Today is the second anniversary of the foundation of The Anglo-Catholic. A tremendous thank you to our Contributors and our army of loyal readers!
The site is running a bit slowly at the present, for understandable reasons; please be patient! Comments in the moderation queue will be processed as quickly as possible.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. And the time for polemics and attacks against the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, the Holy Father and Holy Church, and our Catholic and Apostolic Faith are long over here on The Anglo-Catholic.
Those who will comprise the first waves of converts into the Anglican Ordinariates, often only with much prayer and having completed a lengthy process of discernment, have already made their commitments. Others have refused the offer of our Holy Father, the Pope — at least for now (and all ought to remember that Anglicanorum coetibus does not have an expiry date!).
As the last few posts have reminded us, this is a time of solemn and prayerful preparation for the day (Lord, may it be soon!) when all who wish to join these new structures and continue the true Catholic heritage of the Anglican experience may do so, and thus being strengthened by their brethren in the heart of the Catholic Church, recommit themselves entirely, without fear or distraction, to the advancement of the Reign of Christ the King.
The Anglo-Catholic exists for the building-up of the Body of Christ in advocating the reintroduction of those Catholic traditions lost to the Church due to a most grievous act of state nearly five centuries ago, and those peculiarly Anglican customs, in accord with the Faith, which have developed since, during our unfortunate Exile. It exists to disseminate information for the Christian faithful. It is a place for confirming the brethren, a home for Catholic Anglicans who often feel disconnected, left out, or left behind.
That is not to say that there is not room for passionate debate now and again. But all discussions will be conducted in a spirit of Christian charity and with an understanding of the culture and faith of this forum as I have outlined above. Come here to learn. Come here to share. Perhaps you can just accompany us on our journey home. But do not think to come sowing doubt or discord.
If you are a Christian who prefers to style himself a "Continuing Anglican" or a "committed" and "Affirming" member of the Church of England, kindly keep your sentiments about the evils of popery to yourself. If you have nothing good to say about the New Order of Mass, even if some of your criticisms may very well be valid, remember what your mother taught you. If you feel the need to perpetuate the "spirit" of Vatican II and Assisi, I am certain that you can find a local Catholic "community" where you will feel right at home. If you deign to impugn those traditional Catholics who have borne the burden and the heat of the day, often on the margins of the Church, whose prayers and witness have resulted in Summorum Pontificum and the slow return to Tradition, you will simply be banned.
And, having been banned for any grave offense (Yes Herb, this means you!), should you wish to return to our fellowship, simply write the Moderator and ask to be readmitted. Do not merely change your screen name or email address in an attempt to deceive. God sees all things, but sophisticated software gives great insight to the blog operators as well.
Let us pray among ourselves.
At present, the comments attached to a given post read (from top to bottom) oldest to newest. With popular posts — and we've had several — the comments can range into the hundreds and be split over more than one page. It has been suggested to me on several occasions that I change this behavior to reverse the order, helping to ensure that the most recent comments generally appear at the top of the comments section, immediately below the article body (note that replies are nested under the original comment).
Knowing how sensitive and naturally conservative our readership is, I am loathe to make this change without the consent of the governed. So please, make your preference known in the combox.
He was seven and he already knew how to crush someone's spirit. It had happened to him enough times that he had a decent understanding of what was involved. His body had been hit with fists more times than he could remember, but those bruises healed easily by comparison. It was the crushing of words that would not heal so quickly. He knew that words can hurt more than a fist ever did. The Scriptures tell us that a tongue is a fire that can burn many things, and that it is full of poison. I, myself, have heard and read a lot of poison words in my day, and I can honestly say I am tired of them. Yet, I believe that there are some who are not tired of poison words.
When I read comments in various places around the web, as well as listen to people's conversations, I am amazed at how easily people tear others down–and I am not speaking only about non-Christians. I have read some of the most hateful words come out of the mouths (and computer keyboards) of the people of God. Yes, on this blog also. I have deleted some comments because they merely dripped with bitterness and spite. I personally would be ashamed to have typed some of the things that show up in a comments section. Although some have the shamelessness to put their name with their hateful speech, those who choose to remain anonymous are only hiding themselves from men–Jesus knows exactly who they are! No this is not the first time this has been said, but we are fallen men and we forget easily.
When it comes to the internet, it appears that some people believe that there is more freedom allowed in what they say; but this is illusory. Those things that we write and post on the web are placed there for anyone to see, and they do not always get deleted. This technology is so new, and we are behaving like children with a brand new shotgun–we have not yet learned which end is the dangerous one. The book of Job refers to the attacks of words as the "scourge of the tongue" and that is a wonderful description. A "scourge" was essentially the same as a flogging. That is what the Romans did to Jesus before His crucifixion. I will not go into details here, but it was not pleasant.
Our tongues can cause scars that do not heal easily, and our fingers on the keyboard are not terribly different. I can recall a number of times when I have looked at comments that Christians have written on the web and asked myself [insert sound of hand slapping forehead here] "what were they thinking"? The Bible tells us that we need to keep a bridle on our tongues to control them; I believe that there are some people (including some who read this blog) that need to keep a set of Chinese handcuffs on their fingers to prevent them from writing any more hate.
The "sharp razors" of our tongues have merely transferred to the sharp scalpels of our fingers, and we are still cutting other people with them. What is worse is that we are cutting our brothers. Our pride gets hurt by something someone says and we want to snap back to make ourselves feel better. So we write a stinging comeback and hit "publish" or "post" and then let it fly. Yet, since we are not there to look the other person in the face, we do not realize the consequences of our actions so easily. We do not see that look that says the other person has a "pit in the stomach", and thus we are not forced to deal with the fact that we caused that "pit".
A look of contempt on someone's face can tear your guts out. Words filled with contempt and guile can do the same thing. When those words are written down, however, we are not released from accountability. We too easily dismiss other people as wrong, and thus unimportant, when we speak down to them (or "at" them). A heart touched by the Spirit of God will feel sadness when they see error in another. That same heart will seek to help the errant brother see the truth, and will do so in a way that creates peace. The heart that is guided by pride and self-importance will seek for its own glory, and thus ignore the needs of the one in error.
Jesus, Who knew how to hold His tongue, calls us to something more. He calls us to show grace and seek peace when we find ourselves in disagreement with our brother. He encourages us to be gentle in our attempt to correct another. He is watching the keys you are typing on, and knows exactly what you are saying. I delete enough comments that are filled with bile; I would like it if I never had to delete another. I exhort you to think before you type; and when you have typed, pray for wisdom and grace before you hit "publish comment", for he who does not love his brother whom he does see, cannot love God Whom he does not see.