Pelosi gets a 100% rating from NARAL

"Church leaders have been pleading with Pelosi for years, inviting her to repent and return to full communion with the Church. But she has been unwilling to let Catholicism inform her worldview. Even when personally corrected about her pro-choice views by Pope Benedict XVI in a private meeting in which he reminded her of her duty to protect life, the Speaker remained unmoved.

In the press conference following their conversation, she argued that all males—implicitly placing the pope and male Congressional members on the same plane—should refrain from interfering with abortions: “I love the pope. I have the highest regard for the pope…. But I don’t think that a lot of guys should be calling the shots.”

In a May 2022 interview with The Seattle Times, she confirmed that she believes her own judgment trumps the Church when it comes to abortion:

The very idea that they would be telling women the size, timing or whatever of their family, the personal nature of this is so appalling, and I say that as a devout Catholic…. They say to me, “Nancy Pelosi thinks she knows more about having babies than the Pope.” Yes I do. Are you stupid? . . . 

In 2021, Speaker Pelosi brought to the House floor and voted for the “Women’s Health Protection Act,” which codifies the right to abort a baby up until the moment of birth for any reason.

While delivering remarks to the House in support of WHPA, she condemned political forces that “don’t want in vitro fertilization” and “stand in the way of reproductive health and guidance in terms of family planning, birth control and the rest,” calling all efforts to limit such evils an “intrusion into the privacy of a family’s life.”

Additionally, Speaker Pelosi cited her Catholic faith as she voiced her support of this radical bill that directly contradicts Catholic moral teaching. She told the House of Representatives:

I come to this as a Catholic mother of five in six years and one week and with the joy that all that meant to us. But with the recognition that it was my husband and I – our decision. It was our decision. And we should not, in this body or in that Court, be making decisions for the women in America." https://catholicvote.org/public-scandal/

She may be many things, but she's not a Catholic anything.

 

Coverings and bonnets and a new desk

If one of my nieces had asked me, "Who has Grandma's prayer covering," I could have honestly told her, "I don't know, ask your mother." No more. I found it along with many pair of scissors, at least 10 old eye wear, a hand held calculator with no batteries, a 2017 pocket calendar, Museum of Art membership card for 2018, phone # for appliance repair, bags and envelopes of cancelled stamps for donation to an organization that uses them, math compass, rulers 12" and 6", User's guide for my CD clock radio 1999, perhaps 20-30 half used small notebooks, old photos that didn't make the cut for one of our 40+ photo albums, sacks of cards waiting for just the right moment which never comes, decorative magnets purchased as souvenirs of our travels, 20-30 CDs with various updates or unknown information, and an unopened box for a course in Constitution 101. I have several more boxes to go through before the transition to my new desk is finished.  The old Steelcase that I’ve had for over 40 years will go to new home, when pick ups are allowed again. At least 85% of its contents need to leave this house with it.

For those unfamiliar with Anabaptist traditions, a prayer covering is something Christian women wear for communion, or if they are conservative Mennonite or Old order Brethren, they wear them all the time. Mother usually kept a few extras in her desk drawer (neater than mine) in case there were relatives visiting during the Easter season when the twice a year observance took place. The last time I had communion (Brethren Love Feast) in my home church was probably the mid-1990s, so I would have borrowed one. But this one was hers--the tattered envelope is labeled. She died in January 2000.

I found a blog written by a Monica Rice, a 2011 MA graduate of Bethany Theological Seminary, who has studied this tradition in depth. It's not exactly the way I remember things, but it's been over 50 years since I was a member and each locality or congregation sets its own standards. The photo looks like Mom's covering and the one I had. Some are in bonnet form and each style has its own history and tradition. Somewhere packed away I have my great grandmother's black bonnet from the 19th century.

I also own the first yearbook of Bethany because my grandfather was on the Board, but that’s another blog (or I’ve already written one).

http://www.brethrenlifeandthought.org/2012/09/28/what-about-the-prayer-covering/

Come let us eat

I heard this lovely call and response hymn on Sing for Joy today. But it was a choral arrangement (Schola Cantorum) which I can’t find on YouTube and I didn’t care for the drums and organ samples, so just a small item about the Liberian composer. I is a very popular communion hymn.

KWILLIA, Billema. b. ca. 1925. Kwillia is a literacy teacher and evangelist from Liberia in West Africa. He is best known for the hymn ‘Come, Let Us Eat’ (‘A va de laa mioo’), which has been included in several hymnals and ecumenical collections. Kwillia composed the hymn in the 1960s and it employs a characteristic call-response pattern. Margaret D. Miller (b. 1927) transcribed the hymn from a recording in a church service in 1969. This hymn, in the original Loma language and in Miller’s versification, appeared first in Laudamus, a hymnal for the international gathering of the Lutheran World Federation in Evian, France in 1970. (Dictionary of hymnology)

The Biblical passages Protestants won’t read literally

I went to Bible Study Thursday  led by Pastor Jeff Morlock of UALC and we were focusing on John 4:1-30, the lesson for this coming Sunday. But I drifted a bit to John 6:25-59, where Jesus explains to his disciples, the people gathered in the synagogue in Capernaum, and to us centuries later the meaning of the phrase and promise that he is the bread of life. I've seen entire books written on one word, such as "rapture," "justify" or phrase "fruit of the spirit," and essays on whether the nativity stories mean young woman or virgin.

