Presbyter's Ramblings

Presbyter`s Ramblings

 October is an important month in the life of the Universal Church, for what we share in common and in what divides us.

 For Roman Catholics it is a time of devotion to the rosary and the liturgical celebration of the Lady of the Rosary, Mary mother of Jesus. It is also the Respect Life Month, which emphasizes the sacredness of human life. It is the month when Francis of Assisi is remembered along with other saints of the Church.

  For Protestants it is important as we commemorate the date Martin Luther, an Augustin monk from the small German town of Wittenburg, nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg Church on the 31^st of October 1517.

 Both Catholics and Protestants recall the life of St Francis and other saints and celebrate Hallow-Tide (three days of festivities).                                         We know the three day celebration as  All Hallows (Halloween) 31^st October,     All Saints, 1^st November, All Souls, 2^nd November.

 Like the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox traditions celebrate Feast Day of the Protection of the Theotokos, the Mother of God, Mary. Dates for this celebration vary from tradition to tradition.

 The Greek Orthodox Church celebrate it on the 28^th October.                      On this day the Church invites the Greek government to honour the Mother of God for her protection of the Greek Nation during  World War 11.

 Incidentally for the Orthodox Churches All Saints Day is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost when the Western Church is celebrating the Trinity. There are Saints who are particular to the Western and Eastern Churches. St Francis is a saint belonging to the Western Church.

 While there are many things great Christian traditions share in common. generally speaking, the Orthodox view of the reformation is that it is a schism from a schism. First Rome split from the Orthodox Church in the 11^th century then the Protestant Church split from the Catholic Church in the 16^th century. Some Orthodox theologians have been noted saying that the reformation is the ‘egg that Rome laid’ The Orthodox Church finds the wide variety of Protestant traditions baffling. What they do believe is that protestants are sincere in their beliefs and faith journeys.

The ecumenical project is a relatively new movement in the 2000 years of the Church. It has a long way yet to travel. Over time however we have come to an understanding that we are all sincere in our journeys. It may have taken a long time to get to this point, and it is worth celebrating.

 I recall working with the Coptic Orthodox Church in Christchurch helping with an English second language programme. Several times came the opportunity to enjoy the three hour Divine Liturgy spoken in Coptic. With the benefit of a little biblical Greek I was able to follow the liturgy. What this reminded me of was that  while we might be divided we are held together in a 2000 year old history, in a community over time. Our traditions, however take us back even further long before Judaism.

 One of the basic hallmarks of Methodism is our commitment to ecumenism I think that is true.  But paradoxically we have a string of splits in our short history. Presently there are at least eight different Methodist denominations in Aotearoa New Zealand, and that is sad. The good news is that most of these denominations see one another as having a sincerity of faith.

Andrew.

Andrew.