Phathyr's Sermons and Stories

There is much I revere and respect about the Roman Church, at least on a theological level.  There are also things that I don't buy into such as the Marian Dogmas, the Roman version of Purgatory, the all male priesthood and the obsessive legalism which seems to pervade her, not to mention that my take on the Gospel and the teachings of Our Lord are considered much too liberal for her tastes.


We Episcopalians and Anglicans are not immune from our own versions of hypocrisy but at least we seem to be attempting to confront them when they rear its ugly head.  However, the hypocrisy of Rome has gone to the point where it betrays the Gospel.  The fact that the hierarchy continues to diminish (a deeper word needs to be found) the abuse of children by priests while opening an all out assault on the backbone of the Church, her Nuns, is about as anti-Christian as one can get.  The hierarchy of the Roman Church has lost all credibility.  The Roman laity continue to uphold the Gospel and live the teachings of Jesus while their "leaders" drag the Church further and further back into the Medieval and Dark Ages.  


I can never deny the validity of the Eucharist of the Roman Church.  It's the same as the Anglican Eucharist.  But the celebration of this most Blessed Event by the hierarchy has become an abomination in and of itself.  To celebrate the Mass while at the same time subjugating women, condemning gay people as "unnatural," accumulating wealth, power and status which could alleviate most of the suffering on the planet may just be an abomination.  Celebrating the very presence of Christ himself while denying and willingly rejecting what he taught is the very definition of sin.  Claiming to hold absolute truth while while living a lie is totally contrary to the message for which Christ went to the Cross. 


I don't want to judge the leaders of Roman Church - as Our Lord has forbidden such things, and rightfully so.  And it certainly is not the place of a simple parish priest of little status to cast aspersions on Successors to the Apostles.  But, as a baptized Christian who vows to "work for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being," to sit back and say nothing concerning these things is to give tacit approval.  As a priest, called to pastor and teach, to say nothing is to be a false witness to those to whom I am responsible.  And as a human being, to sit back and say nothing - and do nothing - while my fellow humans are degraded and belittled, even denied their full humanity, especially in the name of Christ, is to betray my own humanity.  


There is little a simple, rather insignificant (and gladly so!) Episcopal parish priest can do to set right the wrongs of another and more powerful institution, let alone his own.  But I can and do pray, and invite you to do the same.  Pray for a new heart for the Bishop of Rome and his henchmen.  Pray for strength, fortitude and courage for the Roman Catholic laity and the thousand of faithful priests and nuns that serve them.  And pray for ourselves.

O Gracious One, we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior.  

Amen. 

                 From The Book of Common Prayer (1979), adapted.