IT IS TIME TO GO
　
The departure to Rome of the good All Saints Sisters of the Poor underscores the disintegration of the Anglican Communion, and re-affirms the fact - increasingly evident in recent years - that there is no place left for traditionalists/conservatives in that once-admirable body.

There is no need herein to recount in detail the tale of the purported ordination of women and abandonment of the conscience clause leading to the persecution of those who could not accept this novel heresy; of the schemes for "church union" with bodies not accepting the essentials of the Faith; of the deracination of common worship through the abandonment of the Book of Common Prayer and the importing of new beliefs via modern liturgies of diminished faith and impoverished language; of the toleration - even welcome - of a "bishop" named Spong and his heretic brothers and sisters; of the horrors of politicized synodical governance most recently made more absurd by the corrupting of the "indaba" process, appropriate to African tribes who share a common culture and common values but obviously grossly unsuited to a Church where two or more faiths war within the bosom of a single denomination.; and of the obsession with things sexual driven by an organized minority at one with the shrill agenda of the political left which has so dominated the councils of the Church, creating a new Green God and preaching no credal faith beyond the UN Millennial goals.

Until the last 40 years or so, it was possible for generations of holy priests and earnest faithful to believe that we were part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, holding no other beliefs and subscribing to no other Creeds, as indeed it was still credible for Archbishop Fisher of Canterbury to assert in the 1950's.

However, God had another plan for us - to disappear, to surrender from our quotidian lives so much that is beautiful and lovely in Anglican liturgy, music and parish life; and to leave what is now - mostly - but a counterfeit of Holy Church, and to bring those gifts and those experiences with us on a journey that is wrenching personally but right intellectually, placing them humbly at the Chair of Peter before and to whom all Catholic Christians must submit.

We were deeply struck by the words Fr Jeffrey Steele - who swam the Tiber last week - wrote in his admirable Blog De Cura Animarum - "What I became aware of was that it was almost impossible to say 'the Church teaching is' within the Anglican church because there are so many various opinions on matters of sacraments, liturgy, morality, scripture etc. What I did not want to experience anymore was proclaiming the teaching of the Church only to end up defending myself rather than the Anglican church defending me. This has become an ever-increasing impossibility that is no secret to the entire Anglican world. My preaching would always be seen as a matter of personal opinion rather than having the authority of the Magisterium that backs up what I teach publicly. Of course there is dissent in the Catholic Church but it is always that, dissent towards what Mother Church proclaims as authoritatively true."

So now is the time for all of us to consider how we make that same swim. And, somehow, we must shed the bitterness we feel at the way "our" church has treated us and rather, assume the joyful garb of the suppliant, praying - but not expecting - that the Holy Father may ease our path through creating a Personal Prelature for Anglicans who find it impossible to remain in their Church.

As we leave, we look back at a host of associations and experiences and people, all of which formed us and which must have been of God; yet we at the same time know we cannot repeat the error of Lot's poor wife, and become further calcified in a salt casing built up by our further delay, and by the scandal of increasing congregationalism as we seek out a diminishing number of "safe" parishes with male priests ordained by orthodox male bishops and holding fast the faith, Rather we must consider and share the tremulous expectation with which our pilgrim fathers in the faith crossed over Jordan afer their wanderings.

It is time to quit the desert and drink abundantly of the sanctified water of the Church towards which we have always believed it was the vocation of Anglo-Catholics to lead Anglicanism to be re-united. We simply did not expect it would fall to us, and our time, to make the crossing without some of our brethren and without most of those with whom have shared a denominational identity.

But God, as always, had His own plan, and has so worked matters in His own good time so that - eschewing the seemingly attractive call of "continuing churches" which cannot agree on basics of the faith and indeed seem united principally in dissent from current Anglicanism (to their credit) but whose actual number of adherents often seem overwhelmed by many splendidly-attired bishops - we are led to the Source of Catholic Authority and Truth - the Church founded by Our Lord and entrusted to Peter.

It is there that our souls will find peace; and there, too, that while there may be battles to be waged, our worship and our longing for Our Lord and His Sacraments will be nourished by a Faith that is essentially unchanging, for its "old eternal rocks" are not based on the "passing and of little worth" which have grabbed hold of Anglicanism, but rather on the Deposit of Faith once received by the Saints.

