Dear Readers,
My
name is Fr. Franz Devantier of Saint Titus, Independent Old Catholic Church
(IOCC) of Africa, operating in South Africa, and also creator of this blog.
My background was that of a Liberal Catholic
Priest, and a Traditional Catholic Priest in South Africa, and then an
independent Priest in the Catholic tradition. I was incardinated into the
IOCC by Archbishop-Primate Emeritus Maurice McCormick founder of the IOCC of
America.
Primate Archbishop George Le Mesurier, IOCC of
America
Primate Emeritus Archbishop Maurice McCormick, IOCC of America
+++
Primate Emeritus Archbishop Maurice McCormick, IOCC of America
+++
Bishop George Otieno Odhiambo, IOCC of Africa
+++
Father. Franz Devantier, IOCC South Africa
In
nomine Patris, et Filii, + et Spiritus
Sancti. Amen (In the name of the father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. )
15th
Sunday after Pentecost – 1st September 2013 (Colour of Celebration – Green)
Intent: The reality
of things eternal. A day of devotion to
the Holy Spirit.
O Holy Spirit, the comforter of all that trust in thee,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; increase and multiply within
us thy heavenly wisdom; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass
through things temporal as never to lose sight of the things eternal and may
ever live in the service of Christ our holy Lord, who with thee and the
almighty Father liveth and reigneth one God for evermore. Amen.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has snatched us from eternal death,
as He once snatched the young man of Naim from natural death and doing this He
shows the compassion which he feels for our mother the Catholic Church
lamenting over sinners, just as He was moved by pity for the poor widow
lamenting over her son.
Commemoration
of the Saints, for the coming week
Sunday September
1st
Commemoration of St Giles, Abbot.
Monday September
2nd
St Stephen, Confessor
Tuesday September
3rd
St Pius X, Pope, Confessor
Thursday
September 5th
St Laurence Justinian, Bishop, Confessor
Announcements:
We are collecting members for Saint Titus, Ordinary
members, members who need baptism and confirmation, and candidate Priests, both
men and woman. We want to provide for
our members, all sorts of services that they may need, such as burial,
marriage, confession, and etc. We are
hoping to attract as many people as possible.
If you are interested, then please contact Fr. Franz devantierf@gmail.com
News:
Join
the Saint Titus
Newsletter
Sacred References:
Corinthians II, chapter 4, verse 14 onwards
Luke, chapter 10, verse 25 onwards
Homily:
Today we are really thinking about the
reality of things eternal. We are
devoting this day to the Holy Spirit, because all our true spiritual learning
is because of the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Now you remember how the bible describes the way in which Jesus
was raised from the dead, after three days.
Now this is mind blowing stuff, but think of this. The very same force will likewise be raising
us from the dead one day. You see as a
believer in Christ Jesus we have overcome the limitations of our physical life
being so short and delicately balanced.
In Christ Jesus we will love forever, for all eternity. Of course to describe the different levels in
Heaven is not what this homily is about.
To describe the path that one would take through heaven, and how you
would grow closer to God in the kingdom of heaven is also not what this homily
is about. We are talking about the
spiritual development of the inner man on this earth plain. Very down to earth stuff.
The inner man is renewed each day, as
he walks with the Spirit of God within himself, day after day. The spiritual or the soul side of the man
grows to spiritual maturity and becomes better and better in every way. At the same time as this is happening the
physical body of the man becomes older and older and starts to wear out. As the man focusses on the things that are
not seen in this world, he grows in an unseen sort of way, in a spiritual
way. You see, God is Spirit, and if we
are to get closer to God, we have to develop ourselves spiritually. Many of us have been baptized and taken
Christ Jesus up on his offer of atonement for sins or justification by
faith. We know we are going to heaven
when we die. However we are just
preparing ourselves to enjoy it even more in heaven one day. We are starting to develop our spiritual
sides. When we look at the temporal
things around us, the worldly things, the things that we can see with our
physical eyes, then we are drawn down to physical reality, and in a way our
soul stops growing while we focus on the mundane.
As we focus on the church we begin to
focus sometime on the things that have gone wrong in the church, yes even in
these days. As we look at the physical institution
of the church, and the way it works, we should remind ourselves, that we should
not focus on the fact that it is wrong to be a Gay paedophile, while hiding
behind the cassock of a Priest or Bishop.
We should be focussing on the fact that it is wrong to be a paedophile
in any circumstances, but especially in the church. You see on the physical level, it should not
be about whether it is better to destroy the loves of little boys or to destroy
the loves of little girls. We should be
focussing on the fact that there are potentially Priests and Bishops in our
midst’s who are paedophiles and are destroying the lives of innocent children,
possibly even as you read this homily.
That is the physical reality that you should focus on, because you have
to do something about it. If you leave
it and do nothing, you are effectively supporting whatever they are doing.
