CHURCH CARTOONS FOR EASTER WEEK

 

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but I can't give credit or blame for the cartoons, because I don't know who sent them. Thank you to whomever.

PORN STAR STORMY DANIELS MAY RUN AS A REPUBLICAN

 

From NOLA.com:

Playing off the recent Republican National Committee scandal in which the party spent almost $2,000 to entertain donors at a West Hollywood sex-themed nightclub, porn actress Stormy Daniels announced today that she is a switching from being a lifelong Democrat to becoming a Republican.

Daniels, a Baton Rouge native whose real name is Stephanie Gregory Clifford, has said she will announce April 15 whether she plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican David Vitter. If she makes that run, she said, she will do so as a member of the GOP.
....

"After months of careful deliberation and consult as to the true nature of my political affiliation I am ready today to declare that should I seek the office of US Senator from the great state of Louisiana that I will do so as a Republican.

"While this decision has not been an easy one, recent events regarding Republican National Committee fundraising at Voyeur, an LA based lesbian bondage themed nightclub finally tipped the scales.

"As I have said for well over a year, it is time that our government and our tax policy begin rewarding entrepreneurship and creativity again. It is time again to inspire positive risks and out-of-the-box thinking in the interest of growing a strong economy and a strong America (My emphasis)

I agree with Stormy. Republicans think waaay out of the box for their meetings. And how better to grow the economy than to give business to lesbian bondage themed nightclubs? I can't wait to hear about the Republicans' escapades during the meeting in New Orleans that starts tomorrow.

Stormy against David Vitter in the Republican primary could be quite an interesting match.

PRESIDING BISHOP JEFFORTS SCHORI'S LETTER TO THE PRIMATES

March 2010

My dear brothers in Christ:

I write you because of developments in The Episcopal Church, about which you will soon hear and read. As you all know, the Diocese of Los Angeles elected two suffragan bishops in December, and the consent process for those bishops has been ongoing since then. One of those bishops-elect is a woman in a partnered same-sex relationship.

At this point, she has received consent from a majority of the bishops with jurisdiction, and a majority of the standing committees of this Church. According to our canons, I must now take order for her consecration. I will do so, and anticipate that both bishops-elect will be consecrated at the same service on 15 May. It has been my practice, since I took office, to preside at the consecration of new bishops, and I intend to do so in this case as well.

It may help you to know that our House of Bishops will continue to discuss these issues at our meeting later this month. The papers we discuss will be available publicly following that meeting, and we will endeavor to see that you receive copies. I would encourage you to engage in conversation any bishops whom you know in this Church, particularly those you came to know at Lambeth, whether in Bible study or Indaba groups.

Know that this is not the decision of one person, or a small group of people. It represents the mind of a majority of elected leaders in The Episcopal Church, lay, clergy, and bishops, who have carefully considered the opinions and feelings of other members of the Anglican Communion as well as the decades-long conversations within this Church. It represents a prayerful and thoughtful decision, made in good faith that this Church is ‘working out its salvation in fear and trembling, believing that God is at work in us’ (Philippians 2:12-13).

I ask your prayers for this Church, for the Diocese of Los Angeles, and for the members of the Anglican Communion. This part of the Body of Christ has abundant work to do, and God’s mission needs us all.

If you have questions about this decision or process, I would encourage you to contact me. I would be glad to talk with you.

I pray that your ministry may continue to be a transformative blessing to many. I remain

Your servant in Christ,

Katharine Jefferts Schori

There it is, fellows. A good letter, yes?

I smiled at the PB's "My dear brothers in Christ" greeting. No need for sisters to be included in the greeting, because PB Katharine is unique in the whole of the Anglican Communion. Perhaps one day, in the not-too-distant future, just as Bishop Gene Robinson will no longer be the sole bishop in TEC in an open, same-sex relationship after Bishop-elect Mary Glasspool is consecrated, Bishop Katharine will not be the sole female Primate in the AC.

H/T to Diocese of East Tennessee via John Chilton at The Lead.

JESUS APPEARS AT EMMAUS

Doug Blanchard - "Jesus Appears at Emmaus"

Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over. "So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?"

Luke 24:25-32

Preface for Wednesday in Easter Week:

O God, whose blessed Son did manifest himself to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open, we pray thee, the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, p. 223

Last year during Lent and Easter, Doug gave me permission to use a number of his paintings here at Wounded Bird. The painting above is one in a series of paintings titled "The Passion of Christ". Doug blogs as Counterlight at Counterlight's Peculiars. I hope that my permission to use his painting extends through this year. The more I look at Doug's paintings, the more I like them.

