What A Good Day!

 

In some dioceses you don't want the bishop to visit because the prelate in question is an enemy of the One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church they hypocritically profess to uphold. In short, they're raging heretics, you don't want them around. 

That in mind, thank God this isn't true in the Anglican Diocese of Fort Worth where we're blessed good bishops who stand for the Faith. So it was a joy to welcome Bishop Reed to the Missions today.

There were adult Confirmations in both churches, a real blessing, and then, after the second service, a great potluck of a feast at Mission #2. What a good result and no, there weren't any liturgical dancers or wymxn priestess figures at either church, that's not allowed.

In related news, the dog just tried to eat a nasty book by the repellent Rosemary Radford Ruther, Sexism & God-Talk. He nearly threw up, poor animal, perhaps that'll be a lesson to him.

Cheers,

LSP

Retreat!

 

I know, "retreat" sounds bad, like some kind of defeat, but this was good, a retreat  with the local chapter of the SSC (Society of the Holy Cross) at Camp Crucis, just outside Granbury. It's a fun drive if you take the country roads, 22 and 144 through Whitney, Meridian, Walnut Springs and Glen Rose, with long stretches of empty two lane highway running through the hills.

Not so long ago this was bandit country, the notorious haunt of outlaws and bootleggers and it still has, I always think, a frontier feel. You can imagine Indians on the hills and sure enough they were there, but now Granbury's home to marauding hordes of tourists instead of Commanche war bands and the camp's pleasantly distant from that.

Our schedule was simple, Morning Prayer, Low Mass, Evensong, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and a series of meditations on the priesthood. Plenty of time to have fun with fellow clergy too, all united in a common love of the Faith. And no, there weren't any priestesses performing transing liturgical dance to the beat of a unicorn's hooves. That's not allowed. 

Then, all too soon, it was time to head back to the Compound, uplifted in spirit. It was good to get away.

God bless,

LSP

Hope And Change

Hide That Paten

No clowns, no gender fluid priestesses, no goofy liturgical dancers, no progleft comsymp tomfoolery masquerading as Christianity, just the Gospel, the Faith once delivered and the our best shot at unleashing the power of the Western Rite.

Don't be a Hippy or a Witch, Kids

That's the St. Michael's Conference Southwest, and the kids love it, a lot. It's a privilege to staff it for a week.

God bless,

LSP

St. Michael's Conference 2015

I'm teaching at the St. Michael's Conference, Southwest, and get to be MC at the event's liturgy. We have a lot of that, daily Morning Prayer, Solemn High Mass, Solemn Evensong and Compline. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament too, on Wednesday; so there's no shortage of worship.

We have 84 kids this year, and 26 counselors and clergy. It's a bit of an Anglo-Catholic "Basic", or boot camp, and very powerful.

But there's no trans naming ceremonies, no  Gaia goddess worship, no clown liturgies, no goofy nuns getting Wiccan around peace poles, no liturgical dance, or whatever.

There is the Faith, and I'll post more as I get the time.

God bless,

LSP

Episcopal Church Spirit Allies

In case you missed it, here's an excerpt from from the Presiding Shaman Bishop of the Episcopal Church's Christmas sermon, via Stand Firm.

"The altar hanging at an English Advent service was made of midnight blue, with these words across its top: “We thank you that darkness reminds us of light.” Facing all who gathered there to give thanks were images of night creatures – a large moth, an owl, a badger, and a bat – cryptic and somewhat mysterious creatures that can only be encountered in the darkness."

But what about Jesus? Good question, and here's the answer:

Jesus is among us like a flitting moth – will we notice his presence in the street-sleeper? He pierces the dark like a silent, streaking owl seeking food for hungry and defenseless nestlings. He will overturn this world’s unjust foundations like badgers undermining a crooked wall. Like the bat’s sonar, his call comes to each one uniquely – have we heard his urgent 'come and follow'?"

Moth, owl, badger, bat, sometimes you just have to bask in the brilliance. But which one's your magicke spirit ally?

I'll wager my fighting monkey against any number of your priestesses that Jefferts Schori's ally is a  Mothbat.

Feel free to disagree,

LSP

St. Michael's Conference Southwest

One of the best things I get to do is help staff the St. Michael's Conference Southwest, which is a week long Anglo-Catholic event for young people held at Camp Crucis, in the Diocese of Fort Worth. 

Say the Mass the Right Way 'Round

Our primary focus is worship, and not the useless kind either, with goofy clowns, dancers and a sappy crew of frustrated pop musicians banging their amplified way through the "Yewkrist." No, none of that, just the power of the ancient Western Rite, as seen through the lens of Anglicanism. To help us do that, we have to fix up the chapel a bit, from this:

Before

To this:

And After

A marked improvement. We have incense too and it's strange to see that no one's weirdly allergic to it; odd, eh?

Kindly Old LSP

I was MC this year, which meant I had to coordinate the worship, and I enjoyed that. Quite hard work though, as there's a Solemn High Mass every day, along with the Offices (Morning Prayer, Solemn Evensong, Compline) and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and Exposition on Wednesday and Thursday. You can see photos on Facebook here.

The Last Gospel

Almost all faculty and students make their Confession and Christ moves with great converting power during the week. It gives a huge boost to my vocation and the faith of all who go; a testament to catholic Christianity practiced unashamedly and without compromise. 

More of that, please.

God bless,

LSP

Just Making a Knife

When not working feverishly to meet an urgent go-to-press deadline, I've been rather busy polishing a piece of horn. I feel the exotic horn will become two things, a knife and a bottle opener. "But how can that be, LSP?" you ask with a note of wonder. Simple. After finishing the horn with a small rasp and ever decreasing grit sandpaper, I'll cut the thing, leaving a hand-sized knife grip and a longer bottle opener section. 

Some dancing priestess goofing-off in England

I'll then bed a knife blade into the handle with epoxy and perhaps drive two rivets through handle and tine to make the blade secure. The end of a brass 20 Gauge shotgun shell should work to close off the open  butt. A similar process will sort out the bottle opener. I'm excited by this. Stay tuned.

Jesus said "no priestesses."

On a different note, random church people brought evening gifts after I'd said Mass and taught a class on John 17 -- a bottle of red wine and some cherry crumble. I ate the one and saved the other. Thanks, team.

God bless,

LSP