Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Catholic / Anglican Church unity advances a step - Catholicireland.netCatholicireland.net

The Russian Veto Against Francis and Bartholomew

Pope Francis, Jesus, and Real Christian Charity - Jack Kerwick - Page 1

“Ecumenism from the bottom up: Now Vatican II is coming into effect” - Vatican Insider

G'Day Folks, I'll be away from the blog for a few days as I'm taking the other clergy from town on our annual fishing trip. This will be our 2nd trip into northwestern Quebec to Dumoine Lake Cottages . We spend our days fishing, praying, debating...  and eating. It's great fun!  We will return to our respective churches on Friday June 10th. I'll be back blogging upon my return. (Dumoine Lake is without a doubt the best walleye fishery for hundreds of miles around. The outfitter there possess 'exclusive rights' to all fishing and hunting and has developed a phenomenal fishery! )

I always knew that my old friend Fr. RJN was a trend setter. Too bad he didn't live to see these changes in the ecumenical movement he supported bear fruit. The Lutheran Landslide | Blogs | NCRegister.com

The seven different stories that Allen writes on in this article gives substance to the teachings of the church, and gives lie to those scoundrels who like to foist their maladroit parodies in place of what the church actually teaches and says. The part about the reform of the clerical penalties that the canon law offers to Bishops to discipline and punish obstinate or criminal priests proves that the church IS NOT using these punishments to 'hide' predator priests from civil authorities. The interview with Cardinal Kasper which demonstrates that ecumenism is alive and well; the efforts of the communications and social justice wings of the church to renew and institute 'best practices' procedures to improve the ability of the church to speak and teach. Taken together Mr, Allen paints a picture of, if not perfection, at least of vitality, renewal and holiness. Well worth the read. The Vatican beyond its worst days, and Rome beyond the Vatican | Nationa...

Authentic Ecumenism is bearing fruit! I say 'authentic' because this process has not been based upon reducing dogma to its lowest common denominator but rather it searches to find the truth of dogma that can be accepted by all. It is not a reductionist approach... it is one based upon a mutual understanding of belief. This news should give all Catholics, Roman & Orthodox a sense of joyful anticipation for a renewed sense of communion between our two rites.  Catholics and Orthodox report promising progress in latest round of unity talks | Analysis & Opinion |

Zenit.org published a report of an interview with Cardinal Levada, Cardinal Prefect and the 'dogmatic watchdog' of this pontificate in which he spoke extensively of the true nature of ecumenism. The interpretation he offers of Est Unum Sint is startling in its implications. His reasoning is as follows: the 'barque of Peter'  (thx M.L.) began its journey as one community of faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah.  It must be so again when Christ returns. To authentically recreate that nascent community of belief, all who profess salvation through one baptism into the paschal event of Christ as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all creation must be united in one "Catholic" Church, brought together in faith under the guidance/leadership of the petrine office. Sounds pretty closed-minded to me... which is why I continued reading with some trepidation to happily find that there is another authentic interpretation this papal encyclical. The Roman Catholic C...

If there has been one constant value that is evident in the pontificate of Benedict XVI (aka B16), it has been his creativity and openness to searching for ways of bringing back into the Catholic communion those who have broken away. His overtures to the Anglican communion and the Pius X Society have been well published and debated. This current overture to the Orthodox Churches is another example of his willingness to explore every avenue possible to heal the 1000+ year old rupture that split the western and eastern halves of the ancient Catholic Church. Clearly he is willing to explore new liturgical forms (as with the Anglicans). Now he has evidently opened up the possibility of redefining the role of Peter's successor in a way that maintains the essential truth of this divine office, while at the same time presenting it in a manner that is palatable to those in the Orthodox communion. Check out this article is you want to learn more.

Michael Brandon, on his blog " Freedom Through Truth " shares a wisdom he heard from his parish priest, Fr. John Pirt of the Diocese of London on this Third Sunday of Advent. Fr. John was a seminarian one year in advance of me at St. Peter's Seminary. I always thought he was a fine fellow. I appears that he is wise as well. The lesson that he drew from the Gospel of the day is an inspiration for those who are dealing with the great questions that exist between the various faiths of today. Thanks to him, and to Michael for sharing this wisdom with us. Fr. Tim Our priest Father John Pirt, preached a good homily about the Gospel today. He spoke of the 3 different types of people that came to John, the soldiers, the tax collectors, and the main stream of Jews. Each group, John met them where they were at. The soldiers, who were not Jews, but Roman occupiers, were able by their power to take from the people, and John told them to not to extort, nor falsely accuse and t...

The American Spectator has published an article focusing on the steps that Pope Benedict XVI has taken to bring back into full communion various groups that have split from the Roman Communion. A great deal of ink has been spilled over his overtures to Anglicans, but they point out as well the fact that Pope Benedict has also prepared the way for reunion with traditionalists and with the Orthodox Church. These steps are simply the actualization of what he said that he was going to do in his first homily as pontiff. We can only hope that his efforts will come to fruition in his lifetime.

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2009/11/manhattan-declaration58-a-call-of-christian-conscience#

Wayne has joined in conversation in the comment thread of my post on Reformation Day. Here is my response to him. Faith is a priori the first requirement for salvation. Without it, works, sacraments etc cannot be efficacious. With faith, the invitation of Jesus as Savior, Lord, Redeemer and Sanctifier inspires good works. With faith, Jesus can breathe life into believers through the sacraments. Who are we to say that He could not do so? If our goal is to receive His saving gift won for us through His blood shed on cross of Calvary, and not the empty worship of ritual, how can anyone object to the means that God uses to grace us? So long as we intend no insult, no blasphemy, how could God refuse to meet us wherever and whenever we turn to Him? His word alone guarantee's this divine promise. I acknowledge the presence of Christ within any Church that claims Jesus as its Lord and Savior. How can I deny the promise of scripture that He would be wherever "two or three" are...

Dear Visitor, A kind soul wrote me at the end of a spirited exchange between myself and some familiar characters who lurk through major Canadian news sites looking for opportunities to insult, demean and discourage Catholics. Implicit in her description of these folks as "trolls" can be found elements of fatigue and (charitable) dismissiveness of these internet threads. My experience has been different. I would appreciate comment on either argument. Thanks, My kind poster wrote: "Thank you Fr. Tim for being willing to defend the Catholic Church so well. From time to time I have participated in some very good conversations on this blog on various topics. I have learned though that there are some persons who frequent blogs that are called Trolls. In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of pro...