"So long Thy power has stayed me, sure it still
Will lead me on - o'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent
Till the night is gone.
And with the morn I'll see those Angel smiles
Which I have loved long since - and lost a while."

BUREAUCRATIC HORRORS: I - BUYING A TICKET FROM VIA RAIL

We went to Toronto's Union Station to book a train ticket from Montreal to Toronto with a 2-hour stopover in Brockville where we have planned to lunch with a friend from the UK who is only briefly in Canada during Eastertide. Stopovers cannot be purchased on line. Why this should be so is a mystery, given what unfolded.

The very pleasant agent insisted that stopovers were only allowed on full fare tickets. We told her that we knew that wasn't the case. She bent over her her computer, and summoned another agent to consult and help, and we went back and forth FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES - poor dear, so under-trained, and so confused, yet she was very "experienced" - she also said, incredibly, that we were the first stopover "I have EVER had in fifteen years..." She could not understand that the computer was putting out the second lowest fare $116 for the itinerary requested - "it can't be right; you should be paying $189."

Finally, with much laughter (fortunately, we were in no hurry and had kept teasing her as "Myrna the Via Rail revenue Maximizer" which further confused her - "what's a maximizer ?") she read from her screen a VIA policy statement to agents dating from sometime last year in which the Gods of VIA decreed that the revenue enhancement from breaking fares with stopovers rather than allowing through fares was so minimal, and the agent confusion and time-wasting from attempting to sort through the rules so widespread (QED), that henceforth most itineraries would be okayed for through fares, and so indicated on the agent's screen by an asterisk in column such-and-such.

"Oh, I WONDERED what that little star was doing there all the time," said our new BBBFF Mryna - "I guess they like you." And so, with 10 people in line behind me, the computer spat out my ticket. Smiles from Myrna. Smiles from the other agent who had ignored his window for 12 of the 15 minutes. Smiles from us. And so our lunch in Brockville can eventuate, all the sweeter knowing VIA has got "only" $116 from us rather than $189. Should pay for a pub lunch for two ?

Acts of Random Kindness: I

Beyond attendance at its Solemn Liturgies, we can think of no better way to keep Holy Week than to engage in acts of random kindness.

We are aware of - and have even benefited from - such acts of pure unselfishness; so we will from to time share examples of these on this Blog.

Example 1

Visiting a friend on a college campus one weekend, the visitor became aware of talk within the circle of buddies of how a particular friend had been undergoing certain hardships financially - overpending on beer and pizzas in the first semester, parents reluctant to give more and he to ask for any, a former girlfriend on whom he had lavished a few too many gifts and nights out - and emotionally - the break-up of aforesaid relationship, the realization of term papers due and overdue, worry of exams, of parent reaction to grades, of finding a summer job.

The visitor knew the subject of discussion but slightly, but had always had a very high opinion of him: he had been a leader at his prep school, and both bright and kind amidst the easy glory of those days. The visitor didn't see him in the course of the weekend, but thought of him and his several travails as he took the train home. When he got back he remembered how the smallest encouragement and sign of belief during his own life had meant an enormous amount to him, especially when it had come from a camp counsellor, or a "bigger boy" or the god of the football team.

So he sat down and wrote a long-hand letter to the freshman, saying in a frank but uncloying way that he was sorry to have missed seeing him; that he had heard a little of his situation; that he believed in him absolutely and had always admired his good qualities; and that he hoped the enclosed cheque would help him through the rest of the semester. The cheque was for a few hundred dollars, not so much as to cause embarrassment to the recipient, but enough for the visitor to feel the pinch of his gift.

Very soon after, the visitor received a phone call from the person in question - who told him that he would never realize how much the letter and gift had meant to him: yes, the money was useful as he was down to no cash at all and hadn't known how he might pay for the next two weeks' food; but more, the encouragement and faith shown via the letter had made the young fellow realize his potential, to shake himself out of his depression and to begin to change his slovenly attitudes to his responsibilities.

"How can I pay you back ?" he asked.

"Forget it," came the answer. "It was a gift. If you want to pay me back, work hard and be happy. And some day when you are successful, as you will be, do someone else a kindness."

