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Possibilities, not so much

From the Catholic Answers Forum: Anglican Church in America (TAC) and the Polish National Catholic Church

I wonder with all of the struggle of the TAC/ACA to move towards union with Rome (and the constant expectation of an announcement…over and over), why they do not look towards forming an alliance with the Polish National Catholic Church?

The PNCC has valid orders (according to Rome) and has limited intercommunion. They are seen in a way similar to the Eastern Orthodox in that in extraordinary circumstances the PNCC and Catholics can receive sacraments from one another.

This makes sense until you scratch the surface a little.

Those in the TAC/ACA who long for Rome are really singleminded in that regard. They see no possible alternative, and if they did, they would have been there already. They are actually willing to give up their Episcopal Orders, their former Roman priests who had married, and anyone else in an “unclear” situation, casting them under the bus so to speak; sort of Machiavellian, which is ironic.

Others, who will quit the Church when it joins with Rome, are really Protestants. They like Catholic externals but don’t really believe in the infallibility of the ChurchIt’s one thing to believe that the person of the Bishop of Rome is not infallible, quite another to believe the Church is not infallible.. Not believing in the infallibility of the Church makes these folks a bad fit in any Catholic Church whether it be Oriental, Orthodox, Roman, or PNCC. They are headed for some far corner of the Anglican movement where they can maintain their ‘I’m smarter than the Church’ attitude.

I also think that marriages for the sake of convenience are a bad idea. Why partner with someone if they’re constantly looking over their shoulder for what they perceive to be a more handsome/beautiful/whatever prospect. Could the TAC/ACA accept the Declaration of Scranton in clear conscience? Could they be PNCC? I highly doubt it.

Speaking with Rome doesn’t mean you are at the place ACA/TAC perceived themselves to be, signing copies of the Catechism and FedEx’ing them off to Rome and praying for Newman to descend upon you. I’m sure there’s a few in the PNCC who long for unity with Rome just as there are those like myself who long for unity with Orthodoxy. But no matter. In the bigger picture we’re just PNCC and most of us are happy to work in that part of God’s field. To waste our time waiting, or courting for the purpose of courting, would be an affront to the gifts God has granted us and the work He has asked us to do.

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC, Political, , ,

Remembering the working man and woman when you vote

From Interfaith Worker Justice: A Guide for Faith-Based Voters — Vote Your Values 2008

This guide is meant to highlight issues of major importance for working people in the U.S. during this election cycle.

The prophet Amos spoke God’s word thus: —Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream— (Amos 5:24). The foundation story of the Jewish faith is God’s liberation of His people from slavery in the land of Egypt. Further, the Bible commands us not only to give to the poor, but to advocate on their behalf. —Speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the [needy] (Proverbs 31:9).—

At the core of Christian belief is the vision of God lifting up the poor, the destitute, the homeless and the reviled. The Apostle Paul wrote, —Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality….Your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: ‘He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.’— (2 Corinthians 8:13-14).

In the 2006 elections, —values voters,— men and women whose political choices are influenced by deeply held religious and moral values, were crucial in the outcomes of six successful state referendums to raise the minimum wage. In 2008 we face an economy in freefall, millions of homeowners in danger of foreclosure, many millions more unable to obtain health insurance who face economic ruin if they or a loved one gets sick, workers who cannot take a paid sick day to care for themselves or a family member, workers who are robbed of their wages, and the worst income inequality since 1929.

This voter guide highlights several issues that are clearly critical to working families but that often receive scant attention by the media and by candidates for federal office. Interfaith Worker Justice urges people of faith, and indeed all citizens of conscience, to consider these issues when they cast their votes for president and congress in November 2008.

  • Support the Right of Workers to Organize a Union —“ Pass the Employee Free Choice Act
  • Health Care for All
  • Stop Wage Theft
  • A Job Should Get You Out of Poverty, Not Keep You In It
  • We Need Comprehensive Immigration Reform
  • All Workers Need Paid Sick Days —“ Support the Healthy Families Act

From personal experience I can tell you that these issues are real. Things like wage theft do occur – and much more frequently then you would suspect. The abuses people thought had long passed, the horror stories from the early 1900’s, are just as real today: child labor, forced labor, wages so inadequate that workers must sleep in unheated boxes at job sites, the same workers provided with just enough money to eat. They keep working because there is no means of escape, and in hope of getting paid eventually. I have heard of migrant construction workers who are transported, fed, and housed by companies. They work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. If they complain they are left at the side of the road, hundreds of miles from home, with no means to get home.

