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Site Last Updated on 9th July 2008 |
Archbishop Michael's Most Recent Message
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MESSAGE FOR EARLY TRINITY - 2008
The heart of the matter.
During the great forty days of Easter, we have rejoiced in the Resurrection of Our Lord, through which the possibility of eternal life has been opened up for everyone who believes. We have followed Christ’s return to heavenly glory in the Ascension, taking with Him our human nature, giving us the hope that we too can follow where He has gone. We have recognised the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, inspiring the Apostles to carry the message of Christ out into the world, and we have prayed that we may act through that same power. Now, in the early weeks of Trinity, we pause to consider the humanity of Christ, for this has been an essential element in all that has gone before. God has expressed His love for us by allowing His Son to take human flesh from the Blessed Virgin Mary, to live a life on earth that was fully human and at the same time fully perfect, and to show that love most of all by dying for us on the Cross. These thoughts on Christ’s humanity are summed up for us in the feast of the Sacred Heart, which occurs between the first and second Sundays after Trinity, and is observed by many Christians.We often speak of someone having an aching heart, or even a broken heart. When we speak of the Sacred Heart of Jesus we are thinking of God’s love for us, shown through all the things that Jesus did for us during His earthly life.
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There was more to Our Lord’s death on the Cross than a desire to achieve an end, the salvation of mankind. The driving force behind that supreme sacrifice was the personal love that God has for each of us. Dr. Pusey, one of the leaders of the Tractarian Movement which did so much to revive the Church of England in the nineteenth century, wrote about this very point: “There is a cold, abstract way of speaking and thinking of the Redemption as though it were only an act consummated, an Atonement made, the substitution of the idea of redemption for the Person of the Redeemer; whereas we should look at Jesus Himself, pitying, loving, praying for us sinners, Jesus bearing our sins in His own Body on the Tree, Jesus healing us by His stripes”. From this we can see that it is less important for us to understand all that happened at the Atonement than to know that what Jesus did was done out of love for us, His loving act towards us calling for a loving response on our part. We will appreciate our redemption better when we have a heart to heart with Jesus, our Redeemer.
In one of his hymns, Fr. Faber wrote, “And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind”, and we could add that it certainly needs to be! It underlines the fact that our own hearts need to be changed for us to give an adequate response to God’s love. In daily life, people are always looking for improvements to their standards of living and to their circumstances. Politicians spend their time drafting new laws to promote these improvements, or to try to prevent adverse conditions or unsociable behaviour. Much of that time will be wasted, however, unless there is a change of heart within our society to go with it. Spiritual regeneration must accompany material renewal, but sadly there are few people in positions of power who are prepared to acknowledge this fact. To bring about this change of heart, we need to consider and embrace all the good things that flow from the Heart of Jesus, such as simplicity, humility, patience, obedience, joy and peace. God wants us to respond to the love that He has shown us. When we do respond, we shall be pleasing God, not by doing extraordinary things, but by doing the ordinary things of life well, and with love in our hearts.
With every Blessing.
‡ Michael Windlesham
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The Traditional Church of England
If you are:
- concerned that the main-stream churches are becoming adjuncts of social services, just offering ‘feel-good’ or ‘happy-clappy’ experiences;
- one of the silent majority frustrated by increasingly vocal and (apparently) successful minorities hijacking the true agenda of the church, and concentrating it on social, human rights, equality, gender and other worldly issues, and ignoring the Christian way of life;
Then... the Traditional Church of England might be for you.
We:
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are a continuing part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, and proclaim the Gospel and teach the Catholic Faith as professed by the primitive Church;
- accept the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as given by the inspiration of God, and containing all things necessary to Salvation;
- base our doctrine on the Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the same, the 39 Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal, and the three Catholic Creeds;
- administer the two Sacraments of Christ as are generally necessary to Salvation, and the five Sacraments of Grace;
- maintain inviolate the three Orders of the Sacred Ministry, namely: Bishop, Priest and Deacon which, in accordance with Scripture and Tradition, are male only;
- expect our members to live their lives in accordance with the tenets of Christian brotherhood and love, and to support its work;
- worship God in the Beauty of Holiness, and in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer (1549, 1662 & 1928), the English Missal, and the Authorised Version of the Bible. Our Priests face East at our Altars;
- are a ‘broad’ Church, which welcomes all who profess the ancient Creeds and uphold the Faith, be they Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical or ‘Middle-of-the-Road’; holding that all are valuable, and have a distinctive part to play.
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