For such people who are using the
church to hide in, we could say that it would be better for them to tie
boulders to their bodies and to throw themselves into a river. Jesus said, “Suffer the children to come unto
me”. I am not going to mention names at this
point in time, or specific church organizations. However if this does apply to you, then I am
seriously appealing to you to immediately resign from the church. Christ Jesus does not want you in his Church,
Jesus loves the children. I appeal to
you to relinquish your title of Priest, Bishop or whatever it is. I appeal to you to stop dragging the precious
name of Jesus Christ, into the filthy, evil gutters with yourself. I appeal to you to have the courage to admit
to the world the evil deeds that you have committed, in the guise of being a
close follower of Christ Jesus.
The damage that you are doing far
outweighs the degenerate human being that you are, or have become. The damage that you are doing during this
transient existence on Earth may be insignificant from a time perspective against
eternity; but the damage inflicted on multiple innocent souls, will last for
all eternity, and will generate countless ripple effects.
I appeal to everybody to focus on the
reality of eternal things, and to cut off or destroy all that seeks to
impregnate us with the filthy evil side of this transient and temporal
life. Please I implore everybody, let us
make a difference. Count yourself
amongst loving human beings, count yourself amongst the sons and daughters of
God, protect the children at all costs.
In the Gospel we find a lawyer questioning
Christ Jesus about how to inherit eternal life.
You see by the time that the lawyer came to speak to Christ Jesus he had
already studied the scriptures pretty intensely. It turned out that the lawyer knew the answer
to his question, because he was able to quote for Christ Jesus from the Old
testament.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”
Of course being a lawyer he had to
take it to the next step, and he asked Christ Jesus who his neighbour was. Of course we now know what Jesus meant by our
neighbour, we know that it includes everybody around us, especially those in
need, and we know that it includes the innocent children as well, because
Christ Jesus especially loved the children.
So in a way first and foremost your neighbour includes the children
around you, especially those children in need.
Christ Jesus went on to tell the story
of the Good Samaritan, that you all know so well. As the story goes, a certain man was
travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho by foot.
A band of thieves attached and robbed him of everything, including his
clothes, and left him half dead. It was
not long before a Priest came down the road, and seeing the man lying next to
the road decided to walk by on the other side of the road. Before long a Levite came by, he took the
trouble to look more closely at the man in distress, but decided to walk by on
the other side. After some time a
Samaritan came along, and seeing the man in distress his heart went out to
him. He bathed his wounds in oil and
wine, and bound them as best he could.
He put the man on his own best of burden and took him to an Inn where he
could look after him. The Samaritan had
to leave the next day, but he left the InnKeeper with enough money to look
after the man.
Christ Jesus was demonstrating to the
lawyer exactly who our neighbour was.
The Samaritan had been a good neighbour, as we are all called to be good
neighbours, to love our neighbour as ourselves.
If we are to love our neighbours as
ourselves, then it becomes our duty when we become aware of the actions of
paedophiles in our communities, to do something about it. We have no choice to show love and compassion
to the potential victims by exposing the paedophiles, and making sure that they
are brought to justice. If we are to
love our neighbours we have no choice but to demonstrate this love, especially when
the lives of innocent children are being directly compromised. Jesus loves the little children, and we need
to expose and eradicate the paedophiles in our communities to demonstrate our
love for our neighbours. If we tolerate
these sex offenders for whatever reason, and allow them to continue operating
in our midst, then we ourselves will one-day have to answer to God for the sins
against humanity, that they have committed.
Remember that they sins of omission can be more hefty than the sins of
commission. Let us prepare ourselves
pure and blameless for the day of judgement by doing our duty now, and exposing
and eradicating the evil in our midst.
Please I appeal to you to do something about it right now. Let’s stand up together in obedience to the
New Commandment of Christ Jesus, and put a stop to the actions of the
paedophiles in our midst right now.
Love Father Franz.
Church History – Article 10:
Challenges for the Church
After the tenth century, the
Christian faith was strengthened by challenges that came both from within the
church and outside the church.
The biggest challenge from within
the church came in the form of the anti-clerical and the anti-hierarchical
movements. The institutional church
branded these movements as heresies. The
most prominent and influential heritical groups were the Albigensians and the
Waldensians. The existence of the
heritical groups within the church was ultimately not as big a challenge to the
existence of the church, as was the way in which the so called heritics who
were loving members of the church were dealt with.
The Albegensians, who were also
known as the “Cathari” or “Pure Ones”, were vigorously evangelistic. The Albegensians were persecuted so
successfully by the institutional church, that there was nobody left to explain
what they really believed in. However the
persecutors from within the institutional church claimed that the Albigensians
had rejected the Christian doctrine of Creation. Not having the details is a bit
frustrating. We know that there were
many different stories of creation that had been in circulation for quite some
time. Even today, you can buy compiled
publications of alternative scriptures, that have been collected over
time. In such collections you will find
the most wonderful stories of creation, from different traditions. However sadly we will never really know the
details of exactly what they believed about the creation of the world.
