Musings of an Anglican/Episcopal Priest

Month: April 2005 (Page 1 of 2)

The Harrowing of Hell

Posted by Hello
The Anastasis or the Harrowing of Hell 

From the Apostles Creed…

I believe in God the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth:
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell;
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

and I Peter 3:18-22

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

What does it mean that God descended into Hell (or to the dead–less baggage)? For some of us, mostly Americans I’d guess, the image of SWAT-team Christ kicking down the gates of hell (or Sheol, or Hades or…) and rescuing the souls of those who lived before Christ. There are two theories–the first is that Christ went down to Hell-propper and proclaimed the message of salvation to the spirits in bondage, the second is that Christ did the same, only the people were in limbo. The problem of course, is that one does away with the RC doctrine of Purgatory and the tradtion of limbo, one is left only with two options: say Christ went to the dead/hell or delete the offensive line from the Apostle’s Creed that says Christ descended. Then of course, one has to skip that part of first Peter as well.

The icon above is a depiction of the harrowing of hell. It definately makes one think about stories such as Lazarus and the rich man.

Jane Fonda isn’t sorry (Monica Crowley)

In 1972, Jane Fonda was at the height of her fame, a movie star and icon in her own right, out of the shadow of her famous father.

That’s when she decided to use her fame to oppose the war in Vietnam. Jane Fonda took to the streets here at home to let her views against the war be known. But she didn’t stop there.

She took her show on the road: to the enemy. During her stay as a guest of the North Vietnamese government, she climbed atop an enemy gun used to shoot down American airplanes.

She broadcast messages on Radio Hanoi, telling American pilots to disobey orders and stop their bombing runs. And she betrayed American POWs, who covertly identified themselves to her, only to see her tell the enemy that they had tried to communicate with her.

She now says that her trip to North Vietnam was a large lapse in judgment.

But she doesn’t regret the radio broadcasts or taking her opposition to the war to American soldiers in harm’s way.

And that’s precisely the problem. Jane Fonda has a new book out, and soon, a new movie. Her so-called “apologies,” coming 30 years after the war, now ring hollow and opportunistic. She just doesn’t get it: She sided with the enemy. She endangered the lives of American soldiers.

And she betrayed her country.

Which is why a Vietnam Veteran, Michael Smith, spit on her this week in Kansas city. I am not condoning what Mr. Smith did. But I certainly understand the anger that led to his action.

She jeopardized his life and the lives of his buddies. She gave huge propaganda value to the enemy. And she turned her back on her country.

Those who fought for this country have no respect for her, and I can’t blame them.
Her half-hearted apology was not a request for forgiveness. And that tells me that her character hasn’t changed one bit.

Cantuar to go to Rome

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, is to attend the solemn inauguration of the new pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday 24 April in St Peter’s Square in Rome. Archbishop Rowan will become the first serving Archbishop of Canterbury to attend such an occasion, at least since the Reformation. The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity has indicated its ‘great delight’ that he will be attending.

The Archbishop has confirmed that he will, again, be wearing the ring presented to his predecessor, Archbishop Michael Ramsey, by Pope Paul VI and a pectoral cross presented to him by Pope John Paul II.

Archbishop Rowan will travel to Rome on Saturday; he will be accompanied by the Revd Andrew Norman, Archbishop’s Secretary for International and Ecumenical Affairs, and by the Revd Jonathan Jennings, Archbishop’s Press Secretary.

Greetings and prayers for new Pope

Earlier this week, the Archbishop of Canterbury offered his best wishes and prayers for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on his election as successor to Pope John Paul II. He said: “We wish Pope Benedict XVI every blessing in the immense responsibilities he is about to assume on behalf of Roman Catholics round the world.

“His election is also of great significance to Christians everywhere. I look forward to meeting him and working together to build on the legacy of his predecessor, as we seek to promote shared understanding between our churches in the service of the Gospel and the goal of Christian unity.

“He is a theologian of great stature, who has written some profound reflections on the nature of God and the church. His choice of the name Benedict suggests that he wants to connect his vision of the Church to the monastic spirit of service and contemplation.

“He will be much in our prayers in the days and weeks ahead.”

Lambeth Palace press office:
Tel: 0207 898 1280/1200
Fax: 0207 261 1765
www.archbishopofcanterbury.org

Richard John Neuhaus on Benedict XVI

There is dispute about whether he hurt himself with his homily at the beginning of the conclave. Another interpretation is that he deliberately set a dour tone in order to reduce the prospect of his being elected; the premise being that he will accept but does not want the office.