That example stuck. Today the once-unhappy young man is a major international financial businessman, and his good works, in public benificence as in private kindness, are manifold. He never speaks of the latter; but the recipients of his instinctive kindness do so from time to time. Pay it Forward indeed !

NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY: THE OBAMA CONTROVERSY & HOW SOME STUDENTS ARE REACTING TO IT

Notre Dame University is one of the proudest of American institutions. Its identity as a centre of Catholic education may sometimes be overshadowed by its reputation as a football powerhouse, but no one should under-estimate how the former informs the latter. In recent years, both students and faculty have tried to encourage ND to re-discover not only its Catholic roots, but a loyalty to the teachings of the Magisterium as should be expected of a Catholic institution, but which, to many, had seemed lacking during the preceding decades.

We have deeply-engrained memories of our single visit there, happily one undertaken on a football weekend. One strain of all that is best and most admirable in the American ideal revealed itself in manifold ways as we took our seats in the hallowed stadium on a freezing cold November afternoon. The band, perhaps four-score strong, played the Fight Song; the crowds cheered; and the team took the field fresh from the special Mass it attends before every game. This was Fall in its American essence: clear, patriotic, determined under the bright blue sky of God's Providence. Warm-hearted is another adjective we could add - though we had bedecked ourselves in turtlenecks and tuques purchased at the University shop, our jeans and cotton shells were no match for the mid-West wind chasing around the stadium. A kindly couple turned around in their seats and, seeing our discomfiture, insisted we borrow one of their blankets - a spontaneous gesture of generosity we gratefully accepted !

But an even more unforgettable memory stems from our campus tour the day previous. The young sophomore taking seven or eight of us around a place obviously very special to him passed by its celebrated grotto without any comment beyond mentioning it is a replica of that at Lourdes, Our Lady's most venerated Shrine in the southwest of France. I mentioned to him that I was surprised to see so many students - easily 15 or 20 - kneeling and apparently praying at the low stone wall outlining this central focus of the campus. His natural and most artless response moved me to tears: "Oh, a lot of the guys like to stop and visit Our Lady - you'll always see plenty of students there - especially on football weekends !"

Which leads us to reflect on the current controversy about the University Administration's having invited President Obama to speak and accept an honorary degree at the Commencement ceremonies this Spring. South Bend's own Bishop will not attend, and has indicated, along with other prelates, a host of alumnae and students, his displeasure. It is true that ND has invited most US Presidents to speak - but the special nature of Commencement, the peculiar honour of an honorary degree and the definite pro-choice stance of the President make the choice particularly galling to many of the vast ND family, and especially to many Catholics who respect the Office of President deeply, who otherwise admire Mr Obama and who wish him nothing but success as he confronts the daunting challenges facing him at home and abroad.

We have give kudos to a group of students representing several different campus organizations which have now banded together to lead opposition to the Presidential invitation. One senses that an especial part of their motivation is to overcome the perception that the furor over the visit stems mainly from crusty alums and "extreme" Catholic right-wingers rather than from current students for whom the Commencement ceremonies are theoretically designed. They have mounted a vigorous campaign, and a web site at http://www.ndresponse.com/

Consider their cause, and keep them and the wonderful institution they love so dear in your prayers, that a dignified way out of this unhappy situation may be found which allows all parties to live together in charity, and which maintains Notre Dame's fidelity to Holy Church and its teachings.

The Golden West - a book recommendation

We love the American West, past and present: its wide-open spaces, courteous folk, deep patriotism and scenic splendour, together with the resonance of its frontier past, move us beyond words. Here, men and boys alike automatically and un-self-consciously take off their baseball caps as the Flag passes by. The names of the towns - Dodge, Laramie, Ten Sleep, Cody, Buffalo, Worland, Deadwood - echo the voice of the cowboy. The buffalo again roam in increasing numbers where their ancestors once thundered. And the waitress' "y'all have a good day" rings true rather than the automaton-customer service-"trained" response of her more entitled cousin on either coast. It is a state of mind and a boast of greatness as much as a geographic location. Its iconography remains deeply rooted in the freest, greatest nation of the world.

