Thoughts and prayer so out to Archbishop Zimmerman and his family upon the passing of his father today.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon him.May he rest in peace.
Amen.May his soul, and the soul of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.
For the sake of his sorrowful passion,
have mercy on us and on the whole word.
I was reading Chris’ blog today and saw a post that he did pointing out a BBC story from Africa. I felt compelled to reply with a comment, and thought I would put it here as well for your reference:
I just thought as the resident Reformed Catholic on the bloggosphere I should chime in here! The BBC article was poorly and unfairly written. And while the Reformed Catholic Church (RCC) is blessed with great international growth, particularly in Africa, it should be mentioned that there is a great deal of misreporting coming out of that part of the world about us.
We do not give our imprimatur to polygamy. Period. End of discussion.
Also, Fr. Shiundu is not a part of the Reformed Catholic Church. The bishop who married him is not either. The bishop is with the “Reformed Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church.”
Because we are growing so fast in Africa, I think there is a mindset that “all independent Catholics are the same” so people think we are involved in this situation. We are not.
As of today we are now in 22 countries. Our Latest additions include: Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Seychelles Islands, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Germany and Rome, Italy.
We are blessed with this growth despite the poor reporting that comes with it!
It is my second full day back following my trip to the International Cathedral of the Reformed Catholic Church in Columbus, Ohio. It was the first time that I met members of the clergy in person and had an opportunity to witness first hand the ministries that are undertaken.
Simply put, I was floored. The people I met were people who have known each other over the years. They are friends. Yet without any hesitation, they immediately welcomed me and embraced me as on of their own. The showed me the hospitality that we all know a priest should.
The meetings were informative and interesting. It is clear that the Reformed Catholic Church is growing – soon the RCC will be even bigger in Africa than it is in the United States with the incardination requests coming from an entire seminary class of over 90 Roman Catholic seminarians. We have also seen incardination requests from the rector of a Roman seminary in India and a Diocesan vicar of finance. It's not just the quantity of these people coming to the church that impresses me, it's the quality.
Another thing that was very clear is that the RCC is not a community that's interested in playing church. There are real ministries. From the thrift store in the cathedral basement to the tens of thousands of sandwiches made in the last three months and delivered to local shelters – the clergy of the RCC are dedicated to answering the Gospel call of Jesus Christ.
If there was ever any doubt about the caliber of the RCC, my mind was put at ease. I am pleased to be a part of the dynamic, growing, and holy community.
I may write more later. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Peace.
I leave today for the Reformed Catholic Church's Spring Synod. Please keep us all in your prayers!
Chris requested that I write a bit about the Reformed Catholic Church (RCC) since he felt that a blog entry may provide more information and insight than the standard website information. I have been thinking of putting my thoughts on the RCC into words for sometime, and I am glad he invited me to do this to push me into action.
Like may independent and Old Catholics, I was born as a "cradle catholic" in the Roman Catholic Church. Throughout my life I began to fall in love with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and the wonderful church and sacraments that I grew to believe he instituted for us here on earth. I drew great strength from the mass and from adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
As the years passed, however, I began to have some difficulties reconciling matters of my conscience with the teaching of the Vatican. Like many people, this progressively became more and more of a problem for me. While I greatly missed the sacraments and liturgical life of the church, I felt that my participation was a mark of hypocrisy.
Through a friend, I began to learn about Independent Catholicism. I was amazed at the prospect of valid sacraments outside of the Vatican's authority. I spent several years lurking on the sidelines, thinking and praying for direction as I studied various independent catholic churches. Eventually, I came across the RCC's website where I watched a trailer for the documentary Veritas: Gay in God's Army which featured the RCC's presiding archbishop, Phillip Zimmerman, RSJ. I began an e-mail dialogue with the archbishop and began to understand more about the RCC - a church with authentic Catholic spirituality that is at the same time open to all of God's children. I was amazed that I seemed to stumble upon a church that fit so well with my own beliefs and faith experience!
Making the decision to leave my Roman Catholic roots and embrace a new life in faith with the Reformed Catholic Church was both exciting and terrifying. It's never easy to leave that which we know best for a new experience and journey. But as time has passed, I have known in my heart that I am following the path that God wants me to.
I recently remarked to the Archbishop that I feel like someone who is swimming to the beach, and turns around to see a wave full of people on their way as well. The RCC has seen such a response as of late with growth. There is such an energy in the church and I am excited to be a part of it. There are Roman Catholic deacons, nuns, priests and brothers who are all feeling the Spirit call them to our community of faith. We have welcomed former Roman provincials and vocations directors and seminary rectors. We have an orphanage in Africa and a new national cathedral in Columbus, Ohio.
With all of this growth, it has been intimidating to start a new ministry in New Haven. I hope and pray that the Spirit blesses us with the energy and enthusiasm that has marked the RCC internationally, so that we too may provide a home to those who feel spiritually homeless.
That will do it for my initial reflection on this journey. I will certainly answer any questions and may reflect further in the future on another post.
I am currently sitting in front of Gate B-10 at the airport waiting for my flight to Chicago. High winds and weather concerns delayed my 5:00 pm flight to 6:10 and then 7:10 with warnings of further delays. People are starting to show signs of stress.
It's interesting to look around an airport terminal. You see people in all of their uniqueness. Some are dressed up and others are casual. Some are traveling for business, others for pleasure. I can't help but to wonder what different people are up to here. Who is traveling home to see a sick loved one? Who is trying to get back in time for a funeral? Who is looking forward to a wedding? Who is running from a problem?
They can serve as a metaphor, our airports. We are all coming from somwhere different. We all bring our own baggage. We all have a choice about how we are going to handle the situations that face us. And, most importantly, we are all traveling with each other. There are many outside factors that will control how we go – but the choice of spirit with wich we travel, that is up to us.
Let us pray for each other as we journey together.
I’ve been having some trouble with Blogger and the old DMO blog, so I thought I would move the blog here to WordPress. I found WordPress through Chris’ blog, and hope to have better luck with it. I tried to import the old stuff, but it was a formatting nightmare, so please use the link above to read the old content.
There is a publisher called the Forward Movement that serves the Episcopal Church, and they put out a small publication called Day by Day. I came across it recently and found a prayer in the booklet called the Morning Resolve. I try to pray it each day and thought I would share it with you.
I will try this day to live a simple, sincere and serene life, repelling promptly every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity, and self-seeking; cultivating cheerfulness, magnanimity, charity, and the habit of holy silence; exercising economy in expenditure, generosity in giving, carefulness in conversation, diligence in appointed service, fidelity to every trust, and a childlike faith in God.
In particular I will try to be faithful in those habits of prayer, work, study, physical exercise, eating, and sleep which I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me to be right.
And as I cannot in my own strength do this, nor even with a hope of success attempt it, I look to thee, O Lord God my Father, in Jesus my Savior, and ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Welcome to the DMOblog – the official blog of the Oratory of Divine Mercy. We’re a new community in Connecticut, but we have a lot of things happening. We recently launched our website, we’re preparing to travel to Ohio for the Reformed Catholic Church‘s Synod, we’re gathering “founding members” to help form our new community, and now we launch our blog. This blog will be a place where you can read some reflections, find some prayers, share your thoughts, and learn about our community. To learn more about us, please visit our website and sign up for our e-Pistle Newsletter. Until you come again… peace to you!