A FRESH BREEZE BLOWS ACROSS CHARLESTON

Bishops Mark Lawrence of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and William Love of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany are members of the Communion Partners, bishops and clergy who, to one degree or another, have one foot in and one foot out of the Episcopal, or if their feet are still planted in the Episcopal Church, they are not happy campers. One wonders if either or both bishops will, in the not-so-distant future, decide to bolt to ACNA, where, in their heart of hearts, it seems they long to be.

The Episcopalians in the two dioceses who are rather more loyal to the Episcopal Church than their bishops, feel a lack of pastoral care from the heads of their dioceses and have banded together to support each other and the Episcopal Church.

From the website of Episcopal Forum of South Carolina:

The mission of the Episcopal Forum in the Diocese of South Carolina is to preserve unity with diversity in the Diocese and within The Episcopal Church through the inclusion of a broad range of Scriptural understandings and by upholding the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church and the democratic actions of its Conventions and elected leaders.

Openly Episcopal in Albany states:

Our goal will be to raise the visibility of The Episcopal Church throughout the diocese, and encourage our parishes and leadership to remain Episcopal in Albany.

Fr. Frank Wade, who teaches in the doctoral program at Virginia Theological Seminary, recently spoke to the Episcopal Forum in South Carolina on why he is "enthusiastically Episcopalian". Here's a snippet from Fr. Wade's speech:

If I were to see our Church in a specific Gospel story, I would suggest the Road to Emmaus. In that account two people were walking from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus on Easter Day. They were fully aware of the crucifixion and had heard rumors of the resurrection. They were dong their best to figure it all out. During their conversation, Jesus, unrecognized, joined them and guided their discussion to a deeper understanding. At the conclusion of their journey they had a meal and it is said that they recognized the Lord in that great Eucharistic phrase "the breaking of the bread." I would suggest that our Church is still on the Emmaus road, confident that when we are in conversation our Lord joins us and deepens our understanding.

I know you want to read the entire speech.

I've read and quoted enough of the whining, self-pitying, and sanctimonious words of Bishop Mark Lawrence to recognize Fr. Wade's words as a breath of fresh air blowing across Charleston on the day he spoke.

Openly Episcopal in Albany, will have the privilege of a visit from Fr. Wade to St Paul's Church in Albany on April 10. If you're nearby, I'd recommend that you go. Details below.

What: Communion, Covenant, Conversation: Being Episcopalian and Anglican
Who: The Rev. Dr. Frank Wade, presenter
Where: St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 21 Hackett Blvd., Albany
When: Saturday, April 10, 2:00 PM

For further information, call 518-453-3657

NOTE: If you have difficulty accessing PDF files, the text of Fr. Wade's speech in Charleston is also available at Openly Episcopal.

HOW CRUEL!

Remember Constance McMillen, who wanted to take her girl friend to the prom at Itawamba High School in Fulton, Mississippi? Box Turtle Bulletin has the latest word on the story, which has an unbelievably cruel ending.

McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn’t much to keep an eye on.

“They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them,” McMillen says. “The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to.”

Last week McMillen asked one of the students organizing the prom for details about the event, and was directed to the country club. “It hurts my feelings,” McMillen says.

To add more cruelty to the situation, the fake prom was apparently meant to be the “freak” prom. In addition to Constance and her girlfriend, two others with learning disabilities, were among the five others who were there. Meanwhile, the rest of the class attended the real prom which was held at a secret location.

How can the students and parents who participated in this cruel hoax live with themselves? I wonder how many are church-going "Christians".

UPDATE: See Oyster's post at Your Right Hand Thief. Oh yeah!

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME

A famous industrial efficiency expert concluded his lecture with a note of caution: "You don't want to try these techniques at home."

"Why not?" asked somebody from the audience.

"For years I watched my wife's routine at breakfast," the expert explained. "She made lots of trips between the refrigerator, stove, table, and cabinets, more often than not carrying only a single item at a time. One day I asked her, 'Hon, why don't you try carrying several things at once?'"

"Did it save time?" the person in the audience asked.

"Actually, yes," replied the expert. "Previously, it would take her twenty minutes to make breakfast. Now I do it in seven."


