Yesterday, I enjoyed cocktails and lunch at the comfortable, handsome St. Stephen's Pub in Spring Lake, NJ with my high school friend Frank. He was 25 years a Roman Catholic priest; and now 25 years an Episcopalian priest. He likes the Episcopalian thing: less work, more money, and he has a wife. It was a Friday: I had fish; he had a hamburger. He liked (the notorious) Bishop Spong who received him into their clergy. He told the bishop: "Look! I am in my 50s; I have a job and a wife; I am NOT doing any seminary!" Spong winked; brought him in; and got him a job.
When he is not saying Episcopalian Eucharist, he attends mass at St. Catherine's. He tells me he is not an ex-Catholic Episcopalian priest. He is a Catholic who was a priest, got married, and got a job as an Episcopalian priest. He goes back to his childhood parish in Montclair and prays before the statue of our Blessed Mother.
In high school, during the Vatican Council, I liked all the stirrings of change and renewal. He told me: "It is all a lot of bull shit! Look: You need two things and two things only: the 10 commandments and the 7 sacraments." As a UPS driver, I would stop at his parish in Lyndhurst when he was a happy young priest: very busy, lots of basketball. Somewhere along the way things changed. I visited him when he was a chaplain at a local college: he was furious at the Church. He was now a certifiable liberal. I, meanwhile, had become a staunchly conservative, flamingly charismatic Catholic. We have remained friends. He is a good man. He is a lot of fun.
His theology is Episcopalian which is the equivalent of Catholic Progressive. He believes the Anglican orders are valid. On his deathbed, he will receive, I assume Anglican rites. They will not be (in our Catholic viewpoint) sacramental or efficacious. What will God see? A sincere act of faith but an invalid or null sacrament? A sacrilege? A real sacramental encounter? I am not sure! Luckily, it is not my concern! I have my own issues.
Full disclosure: I hate Anglicanism! I am ecumenical, but not when it comes to the Anglican Church.
I love saved-sanctified-and-filled-with-the-Holy-Spirit Pentecostals. I pray in tongues with them! I love born-again-Bible-thumping Baptists! I love Jesus with them! I love peace-breathing Quakers, Mennonites, Amish and even Shakers. I prefer my Christianity thick, high octane, countercultural.
It is not a personal thing! Hey! Some of my best friends and even family members are Episcopalians!
I hate Henry VIII for what he did to his wives and the magnificent medieval English Church. I hate King George III for "taxation without representation." I hate what the English did to the Irish. I hate what Prince Charles did to Princess Diana. I hate the English class system. I hate any religion that is accommodating, effete, bourgeois, and going-along-to-get-along.
Sure I enjoyed The Crown and Queen Elizabeth (especially as played by the stunning Claire Foy). But I am Catholic, Irish and American...I am no fan of the royals.
I appreciate the value of a royalty, a king or queen or family that represent the unity of the nation. But "head of the Church!" Absurd! Sacrilegious! Any wonder they are a dysfunctional family?
My problem with the Anglicans is the Sacraments. They are too close for comfort. Baptists, Pentecostals and Evangelicals in general make no pretense of being sacramental. They read the Word and Praise the Lord. No problem there! But the Anglicans have something very close to our sacraments. Our official teaching is that their orders are not valid, so (while their baptism is valid) their Eucharist/Absolution/Confirmation/Anointing are null and void as sacraments. Okay, I accept that. But then they mimic us exactly. It is simply creepy!
Visiting Christ Hospital in Jersey City, I noticed a chapel and entered. Everything felt fine: altar, pews, votive light. I genuflected to the tabernacle, knelt down and prayed. Then I noticed "Book of Common Prayer." My mind jolted: "I AM IN A PROTESTANT CHAPEL! I AM KNEELING BEFORE AND GENUFLECTED BEFORE A SMALL PIECE OF BREAD! WHAT DO I DO NOW?" I rose; quietly bowed my head toward what is at least, for our brethren, a reminder or symbol of our Lord; and left. I am pretty sure nobody saw me!
Well, Jesus has us loving our enemies. Frank, as an Episcopalian, is my enemy! He is easy to love: especially at the Jersey shore over a good manhattan and fresh cod!
No comments:
Post a Comment