am to be worshipping together with my in-laws and all these wonderful people I’ve known for years only slightly by acquaintance. It is great to know them now more intimately.
To quote perhaps the greatest Anglican theologian I know – Tiny Tim: “God bless, every one!

Preparing for Sunday Mass

2008-08-26T07:52:00.001-07:00

Here is a blog where you can read the upcoming Sunday readings and a reflection on how they are related to one another in a common theme. It is one way to prepare for Sunday Mass each week.
http://stmichaelsmusings.blogspot.com/

Corporate Communion - Dare We Hope?

2008-08-18T12:38:00.001-07:00

Here is an interesting article and interview with a large Anglican contingency that is seeking corporate communion with the Catholic Church. Let us hope and pray for a good outcome.

NewsPlus: Catholic Universe, Catholic world news headlines, with clutter cutter commentary.
August, 18 2008Traditional Anglican Communion primate discusses quest for union with Rome
Bishops of the TAC signed the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the altar during a Mass for unity. Archbishop John Hepworth, the worldwide leader of the Anglican group, speaks at length-- but with some diplomatic care-- about negotiations with the Holy See. This conversation touches on the most important issues in those talks:
Why don't Anglican priests enter the Catholic Church individually? Why are they looking for a corporate solution?
Will Anglican clerics accept the Vatican's judgment that they are not validly ordained, and will need to be (conditionally) "re-ordained" for ministry in the Catholic Church?
Could we possibly see the development of an Anglo-Catholic prelature? A distinct rite? What are the canonical options?
Have Catholic bishops shown enthusiasm about the possibilities? Or are they setting up roadblocks?
» VirtueOnline interview

Anglicans Who Want to Come Home

2008-08-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

The following is an article by Dr. Jeffrey Mirus, who has long been interested in an expanded form of the Anglican Use Liturgy and the Pastoral Provision. He comments on the recent Lambeth Conference and the private talks between the Vatican and groups of Anglicans who wish to enter the Catholic Church.

Anglicans Who Want to Come Home Posted Aug. 12, 2008 12:24 PM by Dr. Jeff Mirus

Both before and during the decennial meeting of the Anglican bishops at Lambeth (July 16 – August 3), Vatican officials were muted, to say the least, in their public responses toward Anglicans exploring the possibility of reunion with Rome. The intensity of such explorations heightens every few years as the Anglican Communion gradually disintegrates over such questions as the ordination of women, the blessing of homosexual unions, and the ordination of homosexuals as bishops.
In response to what seems like a growing opportunity for Rome, the public lack of Catholic interest can be confusing. Thus Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, has been heard to discourage the idea of large numbers of Anglicans abandoning their Church for Rome, and even Benedict XVI has publicly confined himself to encouraging Anglican leaders to address their internal divisions in fidelity to the Gospel.
At the same time, however, various Anglican bishops have been in communication with Cardinal Kasper and other Vatican officials about the possibility of being brought into the Church all at once with their dioceses and parishes, under an expanded application of the Pastoral Provision. This Provision was made in 1980 by John Paul II to permit married U.S. Episcopalian priests and some parishes to return to Rome while maintaining a distinctive identity through an approved form of the liturgy called the Anglican Use. At least one Anglican bishop has called for a generous response on the part of Rome, on an even larger scale, to accommodate bishops and dioceses desiring union with Rome throughout the world. While public response has been muted, there is ample evidence of talks proceeding privately behind the scenes.
The difference between the public and the private, of course, is that the public is largely conditioned by diplomatic and ecumenical concerns. It would be both undiplomatic and unecumenical to make statements welcoming breakaway Anglicans at the expense of alienating a far larger number of their coreligionists who are not yet ready to seek reunion with Rome. And of course Benedict XVI would like the Anglicans to settle their internal divisions with fidelity to the Gospel; how could he not? Not only is this right in itself, but such fidelity is all it would take to bring the entire communion closer to Rome. In this light, it is interesting to note that even Cardinal Kasper, in his own address at the Lambeth Conference, stressed that the Anglicans had to decide whether they were going to be an apostolic Church or a Protestant one, a decision which has always haunted Anglicanism, which is the result of a compromise. That choice is critical to ecumenical success—or failure.
But what of the pastoral care of those who are beginning to understand that full truth and sacramental security can be found only in communion with Rome? Whatever the wisdom of public reticence (the result of a debatable prudential judgment), such pastoral care clearly demands a different sort of response, and that’s exactly what all the private talks are about. If the interest persists now that the politics of Lambeth is behind us, we can expect something very different to emerge. We can expect arrangements to be made for those Anglican bishops who really do wish—with their people—to come home.

What is our role in the Church?

2008-08-11T06:38:00.001-07:00

Here is the text of the speech given by Archbishop John Myers, ecclesiastical delegate for the Pastoral Provision of the Anglican Use. He has some very profound thoughts on the importance of Church unity and the proper attitude of Catholics toward one another. It is easy to identify oneself within the Church based upon our liturgical or other spiritual preferences, which is important. However, there is a danger of developing an elitist or exclusivist mentality. It is important to remember our belonging in the larger Church where all legitimate liturgical disciplines and spiritualities are practiced.

Anyway, here is the link. What are people's thoughts on this talk? http://www.anglicanuse.org/files/Archbishop-Myers.pdf

Online book club

2008-08-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

For those who like to read, I want to invite you to a book chat that I organize online called Beyond the Pew. It's an online book club, and this selection may interest you.

We will be reading "A Man for All Seasons" by Robert Bolt, a stage play about St. Thomas More. This story is a nice review of the history of the Anglican reformation and a heroic life of Thomas More.

Here is the link to that blog: http://stmichaelbeyondthepew.blogspot.com/ All are welcome to participate. You can get a copy of the book at any bookstore, at amazon.com, or my parents' bookstore http://www.promultis.com/.

I would be happy to organize a viewing of the movie version of this play starring Paul Scofield and Orson Welles. Enjoy the book and happy chatting!

Welcome!

2008-08-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome everyone to our blog feature for the Our Lady of Hope Society. Here is a place to learn more about the Catholic faith, share your experiences of faith, and to communicate with others about the experience of Anglicans and Episcopalians in the Catholic Church here in the Kansas City area.

If you have seen our website, you know that the Our Lady of Hope Society is a chapter of the Anglican Use Society, a national organization that spreads information to others about the Pastoral Provision of the Anglican Use. Our mission is to carry out that purpose here in the Kansas City area.

This blog can also be a place to share your experiences about our upcoming events scheduled for the fall. Please check the announcements page of our website for times, dates, and topics for those events.