Thanks to Paul (A.), who is still despondent because I didn't use his April Fool's Day joke. I hope that my use of his joke here cheers him up.

NEW ORLEANS TO BE INVADED BY GOP

From TPM:

Conservative activists, presidential hopefuls and Republican officials descend on New Orleans Thursday for the 3-day Southern Republican Leadership Conference -- the first big test of 2012 mettle since President Obama scored his health care victory. It's also the first major GOP event in a city devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which contributed to the end of Republican rule in Washington.

From Sarah Palin to Mike Pence the Republicans who may challenge Obama two years from now will attempt to win over conservatives at one of the premiere events for the GOP. Just about everyone considering a bid will appear, except former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is finishing out his book tour. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will address the conference via video. Pawlenty is opting to attend a welcome-home ceremony for soldiers returning from Iraq instead.

Below is the list of Republican hopefuls who will grace New Orleans with their awesome presences.

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN)
Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK)

Ta-dah! A star-studded event, surely. Shall I make my reservations? Ah, but they're coming Thursday, so it's probably too late to reserve one of the best rooms.

I say bring it on, guys. Bring your money with you, and spend, spend, spend like there's no tomorrow. Lots of - ah - interesting entertainment, you know. New Orleans needs your bucks.

Another potential candidate, Liz Cheney, will appear.

The conference opens Thursday morning and the first big speaking events will be that night when Mary Matalin, Cheney, Newt Gingrich and JC Watts address the crowd. Friday kicks off the big show, with Palin, Jindal and Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaking in the afternoon. Saturday afternoon will feature Pawlenty's video address, Paul, Pence, Santorum, RNC Chairman Michael Steele and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.

And our governor, Bobby Jindal, will not simply have a night with the stars, he will BE one of the stars.

THREE NEW BLOGS

1. Joshua at Sic Deus Lixet Mundum. Joshua is not only a new blogger but a new Episcopalian. He was received into the Episcopal Church on Ash Wednesday. Welcome into the fold, Joshua.

2. Laurie and Mary at Dirty Sexy Ministry. What to say about Laurie and Mary? The two young women are Episcopal priests, from Louisiana, of all places!!! and they are quite naughty, as you would never guess by the name of their blog.

3. Episcopal Bear at - well, um - Episcopal Bear. EB left the following comment at Wounded Bird:

Psst! Grandmère Mimi?

Off topic, but wanted to let you know that I've shamelessly swiped your "Windsor Compliance" statement. Crediting you as the source, of course!

Check out Episcopal Bear, my new blog & contribution to Teh Librul Wing of Teh Episcopal Blogosphere.

New Bloggers, hear me. Now that I've linked to your blogs, you'd best keep writing, so I won't need to do a retraction of my recommendations. I hate it when I have to do that.

I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!

From the AP via the Times-Picayune:

It was the Catholic calendar's holiest moment — the Mass celebrating the resurrection of Christ. But with Pope Benedict XVI accused of failing to protect children from abusive priests, Easter Sunday also was a high-profile opportunity to play defense.

"Holy Father, on your side are the people of God," Cardinal Angelo Sodano told the pontiff, whom victims of clergy sexual abuse accuse of helping to shape and perpetuate a climate of cover-up. Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, dismissed those claims as "petty gossip."

The ringing tribute at the start of a Mass attended by tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square marked an unusual departure from the Vatican's Easter rituals, infusing the tradition-steeped religious ceremony with an air of a papal pep rally.

Dressed in gold robes and shielded from a cool drizzle by a canopy, Benedict looked weary during much of the Mass, the highlight of a heavy Holy Week schedule. But as he listened intently to Sodano's paean, a smile broke across the pope's face, and when the cardinal finished speaking, Benedict rose from his chair in front of the altar to embrace him.

"[A]n air of a pep rally"? I suppose the characterization will be labeled as more persecution by the media.

Jewish leaders, and even some top Catholic churchmen, were angered after Benedict's personal preacher, in a Good Friday sermon, likened the growing accusations against the pope to the campaign of anti-Semitic violence that culminated in the Holocaust.

The preacher, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, told Corriere della Sera daily in an interview Sunday that he had no intention "of hurting the sensibilities of the Jews and of the victims of pedophilia," expressed regret and asked for forgiveness.

He was quoted as saying that the pope wasn't aware of what the sermon would say beforehand, and that no Vatican officials read the text before the Good Friday service.

The apology satisfied one Jewish leader, Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants.

