Categories: feast-days, other-churches
Date: 16 June 2007 04:11:17
I waxed lyrical about the music at Christ Church Cathedral Newcastle earlier this week, and also made mention of the two great sermons given. Tomorrow evening, I'll be heading off to the Anglicans again, though this time the lower-down-the-candle Sydney Anglicans, to hear a friend from my previous Anglican church preach.
[Perhaps this blog needs to be renamed "Exploring Anglicanism" :)]
Looking forward to heading back to my parish for Matins and Divine Liturgy tomorrow; as much as I love experiencing other churches, there is no place like home. And, Father does give very good, relevant, encouraging and challenging sermons.
But back to Christ Church Cathedral -- and isn't it terrible to admit, not even a week afterwards, I cannot recollect them in any great detail. There is no hope for me. But on to what I recall from them, apart from the fact I was very impressed, and encouraged, hearing them.
The sermon given at the Eucharist revolved around, naturally, the Feast of Corpus Christi [which commemorates the institution of the Eucharist]. Departing from his usual three points, to give four in honour of the visiting choir from All Saints', the Dean said wryly, he was looking at the faith we have and in particular this memorial of that first Lord's Supper, which we celebrate regularly [be it daily, as they do at the Cathedral, several times a week as our parish does, or any other timeframe...]. The giving of the Eucharist, and the offering of the Bread and Wine together with our praise and thanksgiving is indeed, for us sacramental Christians, as the Catholic Catechism puts it, ""the source and summit of the Christian life (#1324). And, as the Catechism further explains [and there is much more to read there: while not Roman Catholic I find the catechism often very helpful and insightful in explaining the Christian Faith]:
1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit."1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.
1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking."
Aspects of this relationship are not only God and me, but the people of God around us -- at our parish level particularly. Christianity is a corporate religion and our fellow Christians are sojourners with us. I've read, not sure if it is correct, that Christianity was originally called "The Way"-- I find this term very apt, for our Christian life is a journey, a journey that is often hard and has many struggles, yet a journey we take with others, living and dead, and led by Jesus Christ, us following in His example and being strengthened and encouraged by the sacraments He has given us and those he has appointed in the Church to help us: bishops, priests, deacons, lay members, all people.
As I wrote, I feel horrible that I can't even remember two sermons from a week ago, yet I can probably describe in excruciating detail the first episode of Brothers and Sisters I saw several months back -- Lord, have mercy.
(*) particularly pointed for me as, while I can't hold a note, I do like beautiful music and while I appreciate the attempts of our parish choir, I'm often frustrated as they very rarely keep in tune: I know, I should not whinge and whine, but I do find it off-putting: I pray they'd go to simpler melodies, or practice more -- because I truly believe Orthodoxy has much to offer, and fear people may be put off. But, God willing, I can focus on the more important things: the love and joy that our parish, I believe, shows forth so well.