Alright, I have had some to read and re-read the Holy Father's new Apostolic Constitituion Anglicorum Coetibus. I was able to speak with Monsignor Bill Stetson today on the phone who cleared up a few ambiguities.

The Constitution is basically what everyone expected, but there are some notable features. The most juicy tidbit is that married former Anglican bishops who become Catholic priests can apply for Episcopal insignia! As Whispers in the Loggia stated today: "Orders Void, Mitres Valid!" This point will obviously draw attention.

Reaffirmed was the expectation that the ordinary could be a married priest. In canonical terms, this ordinary will be:

a. ordinary: connected by the law itself to the office entrusted to him by the Roman Pontiff, for both the internal forum and external forum;

b. vicarious: exercised in the name of the Roman Pontiff;

c. personal: exercised over all who belong to the Ordinariate;

The situation of married Anglican seminarians will likely be by a case by case situation and will have a calendar limit (i.e. no Anglican seminarians who enrolled passed such and such a date).

The role and purpose of the current Pastoral Provision system in the United States is currently uncertain, but it will likely be adapted to fit the Holy Father's new vision.

Notably, those baptized as Catholics will apparently be barred from the Anglican ordinariate, but I wonder whether exceptions might be made for men who were not raised and rightly catechized in the Catholic Church.

Another interesting feature was the stipulation for multiple ordinariates in a single national conference.

The ordinary will be assisted by six priests to determine the suitability of future Anglican ordinariate priests.

The ordinary will be appointed directly by the Pope and will be a member of the national conference of bishops--again nothing surprising there. It seems also that this ordinary, whether a bishop or not will be granted the ability to "pontificate" liturgically (in lay terms: vest and preside as if a bishop).

I'm personally very excited to learn who the Holy Father will appoint to this new post in the United States. We should begin to pray for him, whomever he will be. I'm sure that the Holy Spirit is preparing him for this.

Last of all, I am still grateful to our generous Holy Father Benedict XVI. This is truly a historic moment. I encourage everyone to pray a Te Deum in gratitude to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for this gracious overture of the Church - "that they all might be one."

Labels: Anglican Ordinariate

I'm still digesting the Holy Father's new Apostolic Constitution Anglicorum Coetibus. I also want to talk to a few people about it before I comment publicly.

I'll try to write up something by tomorrow (Tuesday).

in Christ,
Taylor

PS: In the mean time, please read: "Five Myths about the Pope's Anglican Ordinariates" by Taylor Marshall

Labels: Anglican Ordinariate, Benedict XVI

I ain't gonna lie. I've been addicted to U2 every since their concert a few weeks ago at Cowboys Stadium. Basically, I've been on a diet of U2 albums ever since.

So on Thursday, I was listening to U2's album Achtung Baby. The song was "Until the End of the World." I always assumed it was about a guy singing to a girl was melancholic or something. However, I realized that the song could also be a ballad to Jesus in the voice of Judas Iscariot. Tell me if you agree. Why not listen to the song while you read on:

Until The End Of The World by U2

Play song from Lala.com Achtung Baby - 1991 - 4:38

Here are the song's lyrics. The original lyrics are in black. My comments are in red.

[Judas begins the ballad]
Haven't seen you for quite a while
I was down the hole just passing time
Last time we met was a low-lit room [they were in the upper room]
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine [the Last Supper; the Eucharist]
Everybody having a good time
Except you [Except for Jesus]
You [Jesus] were talking about the end of the world [Luke 22:18 "I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."]

I took the money [Mt 26:15" And they paid Judas thirty pieces of silver."]
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart [Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane]
I kissed your lips and broke your heart [Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss]
You
You were acting like it was the end of the world [Luke 22:53 Jesus said them "But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."]

Love...love...love...love...love...love...
Love...love...love...love...love...love...

[I take this next verse to be the regret of Judas and his suicide]
In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret, waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy [Judas tried to destroy Jesus]
You, you [i.e. Jesus] said you'd wait till the end of the world.

[This last part is ambiguous. Is it referring to Christ's resolve to not drink of the fruit of the vine until the end? Is it referring to the cross? Is it indicating that Christ somehow reaches back to Judas in a gesture of salvation? I don't know.]

So what do you think? Am I reading into too much or is there something there? I think that it seems pretty clear, but it's also overlaid a love story of some sort.

Labels: Christology, Music, U2

Today's second reading in Office of Readings is from Saint Cyril on the need for the creed as a synopsis of the Gospel and the biblical faith. The red annotations are my own comments.

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem On the Faith and the Creed
(Patroligia Graeca, 33, 519-523)

In learning and professing the faith, you must accept and retain only
the Church's present tradition, confirmed as it is by the Scriptures [we must accept the Church's "tradition" as confirmed by the Scriptures - that's not Luther's sola scriptura folks].
Although not everyone is able to read the Scriptures, some because
they have never learned to read, others because their daily activities
keep them from such study, still so that their souls will not be lost
through ignorance, we have gathered together the whole of the faith
in a few concise articles. [the formulation of a "creed" then is for salvation - it summarizes the Gospel content]

Now I order you to retain this creed for your nourishment
throughout life and never to accept any alternative, not even if I
myself were to change and say something contrary to what I am now
teaching, not even if some angel of contradiction, changed into an
angel of light, tried to lead you astray. For even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which you have now
received, let him be accursed in your sight. [Again the "creed" is the objective Gospel of Christ and St Cyril invokes St Paul's anathema regarding it.]