"Now that he has apologized and the Vatican has distanced itself from those remarks, the matter is closed," Steinberg said in a statement.

Since Fr Cantalamessa apologized, I won't say more about the matter, either.

Meanwhile back in Anglicanland comes another apology.

From the BBC:

The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed his "deep sorrow" for any difficulties caused by his comments about the Catholic Church in Ireland.

His claim that the Church had lost all credibility because of its handling of child abuse by priests was criticised by both Catholic and Anglican clergy.

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said he was "stunned".

Dr Rowan Williams later telephoned Archbishop Martin to insist he meant no offence to the Irish Catholic Church.

BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott said Dr Williams' words represented unusually damning criticism from the leader of another Church.

Did Archbishop Williams speak anything but the truth? It seems to me that he had nothing for which to apologize. Once again, the ABC waffles and ends up pleasing no one.

STORY OF THE DAY - NO MORE SECRET

I will always remember the day the sun
shone dark on your hair & I forgot
where we were & kissed you lightly on
the nose & suddenly there was no more
secret.


THOSE WERE THE DAYS!




Not the best quality picture or sound, but the best I could find of the original performance of the song by Mary Hopkin. There's another with sound quality that's a bit better, but the video is so terribly out of sync that it makes me crazy.

From StoryPeople.

I KNOW IT'S STILL EASTER, BUT...

GLOBAL FACTS ABOUT SEX


AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT:


FACT:

79,000,000 people are engaged in sex - right now.


FACT:

58,000,000 are kissing.


FACT:

37,000,000 are relaxing after having sex.


FACT:

1 odd person is reading this blog.


YOU HANG IN THERE SUNSHINE......


Doug strikes again!

CHRIST IS RISEN! ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!

 

GRECO, El - "The Resurrection" - 1577-79
Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, Toledo

EASTER COLLECT

Almighty God,
through your Son Jesus Christ
You overcame death and opened to us
the gate of everlasting life;
grant us so to die daily to sin,
that we may evermore live with him
in the joy of his resurrection:
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.

(New Zealand Prayer Book, p.593)

Painting from the Web Gallery of Art.

HAPPY EASTER!

 

 

 

From Doug and me to all of you.

TENEBRAE RESPONSORIES

 

MadPriest at Of Course, I Could Be Wrong posted a Hipcast of a lovely version of the Holy Saturday Victoria: Tenebrae Responsories. You may want to have a listen. I liked the music so that I bought the album from eMusic.

CHRIST IN THE TOMB

 

HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger - "The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb" - Kunstmuseum, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basle

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:12-16

Not a pretty picture, is it? Click on the painting for the enlargedment. The painting shocked me upon first view, but it seems a realistic portrayal of a decaying body.

Note on the painting from the Web Gallery of Art:

Portraits apart, this is perhaps Holbein's most striking image. Since Dostoevsky's observations in the nineteenth century, which dwelt on the forbidding aspects of physical decay and bodily corruption, the painting has been seen as the product of a mind steeped in the apocalyptic horrors that were unleashed by the first phase of the Reformation. But what is known of Holbein's phlegmatic interpretation of the human condition belies this interpretation. Modern authorities suggest that Holbein intended to stress the sheer miracle of Resurrection and its imminence, since the minutely-observed level of decay in the gangrenous wounds suggests that we see Christ's body three days after death.

An inscription in brush on paper, 'IESUS NAZARENUS REX IUDAEORUM', borne above the painting by angels holding the instruments of the Passion, precludes its use as a predella panel (at the base of an altarpiece), as does our viewpoint of the body. Instead, a role as an object of contemplation, a reminder of Christ's sufferings and mortification and his subsequent triumph, is suggested. Such practices flourished from the late middle ages and account in part for the many representations of the dead Christ from Lombardy (the Bellinis in Venice also produced several). Mantegna's famous version grapples with artistic as well as religious problems in its dramatic foreshortening, which are not fully resolved. By contrast, Holbein's draughtsmanship appears masterly.

An unverified tradition asserts that a drowned body fished out of the Rhine served the painter as a model for the figure of Christ lying in the tomb. Even if it is not true, the legend is a telling testament to the terrifying realism of Holbein's depiction of a corpse in a state of rigor mortis.

NO BLESSING FOR YOU

Ruth Gledhill in the Times:

Like a Druidic emissary from Tuatha Dé Danaan, the mythic inhabitants of Ireland, the Archbishop of Canterbury will lob a spiritual depth charge at Pope Benedict XVI on Monday when he damns the Catholic Church in Ireland as having lost all credibility.

