Monday ...

Congratulations, Father, on the anniversary of your profession.

Found your blog via your comments on crunch-con's blog (on beliefnet). I'm with you, on the Peter thing.

I've been struggling lately, as a convert to the Roman Catholic Church, with a certain inability to let go and leave God in charge of the situation. The division of east and west pains me. I studied the claims of the english-speaking Antiochan Orthodox parish near my home, during my journey home to Rome. I considered their views of Rome extremely disengenuous. Since the Vatican no longer considers the East to be Heretical, rather schismatic, it was apparent to me that the grace in this situation was all on the side of the Bishop of Rome, and that it was the East that was in a shaky and perilous situation. I doubted strongly that God could allow most of the church, all of it, if you think of it that way, to fall apart, leaving only little nationalized churches in certain countries of the world, leaving most of the world to be evangelized by heretics. This view of the Holy Spirit is more heretical than anything any eastern polemicist ever wrote about the Filioque matter. And so I was settled: Home to Rome. But to this day, the matter pains me deeply.

The other thing that bothers me is the sense I have that my evangelical upbringing had so much more of a sense of community to it. It's not just that I grew up there. There really was a thing they did where they welcomed visitors and made them feel at home. I wish I could do something like this in the Catholic Church. It bugs me that
the early christians were so moved by this experience of meeting Christ in the Eucharist, and so committed were they to the teaching of the Apostles, that they sold what they had and "had all things in common". Well nowadays, we have nothing in common, despite sharing the most amazing gift ever given. What do we do?
What do you think?

Thanks Father.

Warren

Congratulations. What a gift to the Precious Blood Community you have been. Thank you

Better late than never! Happy Anniversary, Fr. Jeff! I thought about you the other day when I was reading an article on Filipino religious festivals in the OCP planning guide. I hope you and St. Edward's continue to flourish.