Reflections of a Canadian Churchman

When I issued the Gospel of Mark Challenge (click here for original post) and pledged to read and pray alongside each of you, I had no preconceived program for what form my reflections on the Mark’s Gospel would take. I planned simply to reflect on themes that occurred to me in my own reading and to speak to comments and questions offered by each of you. There are certainly several themes and concepts that emerge in the first two chapters that would be fruitful to consider. There is, of course, the fact that St. Mark begins not with a birth narrative but with Jesus’ baptism, temptation, and immediately moves into his early ministry. Indeed, you may have noticed that the word “immediately” is a connecting word that Mark uses very frequently. Mark’s narrative moves along at a quick pace, in the present tense, and certainly has a sense of immediacy and urgency. The immediacy is also found on the lips of Jesus, “The kingdom of God has come near/is at hand; repent and believe in the good n...

“Catholic?! I thought we were Anglicans!” This is a question that I hear and am asked from time-to-time. Both the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds (which may be found on page 188 and 189 of the Book of Alternative Services ) affirm our faith in the “holy catholic church.” This affirmation is an important aspect of our Christian faith, and yet understood by so few. The question of “what do we mean by catholic ?” often comes up in the context of baptismal preparation classes in which we examine the content of the Creed. As many will know, I was recently ordained to the priesthood. The invitation to that event can be found elsewhere on this site, but in brief, it cited my ordination to the “sacred order of priests in Christ’s Holy Catholic Church .” As a result, I had a number of individuals pose the question again: “Catholic Church? It thought you were going to be an Anglican priest!” This whole thing has made me think about how we in the Church often use terms that generate confusion, rather...