Dr Williams also reveals on the BBC Radio 4 programme Start the Week that he is withholding his blessing from Anglicans who choose to take advantage of the Pope’s offer of a special home in the Catholic Church for disaffected Anglicans. “God bless them. I don’t,” he says, witheringly.

Ruth also comments on Fr Cantalamessa's sermon at the Good Friday service which the pope attended on Good Friday.

His [Dr Williams] difficulties are as nothing compared with the child abuse tsunami that threatens to drown Roman Catholicism. Yesterday it got a whole lot worse for the Roman Catholic Church when the Pope’s personal preacher, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, likened accusations against the Pope and the Church in the sex abuse scandal to the “collective violence suffered by the Jews”.

H/T to Марко at Amictus Sindone for the link to the Times.

UPPING THE ANTE

From the New York Times:

A senior Vatican priest speaking at a Good Friday service compared the uproar over sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church — which have included reports about Pope Benedict XVI’s oversight role in two cases — to the persecution of the Jews, sharply raising the volume in the Vatican’s counterattack.
....

Benedict sat looking downward when the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, who holds the office of preacher of the papal household, delivered his remarks in the traditional prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica. Wearing the brown cassock of a Franciscan, Father Cantalamessa took note that Easter and Passover were falling during the same week this year, saying he was led to think of the Jews. “They know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms,” he said.
....

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi stressed that Father Cantalamessa’s sermon represented his own private thoughts and was not “an official statement” from the Vatican.

Posted without commentary.

MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

 

Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) 1954, by Salvador Dali

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
....

Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

(Psalm 22:1-2, 9-11)

In a wonderful essay at the Daily Episcopalian, Christopher Evans reminds us to connect the Incarnation (which is more than a pretty story!) to the Crucifixion. My heart leaped as I read, because I find that connection somewhat lacking in the present day liturgies. When Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem for the purification ceremony, old Simeon had a word or two to say:

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

(Luke 2:33-35)

In his essay, Evans says:

In working to correct an imbalance, it seems that now we want little to do with a pained and suffering God; with a God who nurses, shits, and bleeds; with a God who identifies with flesh, blood, and bone definitively. The Nativity, the Incarnation, is reduced to sweet manger scenes and gifts of sweets. The cross is an after thought to the joys of Easter. We want nothing of the Creator who, in J.S. Bach’s words for St. John’s Passion, dies.

But without this bodiliness, this fleshliness, the Resurrection becomes a ghostly thing.

That God came down, that God took upon God's own self the human form to become one of us, to live as we live, to struggle as we struggle, to love and take joy in human companionship, and, finally, to suffer and die, and to be raised up, flesh and blood, is the miracle of Christmas, and the miracle of Easter, and the miracle of our salvation.

As Evans says:

It is this fleshly God, Jesus Christ, who goes all the way for us that captures my heart and imagination, that makes utterly awesome the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Communion of Saints, the Creation, the Holy Communion.

Amen!

"MY EPISCOPAL CHURCH"

Title and video "borrowed" from Ann at What the Tide Brings In.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - GOOD WILL

Good will that is purchased is worth nothing at all.

A REMINDER - JESUS IN LOVE BLOG SERIES

From the The Jesus in Love Blog:

A queer version of Christ’s Passion is running in daily installments this week from Palm Sunday through Easter. Each daily post features a queer Christian painting and an excerpt from the novel Jesus in Love: At the Cross by Kittredge Cherry.

The paintings of our friend Doug Blanchard, aka Counterlight, are featured in the series, along with other artists.

MARIE'S LETTER TO THE POPE

From Marie Fortune at the FaithTrust Institute:

In fairness to the Pope, there is probably nothing he could have said to the church in Ireland that would be sufficient to bring healing to the thousands of survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of pedophile priests. Too little, too late. I don’t think anyone ever imagined the numbers of victims, the numbers of abusive priests, and the material (not to mention the spiritual) cost facing the Roman Catholic Church. But as the crisis erupts again in Europe and the U.S. with serious questions being raised about the Pope himself, one has to wonder if the men in charge have learned anything in the past 20 years. It would appear not.

If the Vatican were to ask me for advice on how to handle this situation (which they will not), here are my ten steps to justice and healing....

Read Marie's advice to the pope. I can't think of one word that I'd want to add.

Thanks to Ann for the link.

