What I became aware of was that it was almost impossible to say ‘the Church teaching is’ within the Anglican church because there are so many various opinions on matters of sacraments, liturgy, morality, scripture etc. What I did not want to experience anymore was proclaiming the teaching of the Church only to end up defending myself rather than the Anglican church defending me. This has become an ever-increasing impossibility that is no secret to the entire Anglican world. My preaching would always be seen as a matter of personal opinion rather than having the authority of the Magisterium that backs up what I teach publicly. Of course there is dissent in the Catholic Church but it is always that, dissent towards what Mother Church proclaims as authoritatively true. It is the truth of Mother Church that I embrace as my own deep personal faith. (emphasis mine)
That’s the bottom line, dissenters within the church dissent against truth. The Anglican communion and some other denominations have a real problem defining truth and remember the bottom line, the only reason to be Christian in general and Catholic in particular is because it is true..
If it’s not then we are just a lion’s club that meets on Sundays.
Well as you might recall we lost Fr. Cutie a few weeks ago and I wrote this:
Over and over when I read about Anglican priests becoming Catholic we hear about the study of doctrine and the conclusion that the Church is true and right. On the other side we hear the I wants. The church doesn’t allow something that the person whats or objects to a sin that the person does, so they find a different church.
One group looks for truth and goes toward it, the other has sin and wants justification to allow it.
Though my time in Rome had quite a bit of emotion as I prayed, what I actually came to see was the end of the wrestling with these questions in my mind and heart. It was now time to act on what my conscience was saying to me for some time. It was time to surrender myself and submit to Mother Church knowing in faith that God would open doors. Here I saw the connection of what communio meant and how the union with Mother Church was now bringing me closer to Jesus where I am no longer to be in a party that is merely catholic-minded but am coming into communion with the Church of Jesus Christ which is in union with Saint Peter. This is my salvation. What I mean is that though I have continually been drawn closer to Jesus through worship, sacraments, and the cure of souls, this decision to move is a conversion to Christ that I have not yet experienced. I am now beginning to see how closely this final decision has drawn me to Jesus where what began ten years ago as a love discovered within the ceremonial beauty of worship has been God’s instrumental means of uniting me to the Catholic Church.
Finally, this leads me to my vocation to the priesthood and the cura animarum. I realise that I do not come to the Church making demands. I come offering my life to Jesus and to the Church as I seek his will for my life. For the time being, I am simply giving up being the teacher and am now becoming the student of Mother Church. What she does with me is in the best interest of her and God’s kingdom. As I said, the family is preparing to move to London in the near future to begin a new life of ministry and service. There will be more details forthcoming as things become confirmed to me.
This charismatic priest famously took his secret girlfriend, a divorced mother, to a public Florida beach and frolicked with her on the sand. This was a month ago, the scene was illicitly photographed and the images published on the pages of a Mexican tabloid. Before you could say “vows”, Fr Cutie, 40, was forced to give up his Miami Beach parish.
Barely had the Catholic community of south Florida recovered, when a surprise press conference was called on Thursday by Bishop Leo Frade of the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Miami. Fr Cutie was switching sides, leaving the Catholic faith to join the Episcopal Church, which is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Episcopalians, of course, don’t mind their priests canoodling, marrying even. Saying he had gone through a “spiritual and deep ideological struggle,” Fr Cutie said he was “continuing the call to spread God’s love” and paid tribute to the spiritual home he was fleeing. “I will always love the Catholic Church and all its members who are committed in their faith and have enriched my life in so many ways,” he said.
I’ll take this trade any day of the week. You have to go back to the 64 Cubs for a trade that lopsided.
In addition to the heart attack that Rosie O’Donnell and other 9/11 truthers might be having today over the president’s excellent Cairo speech, I noticed several oddities in the President’s speech that are worth addressing.
Oddity #1 the War coalition.
The president mentioned that 46 states are fighting with us. For years we have been hearing from the media about unilataral action of the Bush administration, suddenly we have 46 states. It’s amazing that so many countries have started to fight in the last 5 months. I don’t remember the White House announcing this.
Oddity #2 The call to prayer:
“I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan [the Muslim call to prayer] at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk.”
and
Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected president.
This was considered so hot that it was downplayed and almost denied during the campaign. In the reviews of this speech it is touted as is his name. How is it the media never noted it during 2008?
Oddity #3 They have killed Muslims? That’s news to us!
Indeed, none of us should tolerate these extremists. They have killed in many countries. They have killed people of different faiths – more than any other, they have killed Muslims. Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings, the progress of nations, and with Islam.
In terms of the speech saying aloud to a Muslim audience that more than any others Al Qaeda has killed Muslims is vital and important. It is a high point, but it will come as a surprise to many in our mainstream media. From what he have heard reported you would think that the “Iraqi Resistance” are just fighting occupation and it is the US that is slaughtering Muslim’s indiscriminately. Of course that mimiced the words of the president himself in the days before he held office. What a revelation this will be to the US media.
Oddity #4 Palestinian homeland
After going over the history of Jewish suffering; a vital thing to state; and meeting stone silence he says something interesting…
On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people – Muslims and Christians – have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they have endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighbouring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations – large and small – that come with occupation.
The president seems to have forgotten that Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza and pulled out on their own years ago. He also forgets that 60 years ago Egypt controlled Gaza and Jordan controlled the West Bank and nobody was calling for a Palestinian state at that time.
Oddity #5 Not from the heart of Texas
In endorsing Democracy the president said this:
Each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.
Maybe it’s just me but this sounded a whole lot a certain fellow from Texas who the media made fun of for speaking these kinds of principles. For reasons I can’t understand when these come from an inexperienced Chicago Poll they become words of power an inspiration but if we judge by our media they are just mindless platitudes when they come from a President from deep in the Heart of Texas.
It is worth noting that other than a bit of Palestinian fiction most of these oddities stem from media idolatry than anything else. Oh and you should read Israellycool for an excellent round up from various parties in the middle east.
(Actually you should read Israellycool anyways, it’s very good.)
Update 2 Another blogger used this example in a different context but this video fits the media reaction to this speech to a t:
Much of what the president said today President Bush has said in the past. Like the guys around the table the media didn’t react positively until the right person said it.
This speech is clearly the most important act so far of the Obama presidency. (My accidental live blog of it is here)
The Jim Geraghty rule not withstanding. He publicly said many things that needed to be publicly said to an Islamic audience in the Arab world. The idea that he is defending the education of woman and girls is incredible. The public statement that Al Qaeda killed thousands of innocent Americans. Many Islamists (and truthers) still think this is not the case.
This is comparable to the Reagan speeches on the Soviet Union. Saying things that need to be said. This is very important because his name IS Barack Hussian Obama these words give legitimacy to his words in the Arab world. That shouldn’t be the case but culturally it is. Obama is the only American president that could make this speech in the Islamic world and be heard.
This has the potential to be an earthquake in the Islamic world. If he does nothing else during his presidency this is going to be the moment he should be remembered for.
*****
None of this changes the type of pol he is. I still think he is an empty suit and a Corrupt Chicago pol but those limitations don’t hurt the effect or the importance of this speech. Remember Lincoln’s famous line concerning John Pope and his family. May he in this case have more success than Pope did.
I think that you have to walk before you run. Just getting some of the ideas out there in public in the Arab world by a source that isn’t repressed will make a crack in the dike that can break the Dam. I think this speech and the defense of Israel’s right to exist and historic suffering is incredible for that reason.
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