So for the present be content to listen to the simple words of the
creed and to memorize them; at some suitable time you can find
the proof of each article in the Scriptures [first we assent to the Church's teaching - and then we find that it is based on Scripture - not the order of things here - again not Luther's sola scriputra]. This summary of the
faith was not composed at man's whim, the most important sections
were chosen from the whole Scripture to constitute and complete
a comprehensive statement of the faith. Just as the mustard seed
contains in a small grain many branches, so this brief statement of
the faith keeps in its heart, as it were, all the religious truth to be
found in Old and New Testament alike [the Creed itself is built on Scripture as a synopsis]. That is why, my brothers,
you must consider and preserve the traditions you are now receiving [so the creed is a set of traditions derived from Apostolic teaching, summarizing Scripture, and must be preserved by catechumens from baptism till death].
Inscribe them across your heart.

As a completely random thought based on Saint Cyril, it is truly wonderful that the Catholic Church as preserved the catechumenate. Nobody talks about this, but the Catholic catechumanate (liturgical training of inquirers for baptism), is further proof of the Catholic Church's ecclesiastical understanding of justification.

Labels: Apostles' Creed, Church Fathers, Justification, Saints

This weekend I started reading Scott Hahn's new book Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI. It's fantastic. Dr. Hahn describes the rich theological method of Pope Benedict XVI as a return to a canonical approach to theology, which locates theology in the history of salvation. If John Paul II was known for his Theology of the Body, then Benedict will be known for his emphasis on Scripture.

I think that most conservative Evangelicals and Protestants will find that this book resonates with their souls. Benedict proves to be a biblical theologian par excellence. This has been noted before, but Hahn demonstrates the Holy Father's biblical theology in detail. Hahn also quotes the Holy Father writings frequently (several times per page) making this book a fine collection of the Holy Father's teaching in his own words. I've already collected about a dozen priceless Benedict quotes from this book. It is a great resource.

If you're a fan of Pope Benedict or you're a non-Catholic interested in how Catholics do biblical theology, then you should buy this book immediately. (If you buy it with my book The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity at amazon.com, you'll qualify for free shipping...end of shameless plug.)

Labels: Benedict XVI, Scott Hahn, Scripture, Theology

The story of Jonah and the fish is a story of Israel's exile and return to the Holy Land.

Here's how it goes:

1. Jonah disobeys God.
2. Jonah leaves the "land" and goes to "sea."
   
3. Jonah appears to lost in exile at "sea".
4. But Jonah doesn't perish and disappear into the "sea".
5. Jonah seems to die (Jon 2:5-7).
   
6. Yet Jonah is miraculously preserved in a fish (3 days in the belly of whale).
7. The Jonah revives and comes back to the "land."
8. Once back on "land" Jonah proclaims the God of Israel to the Gentiles.

Jesus taught that He is the "greater-than-Jonah" (Mt 12:41). How does it all work?

1. Israel turned from God toward idolatry and was taken into captivity by Assyria (the Gentiles to which Jonah preached).
   
2. Israel left the promised "land" and is scattered into the "sea" of the Gentiles.
3. Israel appears to lost in exile among the "sea" of Gentiles.
4. But Israel doesn't perish and disappear into the "sea."
5. Jesus comes from the north of the Holy Land and dies.
   
6. Yet Jesus is miraculously preserved in His tomb (3 days in the belly of the earth).
7. Jesus revives and comes back to the "land."
8. Once back on "land" Jesus proclaims the God of Israel to the Gentiles through His body the Church.
   

Here we see that the story of Jonah is actually the story of Israel and a type of Jesus who was "greater-than-Jonah" (Mt 12:41).

Please check out my new book on Judaism and Catholicism at amazon.com:

The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity

Labels: Christology, Jonah, Old Testament, Typology

I wish I could take credit for this, but I can't. Al Scharbach, the friend mentioned in the previous post regarding the New York Times, just made an observation in an email. I just had to share it before All Hallows' Eve (Halloween) is over:

Which is more gruesome:

A) celebrating "Halloween" with children wearing costumes that depict bloody bodies, skeletons, etc?

B) celebrating "Reformation Day" with children rejoicing over the division and butchery of the Body of Christ (the Church) in the wake of Luther's protest and burning of a papal bull?

Wow. That's really something to think about, now, isn't it?

Albert Scharbach comments:

Ironically, celebrating the Reformation is more gruesome than a bloody costume. The latter is pretend, while the former violence to the body of Christ is real -- and made all the worse by the way that tragedy is perpetuated with joy.

Labels: Halloween, Holy Days, Luther, Reformation

Taylor Marshall (left) and Al Scharbach (right)
at Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Rosemont, PA
My friend Albert Scharbach (pictured above) was also once an Anglican priest. We went to seminary together at Westminster Theological Seminary. He was recently mentioned in the New York Times and they just published his response. It's quite good. The New York Times has received thousands of pieces of mail over the Pope's Anglican Ordinarates article so it's noteworthy that they published Al's response.

Way to go Al!!!

Why Some Take the Path From Anglican to Catholic (New York Times)

Response to NY Times "For an Episcopal Parish, a Path to Catholicism” by Albert Scharbach:

I am the former curate referred to in your article about the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, as one who had already left the Anglican parish to become Roman Catholic.

The article describes Anglicans attracted to Rome as being against women’s and homosexual ordinations. But this does not describe the real motivation for why priests like me reconcile with the Roman Catholic Church.

The main issue is the fact that the Anglican Church has no consistent doctrinal authority and often acts independently from the historical positions of the universal church. In light of this, the ordination of women and practicing homosexuals is merely symptomatic of much more fundamental problems with Anglican ecclesiology.

Priests like me are not reacting to polemics on the theological spectrum. It is the faith once delivered that we are after, which we pursue as an imperative of conscience.

Albert Scharbach
Baltimore, Oct. 28, 2009

The writer is pastoral assistant to Bishop Denis J. Madden of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Labels: Anglican Ordinariate, Anglicanism