MAUNDY THURSDAY

 

"Sacrament of the Last Supper" - Salvador Dali

While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the* covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’

(Mark 14:22-25)

HOLY THURSDAY

Is this a holy thing to see
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduced to misery,
Fed with cold and usurous hand?

Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
And so many children poor?
It is a land of poverty!

And their sun does never shine,
And their fields are bleak and bare,
And their ways are filled with thorns:
It is eternal winter there.

For where'er the sun does shine,
And where'er the rain does fall,
Babes should never hunger there,
Nor poverty the mind appall.

William Blake - Songs of Experience

But he [Jesus] answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’

(Mark 6:37)

WENCHOSTER CALENDAR - APRIL

 

 

In her regular feature in the Pharisaios Journal, "The Word From Wormingdale", Canon Daphne Pullover reflects on the season:

Easters that fall after the start of British Summer Time give us lighter mornings in which to contemplate the encounter in the garden between a weeping woman and a stranger. It always reminds me of a walk I took one early morning across the meadows at the back of the village and adjacent to the river. The mist was rising and the usual path looked unfamiliar. As I came down to the old footbridge I sensed rather than saw a figure standing on it, but I still jumped with fright when it turned round and lifted its arms above its head. “Jesus Christ!” I exclaimed as I fell backwards on to the grass. The figure advanced towards me as I lay spread-eagled on the damp sod. I felt a warm flush as it reached out a gnarled hand towards me to help me up. “Morin’ Reverend,” said a familiar voice. “Did oi startle ‘ee?” Recognition was instant, and I gently cuffed Sam Pharlap round the ear. “What are you doing down here you old beggar?” I said. “You frightened me half out of my wits.” It turned out that Sam was engaged in his usual pursuit of pheasant boggling, an old Wenchostershire tradition dating back to the 16th century.

Down in the church the aisles are heavy with scent from the arum lilies, and the tower damp with the perspiration of the ringers. Warm spring breezes blow across the churchyard, stirring the small posies of flowers that people have laid on the graves of their loved ones. Homely Easter traditions – flowers and bells and remembrance and feasting. The Gospels speak of the same things – the women bringing scented spices and oils to the tomb, the feast of fish and honeycomb in the Upper Room, bread and wine at Emmaus, no doubt with flowers placed on the table by the innkeeper’s wife. In the vestry the choir practice their celebratory anthem, and I hear the steady clicking of the organist’s metronome atop the piano.

William Wordsworth’s wild daffodils spread themselves in the new churchyard grass and on the Village Green. Seagulls winging inland from the coast swoop and wheel low above the greening crops, ever looking for their Easter feast. I can see them still from my bedroom window. Such energy – the flying of miles for a small snack, so unlike human energy, exhausted after a day’s hike from Jerusalem to Emmaus – just one thing on their mind – refreshment, and then maybe more conversation with their odd companion. Then after the disappearance such renewed vigour in their hurrying back to the city. The Easter tales are all go, scurrying hither and thither, such tales to tell.

Low Sunday is always an anti-climax, but this year I shall be busy for there is to be a family reunion in Wenchoster. Second cousins I have not seen for decades will meet me in the Thorpe Hotel for lunch. Aunt Phoebe is coming all the way from Nantucket to be with us, and Aunt Geraldine is flying in from new Zealand. We will be a merry gathering, and as it is to take place in a respectable County hotel, we will, of course, be wearing hats.

Aunt Phoebe, my mother’s youngest sister, always reminds me of Aunt Ada Doom in Cold Comfort Farm, who took to her bed after seeing something nasty in the woodshed. Phoebe took to her bed for a year following the break-up of her marriage to Grigori Stanislaus. She had been warned about his predilection for vodka, but when she came home one evening to find him in bed with a goat it was all too much for her. Even now she cannot abide vodka. To my mother she was always the proverbial black sheep of the family. The following day I shall take them on a tour of the sights of Wenchostershire. We shall wander through the Gussetts and explore Balldrop Down.

I am always exhausted after the liturgical round of Holy Week and Easter, and I look forward to a few days off afterwards. There will be time to attend to the garden, recovering after the harsh winter. Kevin will turn up with his implements and together we will turn over the beds.

MAUNDY THURSDAY

 

 

In the merry month of May, I shall be visiting the Diocese of Wenchoster. Bishop Roderick Codpiecium invited me to be his guest, and I simply could not refuse his gracious invitation.