There might be something to that. It is no secret that he earnestly desires to return to his work as an academic theologian and acceded to John Paul’s desire that he head up the Doctrine of the Faith very reluctantly and only under obedience. He tried to resign in 1991, in 1996, and again in 2001. But, as he has described it, when he saw the determined obedience of the frail John Paul II in continuing until the end, he could not bring himself to insist upon resigning.

Observers jumped on Ratzinger’s homiletical reference to a “dictatorship of relativism,” and the headlines are already written announcing the election of the reactionary, archconservative, doctrinal enforcer Joseph Ratzinger. In fact, the homily was a call for an “adult faith” that rejected the “extremes” of agnosticism or fundamentalism, of skepticism or fideism. Amid all the pomp and glory and media hype, Ratzinger reminded the cardinals that it all means exactly nothing apart from Jesus Christ. Challenging the liberal-vs.-conservative dichotomy that is the staple of the comic-strip caricatures offered by media chatter, he insisted that love without truth is blind, and truth without love is–and here he quoted 1 Corinthians–but a clanging cymbal.

I have known the man for more than twenty years, and the homily was Ratzinger straight: precise, intense, radically Christocentric, and marked by a tranquil and humble obedience to the truth. Commenting on the words of the Lord that he calls the disciples not servants but friends, Ratzinger ended on the winsome note, “Thank you, Jesus, for your friendship.”

Missouri Man Spits on Jane Fonda


Man Spits Tobacco Juice Into Jane Fonda’s Face After Waiting in Line to Have Her Sign Her New Book
TIM CURRAN Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
Apr. 20, 2005 – A man spit tobacco juice into the face of actress Jane Fonda after waiting in line to have her sign her new book, police said.

The man ran off but was quickly caught by police Tuesday night and charged with disorderly conduct.

Fonda has been on tour and doing interviews to promote her just-published memoir, “My Life So Far.” The thrice-married, two-time Academy Award winner covers a wide array of topics, including her 1972 visit to Hanoi to protest the Vietnam War, during which she was photographed on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. She has apologized for that photo, but not for opposing the war.

Capt. Rich Lockhart of the Kansas City Police Department said that although Fonda did not want to press charges against Michael A. Smith, 54, of Kansas City, he was arrested on a municipal charge of disorderly conduct after off-duty officers caught him just outside Unity Temple, where Fonda was signing books.

Lockhart said Smith was released on bond late Tuesday night and is due to appear in municipal court on May 27.

Smith, a Vietnam veteran, told The Kansas City Star on Wednesday that Fonda was a “traitor” and that her protests against the war were unforgivable. He said he normally does not chew tobacco but did so Tuesday solely to spit juice on the actress.

“I consider it a debt of honor,” he told The Star for a story on its Web site, www.kansascity.com. “She spit in our faces for 37 years. It was absolutely worth it. There are a lot of veterans who would love to do what I did.”

Fonda drew a crowd of about 900 for her appearance, said Vivian Jennings, whose Rainy Day Books of suburban Fairway, Kan., sponsored the event at Unity Temple in Kansas City. Fonda, 67, spoke for about 15 minutes, answered questions for another 15, then began signing copies of her book.

Jennings said Fonda received a standing ovation when she came out and when she finished speaking. Alan Tilson, one of those who had his book signed but left before the incident, said the crowd was very “warm and supportive” to Fonda and he was surprised to learn what had happened.

Jennings said the actress never got up from her seat and continued autographing books after the tobacco juice was wiped off.

“The important thing is that she was so calm and so gracious about it,” Jennings said of Fonda. “She was wonderful.”

Jennings said that the man had a book to which the name “Jody” had been affixed as he approached to have it autographed. She said that when Fonda got the book, she looked up and said, “You’re not Jody.”

“At that moment, he turned his head quickly and spit a trail of tobacco juice,” Jennings said. “He immediately jumped off the stage and started running down the aisle.”

Fonda, who flew to Minneapolis Wednesday for another appearance on the book tour she began April 5, issued a statement through Jynne Martin of Random House, which published her book.

“In spite of the incident, my experience in Kansas City was wonderful and I thank all the warm and supportive people, including so many veterans, who came to welcome me last night,” Fonda said.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Now playing: [Imagine That~Diamond Rio~Greatest Hits~3:31]

Steering a Big Ship

My sense is that Pope Benedict XVI may further ecumenism more than a “liberal” could… primarily this is because I feel that conservatives have a more realistic understanding of the differences between faiths and a beter grasp of the places where cooperation and unity are possible. This is, I believe and hope, what will arise from Pope B’s papacy. But we shall see… Here’s an article about his first mass, which traditionally sets the tone for a Papacy.


