The Pachyderm In The Parish

Most Precious Blood Ordinariate Church, London UK

There are two rivers: one is healthy, teeming with fish; the other is drying up, a mere trickle, unable to sustain life. The first is a parish fully oriented to the Apostolic Tradition, to truth, beauty and to goodness. The second is a community marked by a preoccupation with - and an idolatry of - progressive ideology.

The headline reads: Island churches’ urge to merge: Two Saanich parishes are part of trend

https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/island-churches-urge-to-merge-two-saanich-parishes-are-part-of-trend-1.24046355

Two United Church parishes in Saanich are attempting to get ahead of any upcoming decline in attendance by merging.

The article continues:

Rev. Cheryl Black, St. Aidan’s lead minister, said the coming amalgamation is driven by a shared vision. “We both believe the progressive Christian voice needs to be a strong voice and we both believe we will be stronger together.

The United Church of Canada (UCC), which continues to hemorrhage members since it jumped into bed with the zeitgeist some years back, is in denial about its slow demise. The UCC constantly seeks to reinvent itself, employing every failing strategy to prop itself up. Likewise, the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) meanders blindfolded among landmines hidden in a field of progressive ideologies.

Of course, there is no convincing a group of obstinate regressive ideologues that their best efforts are off-target because the UCC has been and continues to be way off message, and it prefers, if official mission statements are any indication, its anarchic way to the way of Jesus Christ. Why, then, should anyone invest in an ideology-driven entity that offers a message that is virtually identical to spiritually empty radical socialism?

The so-called "progressive Christian voice" lauded by the Rev. Cheryl Black, which lacks the integrity and authority of the Apostolic Tradition entrusted to the Catholic Church, is hardly a Christian voice. The UCC is, as some have described, merely the NDP Party at prayer, whatever prayer means to pundits and politicos of the regressive left.

Sadly, too, a Catholic voice is missing the import of the signs and he strains to maintain a positive perspective.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria, which extends across Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, has a relatively stable membership, boosted by an influx of immigrant families from countries such as the Philippines or those in Latin America. But Victoria Diocese Bishop Gary Gordon said a shortage of ordained priests is forcing parishes to adjust. Six in the capital region are now twinned, with one priest administering to two parishes or sharing other resources, such as bookkeeping.

[...]

Both Gordon and Anglican Bishop Logan McMenamie say modern circumstances are a challenge, but also represent new opportunities to remake their churches for a healthier future. Gordon envisions a future where parishes are less priest-driven and reach out to their various congregations for assistance and guidance. “I see this as embracing our poverty to open us up to possibilities of the Holy Spirit to create a more collaborative leadership in the church,” said Gordon.

Like too many of his peers in the hierarchy, the good Bishop of Victoria seems to be missing the evidence of God's blessing among those referred to as traditional Catholics. At the risk of sounding presumptuous, it would seem to this blogger that thriving traditional communities are a sign of God's blessing, an affirmation of God's will for the Church here and now. Many vocations are appearing in communities populated by a committed laity, that is, "intentional Catholics", Catholics who own the Faith in the best sense of ownership by being loving, lively and loyal. Whereas, those singing the progressive dirge are too timid (or offended by the thought of having) to actually believe and behave as Christians should.

Those deaf to the Spirit's call persist in offering wayward liturgies, half-baked catechesis marred by heterodoxy, homilies filled with platitudes and cheap humor and anything but biblical exegesis, and by incessantly issuing pleas for more money, hard-earned cash that ends up in the hands of bad actors representing bad causes.

Proponents of progressive religion (i.e., regressive ideology) are incapable of appreciating that communities that host older, more reverent forms of the Mass are steadily growing in numbers, and are blessed with an abundance of diverse blessings. It would appear that the actual message spoken by that Voice, the Voice that is "forcing (Bishop Gordon's) parishes to adjust", is falling on deaf ears.

Ordinariate Catholics are fond of quoting a scriptural passage that configures body, mind and spirit to a true spirituality: worship God in the beauty of holiness (Ps. 96:9). The Holy Spirit may be saying to Bishop Gordon and others choose the better part, as did Mary (Luke 10:42), who chose to be present to her Lord beyond real but subordinate responsibilities. However, Bishop Gordon and others may be stuck on enacting something far less than what God desires, something which offers little sustenance to those thirsty for truth, goodness and beauty.

A note on collaborative leadership.

Anyone who regularly attends an Ordinariate community knows what authentic collaboration looks like. The communities of the Personal Ordinariates established by the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus rely on informed and dedicated lay men and women, commissioned by presbyters under the authority of their Ordinary, to participate in the realization of Christian mission. In the Ordinariate, we see

• a prayerful stewardship of finances and infrastructure;
• a fervent religious education firmly grounded in Tradition;
• a dedicated service to the liturgical and ceremonial life of a parish;
• a culture of hospitality that issues from centuries of Eucharistic formation nurtured among the peoples of the British Isles by Benedictine monastics;
• a generous ministry to the materially poor and spiritually impoverished;
• a confident Catholic identity that empowers an enthusiastic and prudent use of the internet in aid of evangelization.

Human beings need the Truth preached lovingly and confidently to them if souls are to be saved and man is to endure and prosper in harmony with the created order, ultimately growing in holiness and in the hope of spending eternity with God.

The Proverbial Pachyderm

Someone should remind the UCC that the "progressive voice" is at odds with man's very nature. Progressive ideology of the kind promoted by the UCC merely pits man against nature, his own true nature and against the natural world. The progressive voice is a hoarse cough, a dull drone that robs people of hope by denying the truth about man's condition and God's purpose for each one of us. God loves us; He loves us so much He does not abandon us to the false god of progressive religion. God provides signs of His desire to be worshiped in the beauty of holiness, in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

Worship God as God wants to be worshiped: in spirit and in truth. Where God is worshiped in spirit and truth, communities and individual souls blossom.

UPDATE

Catholic World Report has published an article by Fr. Stranvinskas that is a perfect companion piece to this humble post.

https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/01/07/symposium-on-priesthood-renews-failed-revolution-of-the-sixties-and-seventies/