You may think they are illegals – they get what they deserve… Certainly not the way Christians should treat their bothers and sisters. Every human being deserves justice and fair compensation for his work. Hiring an illegal is not the basis for treating that person as a slave, nor is it allowance for breaking even more laws.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15 states:

“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brethren or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns;
you shall give him his hire on the day he earns it, before the sun goes down (for he is poor, and sets his heart upon it); lest he cry against you to the LORD, and it be sin in you.”

I encourage you to read the materials IWJ presents and that you give them due consideration.

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC, ,

Celebrate Labor Day by Honoring a Special Worker in Your Life

From Interfaith Worker Justice:

Don’t we all know someone who helps make our days run more smoothly? What about the office assistant who keeps the office organized; the volunteer who comes in faithfully to help file and copy papers; the security guard who works all night; the friendly cashier who greets you with a smile? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if these folks were told how much their work is appreciated?

You can honor these workers by visiting the IWJ Web site and click on the Honor a Worker button. With your gift, your honoree/s will receive a tribute card. In addition, IWJ will post your honoree/s name along with occupation on the IWJ Website. You can also contact Simintha Esson at 773-728-8400, ext. 12 and request “Honor a Worker” tribute cards.

Interfaith Worker Justice calls upon our religious values in order to educate, organize, and mobilize the religious community in the U.S. on issues and campaigns that will improve wages, benefits and working conditions for workers, especially workers in low-wage jobs.

Interfaith Worker Justice relies on contributions to support its work. Your tax-deductible gift will be strategically used to further justice for workers throughout the United States.

Perspective, , ,

+Albany (NY) seeks unity, others not so much

The Episcopal Bishop of Albany, NY issued a statement calling for unity amid the discord in the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Love is trying to hold together a diocese commonly known as a conservative. Today’s story from the Albany Times Union explains his thinking.

I found two things “interesting” in the article.

You can read the full thing at Bishop wants unity amid discord: Leader of Albany Episcopalians affirms opposition to same-sex unions and ordaining gay clergy

The interesting bits:

[Bishop William Love] also criticized the Episcopal Church for “creating a new class of victims — the traditional orthodox believers.

“If there is to be a turnaround in the Church, there must be a viable place for the conservative orthodox voice,” he wrote.

One of the keys to reasonableness is having something that everyone can agree on – like a creedal statement. Unfortunately, and sadly, the response to Bishop Love’s statement shows that key elements that are foundational for that sort of oneness do not exist.

Locally, one lay leader in the Albany diocese has a much different worry: that there is no place for the substantial progressive voice.

Marya Dodd describes herself as probably the only progressive on the Diocesan Council, an oversight panel. She says many people won’t donate money to the Albany diocese because they feel disenfranchised. She praised Love for “making a real effort to communicate with us” in the new letter but said that wasn’t enough.

“He’s not publicly recognizing the fact that there are a lot of different segments of the Episcopal Church represented in Albany,” she said. “This is not a diocese that has one vision, or one approach to the faith.Emphasis added.”

I think that it would be hard to find a parish, much less a Church, that did not have a variety of voices and opinions in it. It is funny what people believe, as made up in their own minds. However, in a Church, there are touchstones, markers as it were of unity. The Creed, sacraments, the definition and understanding of God, adherence to the totality of the faith, that is Scripture and Tradition. The folks who run the faith side of the house tend to preach that common understanding.

All of those are the check points. If the membership cannot agree on those key elements, or if they have to redefine them to suit their own purposes, they are not Church, just a bunch of folks who like to get together. But whyI recall the Monty Python bit about going to an argument clinic just to argue.?

Even certain social clubs have a more defined set of beliefs or norms upon which their members agree.

Visions are fine, but if disconnected from the things which have defined the Church (of which you are a member) at least be honest enough to define your own “faith community.” Then again, isn’t that what seems to be happening.

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