ROME, April 20 – In his first Mass as pope, Benedict XVI reached out to the church today, setting out some of the themes of his papacy in conciliatory language.

He specified some of the top priorities of his papacy: the promotion of the unity of Christians and a commitment to ecumenism, the continued dialogue with other religions and the fulfillment of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Speaking in Latin, as is customary, in the brightly frescoed Sistine Chapel, where he was elected only a day before, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 78, also made repeated references to his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, confirming that his own papacy would be one of continuity.

He told the gold-robed cardinals in attendance that he would assume as his primary task the “full and visible unity of all the followers of Christ.”

More than a task, he said, it was a duty where “concrete gestures” were required and not vague motions of good sentiment.

American cardinals said today that the new pope had been unfairly caricatured as an unfeeling conservative in his role for more than two decades as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s chief doctrinal watchdog.

They instead described him, at a news conference at the Pontifical North American College, as a caring, brilliant churchman who listens to those with opposing views.

“He wants to be collegial,” said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington. “He wants the advice of cardinals. That for me is one of the great things.”

Cardinal Edward Egan of New York called Pope Benedict calm and strong. “I think he’ll play well as soon as people come to know him,” he said. “This is a very unprepossessing, humble, and if I may say, lovely gentleman.”

Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles said, “We have to get to know this man” beyond his public image as a cold disciplinarian.

In a homily on Monday, Cardinal Ratzinger said that Christians were being tossed about by the waves of Marxism, collectivism, libertinism and atheism.

And he was highly critical of the creation of new “sects,” a term often used by church leaders to refer to Christian evangelical movements, drawing Christians into what he said was “error.”

But in his first homily as pontiff he took a much softer stance, saying he was disposed “to do what was in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism.”

And in a gesture perhaps intended to allay the fears of those critics who saw his election as shutting the door on the inter-religious dialogue started by his predecessor, Pope Benedict appealed to “those who follow other religions,” reassuring them that the church wanted to continue to construct “an open and sincere dialogue” with them.

He also promised to continue carrying out the Second Vatican Council, “in the wake of my predecessors and in faithful continuity with the bi-millenary tradition of the church.

Forty years after the end of the council that radically reformed the church, he said, “the council documents have not lost their actuality,” and their teachings are particularly important to the current petitions of the church and today’s “globalized society.”

The 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church made frequent references to his predecessor, John Paul II, and to the immense outpouring of public affection that accompanied his final illness and death. The late pope, he said, left a church that is “more courageous, more free and more young.”

His final thoughts in the homily were for the young, and Pope Benedict said he looked forward to meeting “the future and hope of the church and humanity” in Bonn next August for World Youth Day. He pledged to continue the dialogue launched by his predecessor, and promised to listen to their expectations.

Views from Russia

{From http://msnbc.msn.com}
In a congratulatory message to Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday, Patriarch Alexiy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, signaled a new willingness to heal a centuries old split between the two faiths.

“Our Churches, which have authority and influence, should unite their efforts to spread Christian values to modern humankind. The secular world is losing its spiritual way and needs our joint testimony as never before,” he said.

Some Russian media, meanwhile, appeared to take caution in dedicating coverage to the new pope, perhaps a result of nationalism ignited by the death of Pope John Paul II. In the wake of the pope’s passing, one Russian lawmaker proposed a ban on coverage, saying it amounted to Catholic “propaganda” at the expense of the Russian Orthodox Church. A parliamentary vote on the proposal failed to pass.

Only a handful of newspapers gave the new pope front-page coverage, relegating the story to the inside pages. Breaking news of Benedict XVI’s election did get prominent attention on state-controlled Russian television on Tuesday.

Despite the Russian patriarch’s positive comments on a Catholic-Orthodox rapprochement, others saw the new pontiff, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as a possible roadblock to better ties between the two religions.

Daily newspaper Gazeta noted that Ratzinger, as chief of religious doctrine under John Paul II, believed in the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church over the Russian Orthodox Church, which split from Rome in the Great Schism of 1054.

The newspaper said Benedict XVI could treat the Orthodox as a “forgotten daughter than a sister religion.”

« Older posts

© 2024 FrJody.com

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