Talking Catholic

Back in November I began my series of talks about elements of what (in my opinion) it means to be a Christian and specifically an Anglican who includes the word catholic in their sense of identity and purpose, inspired by the story of the empty aumbry discovered in a nearby church by a former Area Dean: I've just completed it, in a rather hurried fashion as I wanted to get it all done before Lent begins. My aim was to escape from any impression that Catholic Anglicanism is primarily about incense and vestments - despite any appearances to that effect - and instead talked about The Communion of Saints, The Real Presence, Authority, Tradition & Obedience, and The Prayer of the Church, about the Office and how it works. The fifth and final talk, however, did major on worship and its features, thinking about how what churches like ours (and further up the candle) do is a way of helping embodied, fleshly beings meditate on the saving mystery of Christ, and reflects the fruit of long spiritual experience in the past. As well as The Beauty of Holiness, I also touched on Spiritual Disciplines and how they help anchor our worship in reality and stop it all wafting away into self-indulgence. 

Has it made an impression? People have certainly been interested, but if they also show an increased knowledge of these themes and self-awareness of our particular charism within the Church of England, I will be pleased. I started today's talk with this image: I can always rely on Fr Thesis's west-end church if I need a nice splurge of high-churchery to share.