If you would know the West, capital "W", one of its greatest chroniclers is the now little-remembered A B Guthrie. His 1947 novel The Big Sky tells of the mountain men who opened so many of its passes ahead of the wagon trains, the miners and the whole panoply of more storied heroes.

Here follows one of our favorite passages from this work:


[1837: the West is closing in, and Summers prepares to return East after
a lifetime as a mountain man]

"Two horses and a few fixin's and a letter of credit for three hundred and forty-three dollars. That was all, unless you counted the way he had felt about living and the fun he had had while time ran along unnoticed. It had been rich doings, except that he wondered at the last, seeing everything behind him and nothing ahead. It was strange about time; it slipped under a man like quiet water, soft and unheeded, but taking a part of him with every drop - a little quickness of the muscles, a little sharpness of the eye, a little of his youngness, until by and by he found it had taken the best of him almost unbeknownst. He wanted to fight it then, to hold it back, to catch what had been borne away. It wasn't that he minded going under, it wasn't that he was afraid to die and rot and forget and be forgotten; it was that things were lost to him more and more - the happy feeling, the strong doing, the fresh taste for things like drink and women and danger, the friends he had fought and funned with, the notion that each new day would be better than the last, good as the last one was. A man's later life was all a long losing, of friends and fun and hope, until at last time took the mite that was left of him and so closed the score."

- A. B. Guthrie, Jr, The Big Sky (1947)

A 17th CENTURY CONTRARIAN: THREE CHEERS TO THE PAST

We read recently of the splendid example of Sir Robert Shirley, who amidst the depredations of the Puritans, built a magnificent Gothic chapel on the grounds of his ancestral home at Staunton Harold, Leicestershire. For this act of defiance he was persecuted, and ended his days in the Tower of London. BUT - history has the last word. Behold the mighty words of the memorial erected to him:

Sir Robert Shirley, Bt.

who died in the Tower of London, 1656

In the yeare 1653

When all things sacred were throughout the nation

Either demollisht or profaned

Sir Robert Shirley Barronet

Founded this Church

Whose singular praise it is

to have done the best thinges in the worst times

And

hoped them in the most calamitous

The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance

"To have done the best thinges in the worst times" - is that not a glorious tribute to all contrarians who defy the passing currents and stand for what they believe no matter the cost. This made our day !

MUST READING: HYPOCRISY AMIDST THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

A NY Times Op-Ed piece of Wednesday, March 25, is must reading. You can probably find it on line, as the Times has not yet proceeded with its tentative plan to charge for web access to at least some sections of its venerable and of late electronic pages.

Headlined, Dear AIG, I Quit ! the article is in fact a letter of resignation sent the day previous by Jake DeSantis, an Executive Vice President of AIG Financial Products, to the beleaguered firm's President, $1-a-year man Edward M Liddy.

Scrupulously fair, and giving credit to Mr Liddy and his selfless service as appropriate, but also hard-hitting, DeSantis lays out the case for the bonuses deserved by him and many of his colleagues who worked hard and brought profits to their firm. He also excoriates those vicious and even threatening attacks on those individuals - and outlines his and these colleagues' resentment over Mr Liddy's "failure to stand up for us in the face of unfair and untrue accusations" from media and elected officials.

We feel the only thing more regrettable than Mr Liddy's submitting himself to the intemperate and hypocritical cries of Congressmen in their ivory tower Committees (the same individuals who had obviously neither read the bill permitting the bonus payments nor heeded the several months of comment about bonuses that preceded it) is the nauseating self-righteousness of NY State's Attorney General, the ambitious Andrew Cuomo, (potential candidate to take on a very weak Governor in a primary challenge) whose posturing and revealing of names of bonus recipients endangered not only these men but their entirely-blameless families.

We also regret that Mr Obama did not immediately say that while he found the appearance of the bonuses odious (as he has the right and doubtless the obligation to do pace his friends and controllers on the left) that their sum is small potatoes, irrelevant to the solution of the financial crisis, a distraction for purely political purposes and an example of how government "oversight" of large enterprises in a supposedly free-market environment is anything but.

And these are the folks who now are telling GM and the rest of the auto manufacturers how to conduct their affairs...