The Practical Parson

 With the recent election of a Woman to sit in the seat of St. Augustine at Canterbury; the Anglican world is yet again aflame with the half-a-century old debate on women's ordination.  Having written extensively in previous posts on the matter from a theological and philosophical perspective, which are still unconvincing to those most ardent supporters of women's ordination; it would seem a point of futility to argue the point any further.  However a cleric that I have known made the statement recently, that the ordination of men only, was only a "tradition" of the church; and argued that such could be changed by the church.  Unfortunately, this is not only untrue, but it degrades the very heart and essence of the priestly ministry to a position of non-consequence.  If such a thing were indeed true that the church alone created and could change the dignity and nature of the priesthood by popular acclaim, then the promised salvation and ever-abiding presence tha...

   “Holy Communion is not a reward for good behavior, but spiritual food for the starving!” While on the surface this may sound like a noble and pastoral sentiment, it underlies a lack of knowledge of the depth of the great mystery of Holy Communion, and a lack of respect for the dignity of the mystery itself.   While it is indeed true that Holy Communion is not a reward for good behavior, it must be understood quite clearly that the church has never held nor taught that only those who are on their best behavior are able to receive it.  Rather, the church advises and admonishes the faithful (as they are charged so to do, 1 Corinthians 11:27) to prepare themselves as best they may in order to receive the great mystery of our Lord’s true presence in the sacrament.  Why does the church do this?  Is it because they want to prevent sincere souls from seeking Christ?  Heaven forbid!  It is rather because the church truly loves those even outside of...

 December 28th and 29th are among the important feast days in the Christmas Season, as they are respectively the feast of the Holy Innocents and St. Thomas Becket (of Canterbury).  The feast of Holy Innocents commemorates the children of Bethlehem who were murdered on the order of king Herod; who was trying to kill the Christ Child in the mix.   The feast of Thomas Becket commemorates the great Archbishop of Canterbury who stood up to a corrupt king of England who demanded ever-increasing power and authority over aspects of human existence he had no right to, namely religion.   Ah, how quickly mankind progresses in its eternal march towards its ultimate demise!  Today our clergy and civic leaders demand that mothers be allowed to murder their own children in the womb because of "women's right to choose".  Even more clergy willingly and whole-heartedly cast aside their sacred duties in favor of legalistic mumbo-jumbo about "protections" under the l...