Some Thoughts

May God’s peace be with you!

This week’s blog will skip around a bit as I have a few topics I want to share.  First, I read a couple books this past week regarding the Independent Catholic movement by Extraordinary Catholic Press.  I read “Our Better Version of Catholicism” and “Building Community” both edited by Dr. Jayme Mathias.  In the former book, Fr. Marek Bozek speaks about what it would take for him to come back to the Roman Catholic Church.  He speaks about the dysfunction in the Independent Sacramental Movement and seems to long for a return to the Roman Catholic Church.  The lack of unity is a disgrace as it contradicts the command of Christ that Christians should be one.  The question of unity is a difficult theological problem because what does it mean to be united?  Sadly, the Roman Catholic ideal was to Latinize even historic Eastern liturgies.  Unity cannot mean uniformity because the Spirit is one though there are many diverse gifts and charisms.  Fr. Marek uses the analogy of our first love.  Our first love will always be a part of us despite having moved on.  For him, he cannot stop loving the Roman Catholic Church as he thinks back to the many positive experiences he had there.  He would happily return to the Roman Catholic Church if they would make the changes he deems necessary for reunion.

I started reading “Explorations in Inclusive Catholicism,” another book by Extraordinary Press.  Bishop John Plummer delivered the keynote speech and he takes a very different view than Fr. Marek.  First, Bishop John Plummer wants to make sense of the diversity found in Independent Catholicism and the Independent Sacramental Movement.  Each jurisdiction and minister should point to the risen and living Jesus Christ as everything else is a waste of time and a betrayal of priestly vows.  He then critiques those who come to the Independent Sacramental Movement begrudgingly.  Some people want to be a priest, deacon, or bishop in a mainline church but settle with an ISM community because they have no other option.  Bishop Plummer uses the analogy of marrying someone as a compromise substitute.  You cannot truly marry someone if you are longing for the embrace of someone else.  The same is true with ministry.  You cannot give yourself to a community if you just want to be somewhere else.  Bishop Plummer recognizes people have to make a choice: will we live out our calling in a larger mainline church which means living with the difficulties that arise, or will we discern our calling to the Independent Sacramental Movement?  These are different paths.  It is not that one is superior to the other, but each calling is unique.

As I was reading Bishop Plummer and Fr. Marek, I was reflecting on my own calling.  If the Roman Catholic Church changed a few things, such as married priests so that I could return and minister, would I want to return?  Within a minute, my immediate answer is no.  I have a lot of love for the Roman Catholic Church and I speak highly of her but I have moved on.  I typically attend an Eastern Church in communion with Rome but with diverse practices and a unique history, outlook, and liturgy.  I was a Roman Catholic parish priest for more than a decade and fell in love with the people and parish life.  At the same time I truly wanted to work and study outside of the parish, but be involved in the sacramental life of a parish.  Like Paul, I had reservations about making a living off the Gospel.  I read too much Kierkegaard and I appreciate the ministry of the genuine prophets of the Old Testament.  Sadly, I wish I was involved in more ministry than I am currently able to experience and provide.  Despite that, I am happy with sharing the Gospel at my “secular” employment.  For instance, this past week I spoke with a person who nearly died from a brain aneurysm.  This was a person who was highly successful and “made it” in terms of a profession but all that was taken away when his health suddenly changed.  He nearly died and was angry and hurt that he could no longer work, drive, or do anything that he previously enjoyed.  As he was feeling sorry for himself, he had a dream in which he died and Jesus asked him why he did not read the Scriptures.  Previously, he had always been too busy but he no longer had that excuse.  He began reading and this became a life-changing experience for him.  He experienced love and joy in a way that he previously never had before.  We spoke for over 20 minutes on the phone as I was assisting him with a transaction; he was so pleased to have someone break open God’s Word with him.  It is these moments in which I can live out my “secular priesthood” as people are hungry for God’s presence, action, and love.

Returning to the book “Explorations in Inclusive Catholicism,” Bishop Plummer spoke about a movement that I had never heard of before – African-American Spiritual Movement Jurisdiction.  It can be considered a “twin sister” to the ISM movement.  I have never heard of this before and will need to do some additional research.

I did want to note that there is a quote on page 8 that can challenge some of my views on the importance of community.  Last week, I challenged celebrating mass without a community.  Bishop Plummer recognizes the importance of being formed by daily liturgy (which I truly appreciated celebrating as a Roman Catholic priest) but a community is often impossible for a daily ISM liturgy.  Bishop Plummer recognizes that the mass is always done in community even if the presider is without a congregation as the community includes the living and the dead, the angels, the saints, and those we are praying for.  I dislike jurisdictions and ministries that have no people though one could also say that my own ministries lack real laity.  Maybe this is my own insecurity that I am dealing with.

Finally, I want to share that I attended my first Independent Sacramental Movement/Independent Catholic liturgy last Sunday.  It may seem strange that I have this website and have read so many ISM books and resources without having experienced a liturgy before.  I attended a Independent Catholic liturgy last Sunday and it was similar to the Roman Rite with a few modifications and changes.  Unfortunately, I was the only person in attendance besides a priest and his mother. They were both very kind and welcoming.  They apologized as they said they can have up to 20 people in attendance but the cold weather scares many away during this time of the year.  The homily was very good and I am pleased I went.  I hope to return here another Sunday afternoon when I am free.

May you experience God’s peace and love each and every day. 

Peace,

Ben