The Albigensians in their
teachings, differentiated between the flesh of man and the spirit of man. This formed the basis or foundation for the
rest of their specific belief systems and practices. The Albigensians laid a heavy emphasis on the
life of the spirit, which does not seem to contradict with anything that we
believe in these days. However they did
denounce the growing worldliness of the church, which may have been a problem
for the Institutional church. Ever since
the Church had teamed up with the Roman Empire in the year 395, such comments
as growing worldliness and others may not have been too far off the mark. To think that not so many centuries before
this, the church and its members had been subjected to persecution, and now the
church was the one persecuting its members, to the extent of complete
elimination of a so-called heretic group.
The persecution of the Albigensians was perhaps one of the signs, that
there was something horribly wrong somewhere.
Then the church had to contend
with the Waldensians. Their belief
system was not so easy to attack, because they simply laid emphasis on the need
to return to a more Apostolic Christianity based upon the biblical
teachings. They did make the mistake of
preaching against the worldliness of the Church, the same standpoint that the
Albigensians had taken. Because of this
standpoint about the worldliness of the church they took a tremendous persecution
from the church at the beginning of the thirteenth century. However there was a twist to the story of the
persecution of the Waldensians, because later on in the thirteenth century the
Friars were also preaching against the growing worldliness of the institutional
church, but with the approval of the church authorities. So we can assume that the growing worldliness
of the institutional church was a big problem in those days. However the persecution against the
Waldensians by the institutional church continued, but perhaps on a more
subdued note, then as in the case of the Albigensians.
The Waldensians were able to
prevent the complete eradication of themselves by the institutional church by fleeing
to virtually inaccessible alpine valleys in northern Italy, Savoy, Switzerland,
and Austria. The Waldensians have
survived to the present day, and are especially prevalent in Italy.
I believe that a moment of
silence for the Albigensians and the Waldensians would be in order now. A moment of silence for these very serious
members of the medieval catholic Church, who were persecuted and completely
eradicated, except for the Waldensians who managed to survive in isolated
pockets. It is with this heavy baggage
on the part of the church, that the institutional church had to continue its
journey, and ourselves with it.
The medieval Catholic church had
reacted to the so-called heritical movements in various ways. The most obvious response was repression of
the group identified. In time many devout
Christians came to recognize the Piety of the so-called heretics, and strongly
wished for a more spiritual approach amongst the more orthodox Christians. Conventional members of the church were able
to find suitable vehicles for spiritual development in Monasticism and Mysticism. These two vehicles were again to be a problem
for the church from then onwards, until the present day. During the Medieval times more and more
people were seeking spirituality, which is what any religious organization is
supposed to provide for its members. The
church was becoming more and more wrapped up in the affairs of the temporal or
ordinary world, and paying less and less attention to its foundations, and the
spiritual development of its members.
Can you recognize the seeds that the institutional church was planting
for itself, as they approached the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries?
(Next week we look at Decline and Decay in the
church)
An Anglican Catechism
– Article 10:
The Holy Scriptures
=>
What are the Holy Scriptures?
The
Holy Scriptures commonly called the Bible, are the books of the Old and New
testaments; other books called the Apocrypha, are often included in the Bible.
=>
What is the Old Testament?
The
Old Testament consists of books written by the people of the Old Covenant,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to show God at work in nature and
history.
=>
What is the New Testament?
The
New Testament consists of books written by the people of the New Covenant,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to set forth the life and teachings
of Jesus and to proclaim the good news of the kingdom for all people.
=>
What is the Apocrypha?
The
Apocrypha is a collection of additional books written by the people of the Old
Covenant, and used in the Christian Church.
=>
Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the word of God?
We
call them the word of God because God inspired their human authors and because
God still speaks to us through the Bible.
=>
How do we understand the meaning of the Bible?
We
understand the meaning of the Bible by the help of the Holy Spirit, who guides
the Church in the true interpretation of the Scriptures.
(Next week we will look at The Church)
Prayer:
Our
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name: Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.
[Protestants
can optionally add: For Thine is the
kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.]
Amen.
A Meditation for all Humanity, The Great Invocation:
This meditation or prayer refers to the Kingdom of God,
establishing itself on Earth.
(In place of the word “Christ” below, you may be more
comfortable with the term “Lord Maitreya”, “the Imam Mahdi”, “the Bodhisattva”,
“the Messiah”, or etc.)
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let Light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let Love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ
return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
By using the Invocation and encouraging others to use it,
no particular group or organisation is sponsored. It belongs to all humanity.
Benediction:
The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep
your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son, Christ
our Lord; and the Blessing of God almighty, the Father, + the Son and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you and remain with you
always. Amen.
Love,
Rev. Fr. Franz Devantier of Saint Titus, IOCC, South Africa,
devantierf@gmail.com
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