Day 1

     First, since the Church was founded by Christ and He is its living head; since it is a divine body meant to be God’s instrument; it will always be renewed from above by waiting upon the Lord, by looking up, by worship.  In prayer and worship, which are means of Grace by which God’s life comes to us, we become what we could not otherwise become.  “This is why every Apostle, every Father of the Church, every leader and theologian who said anything of lasting value or helped to renew the Church – all these men were teachers of prayer and lovers of Scripture through which they communed with their living Lord”.  We revive when we look up, and in the Scriptures, Prayer, Sacrament receive the food which is offered to us.  We revive when we look up and receive to ourselves “the incomprehensible Grandeur of the Lord.”  “Both for perplexity and for dulled conscience the remedy is the same; sincere and spiritual worship.  “For,” says William Temple, “worship is the submission of all our nature to God.  It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination of His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose – and all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.  Yes – worship in spirit and truth is the way to the solution of perplexity and to the liberation from sin.”

The Church is renewed from above, and we miss the whole point of our faith if we do not see that to worship is the greatest thing we do.  Since we are set in the midst of a secular culture, we are doubtless tempted to believe that renewal will come with better organization, promotion, public relations, the acquiring of more money, or any of these secondary things; but, we must realize that worship is the most important thing we do simply because it alone changes our hearts and strikes at the center of our being.  As we worship, and truly worship, all good things flow from that worship…

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction (by Fr. Steven J. Kelly)

  Friends – We have been in a virus imposed limbo since March of 2020.   During our shut down, and now our phased re-opening of the Church, priorities have been re-evaluated and it is as if the entire world, including The Church, has hit the RESET button.   The Vestry over the summer set out to read and discuss a book called Made for Mission: Renewing your parish culture by Tim Glemkowski.    As recommended in this book we recommitted to being a parish that is focused on mission.   What is that mission?   Simply stated, it is To know Christ, and to make Him known.   This has been our published mission statement, and Mr. Glemkowski’s book has started us thinking about how we can become more deeply focused on the primary work of the parish. The statement above assumes two things: that we know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and how he has revealed himself through the historic teaching of the Church, and that we know how to share that G...
Read more

Day 2

       In the first mediation we thought together about the central place of worship in the renewal of the Church…   We only deserve to grow as a Church if our devotion in God’s glory is deep, strong, and sure.    Now we can turn to the second means by which the Church is renewed. The Church is renewed by clear, exact, and precise thought.   A living Church always has a definite creed.   If we are to be God’s instrument, we must be able to show truth to the minds of men, and to proclaim that Christianity is not just helpful and beneficial; it is true.   And because it is true, it is helpful and beneficial.   Suppose that some hungry soul were to come among us and then turn away sadly saying, “They’re a vague lot without much to say for themselves.”   Weak reasoning can prevent the entrance of many people into the Church; and one of the interesting things to see is how converts to the Church such as C.S. Lewis, become clear ex...
Read more