My hands gripped the backs of the carseats in front of me as the other vehicle slammed into the passenger side of our car. Before we stopped, we had spun around 540 degrees. My grandfather was making a left turn in front of a hill and the other car came over the same hill going about twice the speed limit. If I had been buckled into my usual seat I would have been killed; in spite of my error, God protected me that day. As it turns out I happened to be sitting in the exact center of the vehicle and centrifugal force kept me from moving more than a few inches from that spot. I was eight years old but I can see it like it was yesterday. My grandfather was not hurt but my grandmother had a concussion and was never able to recall a moment of that day for the rest of her life.
Many who have spent any time at all in Anglican parishes have said that Anglicanism feels much like that accident. Having left communion with the Catholic Church, the Church of England was sideswiped and it is only by the grace of God that any of us survived. Most of us believe firmly that the "reformation" should never have happened and that the continued splintering is evidence that division only leads to more division. We all know about Anglicans who have some confusion about who they were before the "reformation". These brothers of ours have lost any recollection of what really happened, and do not realize just how bad the schism was. It was the mercy of God alone that allowed the Catholic faith to remain anywhere in Anglicanism. Divine providence smiled on those in the Anglican tradition just enough to keep Catholic truth from disappearing as it did in most areas of Protestantism. He watched over us by providing men down through the last few centuries who were able to help us retain the Catholic faith, as well as guide us on this path back toward unity. None of us can take any credit for this, we are merely the happy recipients of the love of God.
Then a few years ago, some Anglican Bishops who had also seen the light, themselves said, "we survived, and we want to come home". They too saw that unity needed to be restored. When the paramedics showed up at the scene of our accident, the last thing we needed to do was to tell them how to fix us. Yet that is exactly what my poor grandmother was doing; her concussion made her become confused about everything. She insisted that we go to the hospital around the corner from our home, even though it was seventy five miles from the scene of the accident. In times like we are going through right now, it is easy to get upset at the slightest things and end up trying to tell those receiving us how it is to be done. That is an awful temptation and we need to guard our hearts against it. Rome did not leave, the Anglicans did. We are not receiving the Roman Catholics back into our fold, they are receiving us. It is time to come with appreciative hearts and say "thank you for the hospitality". Whether you are a priest who does not like the way the formation process is laid out, or a layman who does not want to have to be catechized (all over again), you need to recognize the amazing grace that is being given to us.
Others on TheAngloCatholic.com have referred to us as survivors, and that is a good title. Survivors will put up with a lot when they are rescued because they are happy just to be alive. Does Rome have some problems that need to be fixed today? Yes. Do any of her problems compare with the chaos that has showed up in Episcopalian and Anglican circles? No. In the aftermath there are a number of scrapes, bruises, and concussions, and it seems like every attempt to fix them has only led to more injuries. Anglicanism has not resolved the rupture with Rome, or even found unity in her own ranks. This is nothing to be proud of. I know that many reading this may be wondering why I am saying what is so obvious, but I have found that not everyone headed to the Ordinariate really understands what is happening. The Ordinariate is not a compromise whereby we come together on equal terms and we can "all be friends again" (though there are obviously some who wanted that). Anyone who thinks so needs to re-read Anglicanorum Coetibus, as well as Ut Unum Sint.
Fifteen years after that accident, I went back down that same country road. The hill that had hidden us from the other driver was gone; it was leveled flat, and you could see clearly for miles in either direction. It is my guess that others had gotten hurt at the same place and the authorities decided to do something about it to prevent it from happening again. I have seen the mistake of my personal journey through Protestantism, and many today see the same necessity for restoration and reconciliation as I do. Survivors need hearts of thanks, not contentiousness. Let us "lift up our hearts" and "give thanks unto our Lord God" that He has seen fit to allow us to survive this disaster and filled us with the desire to return. Were it not for His grace, we would never seek this wondrous reunion that we have been offered. He has not only allowed us to survive, but given us hearts that want to continue to serve Him. To God be the greater glory.
Related posts:
Anglicanorum Coetibus: The Duty of the Clergy of The Traditional Anglican Church (TTAC)The Record of Anglicanism (Expanded)Praying for the PopeThe Present Importance of Newman's View of AnglicanismTill the Unity of the Faith
I am a priest in the Anglican Church in America (TAC). I have served as pastor in various Protestant congregations, and have pretty much "seen it all". I was born into a family of lapsed Catholics. They had me baptized, but before long they gave up the whole thing altogether and ended up trying out the "new age" movement. When I got to my teen years I stumbled around in various evangelical circles for a while, but when I finally went to seminary (my early twenties), I was a "hard as nails" Baptist. After one pastor got me to start reading the Church Fathers (the best "mistake" a Baptist can ever make), I began to realize that I couldn't find my own personal theology in the Early Church. That really bothered me, because I believed that we should agree with the Church Fathers. I got married to my wonderful wife back in 1990 when we were both Baptists, and she has followed me through this long journey with beautiful patience and love. We currently have five children and homeschool all of them. I've been through a wide section of Protestantism. From Baptist, to reformed Baptist, to Presbyterian, to reformed Presbyterian, to high Church puritan, to Presbyterianglican, to evangelical Anglican, and finally to Anglo-Catholic. I've pastored Baptist churches, Presbyterian churches, and a parish in the Reformed Episcopal Church, and have fifteen years experience in all the best (and worst) of Protestant church life. After all this, I now find it quite ironic that the Lord is calling me back to the faith from which I was "kidnapped" as a child. Back then I did not know what it meant to be Catholic, because I was never taught; but now that I do know, I am committed to returning. I am deeply thankful for the beauties of Anglican spirituality, for it was through it that I found my way back home. 
0 comments:
Post a Comment