But here we have a huge chunk of scripture in Jesus' own words about "eat the flesh and drink his blood," with clear references to the promises to Moses and eternal life. Yet millions and millions of Protestants ignore it and say that "I am," "real," and "whoever," belong to pre-16th century superstitions of the Catholics. Frankly, I don't get it. Lutherans depending on the synod sort of fudge it with "in over around and through" and the Anglicans, I think, acknowledge it, but the rest skip right over it. Protestants seem to be taking for their part of the script, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" And Jesus is pretty clear in his explanation. "Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." To say he's speaking metaphorically or explaining bread in spiritual terms, you have to ignore the several paragraphs where he explains what he means.

Here’s what a Baptist web site says about this passage. The Catholics have 2,000 years of church teaching, tradition and Bible research to back their view.  This is one man/one ministry’s opinion with no scripture provided to support his view/belief that Jesus meant something other than what he said, but the writer is very concerned that Baptists not commune with people who don't believe as his ministry has stated.

"Roman Catholics believe that the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper are changed into the real body and blood of Jesus Christ. To believe this the Savior then took His body and made the disciples eat of it, and literally poured out His blood and told them to "drink ye all of it." If you can believe that you should be a Catholic. Bread cannot be His real body; neither can wine be His real blood, but bread can represent His body and wine can represent His blood. The Lutherans differ least from the Romans in regard to communion, for they maintain that "the body and the blood of Christ are materially present in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, though in an incomprehensible manner. They call it CON-SUBSTANTIATION. The Catholics call it TRANS-SUBSTANTIATION. Both are incredible."

How did the early Christians worship?

For as long as I’ve been a member of a 20th or 21st century church, I’ve heard that we need to go back and do things the way the early church did.  Yet I experience churches that have liturgy, creeds and hymns with preachers in robes, and churches that have the look and feel of a rock concert with preachers in torn jeans holding guitars. Christian leftists in the mainline churches think “social justice” when they read certain passages in the Gospels; others to the right somehow find free markets and capitalism. Why not take a look at how the first and second century Christians did “church?”

St. Justin Martyr, A.D. 150
“On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place. The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits. When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things. Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves . . . and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation. When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss. Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren. He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks [eucharistian] that we have been judged worthy of these gifts. When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: ‘Amen.’ When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the ‘eucharisted’ bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.”

Luke 24:30-31, 35; Acts 2:42, Corinthians 11:23-26

“He took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened. . . He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.”  “They devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”  In Chapter 11, after telling the Christians of Corinth everything they were doing wrong, Paul explains: “ ²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

With the exception of the kiss, and not communing at each gathering Justin’s letter sounds like our traditional service at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, and with the exception that the believers don’t get wine (only the priest does), it sounds like a Roman Catholic service.  Todays Protestants follow the Reformers who gave up a lot to break with Rome.  They would probably do better to follow the early church patterns, in service and sermons.  I don’t know where sermons on right relationships, parenting, attitude, volunteerism, war, government, patriotism, etc. come to play in “challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.” Maybe I’m splitting hairs, but I think everyone in the pew, saved or not, needs to hear the Good News that Jesus died for them—that no one killed him—he gave his life willingly and asked us to remember his sacrifice and to give thanks by eating his body and drinking his blood in the bread and wine.

The cupbearer and the baker

In Sunday school this morning we were looking at the Joseph story (the church is doing "The story.") I asked if the cupbearer and baker who were in prison with Joseph were a foreshadowing of the wine and bread, but no one knew.  When I got home I Googled it, and found this.

"The story of Joseph in Genesis is filled with Eucharistic imagery. The entire deliverance segment of his life is shrouded in the typology of the sacrament. While in an Egyptian prison, Joseph was joined by Pharaoh’s baker - of bread and the cupbearer - of wine. The baker was sentenced to die but the cupbearer was to live. Because of this, we see both death and resurrection linked to the Eucharist typology. Finally, it was through Joseph’s relationship with these two that he is delivered from the dungeon. The cupbearer, who lived, pleaded Joseph’s cause to Pharaoh. As a result, Pharaoh released Joseph, giving him his life back. The typology provides bread and wine, death and resurrection, and a new life for Joseph, all elements of the Eucharist. Minus the “Eucharistic events” in this story, Joseph was destined to rot in prison."
http://www.holytrinityparish.net/Links/EucharistNscriptureI.pdf

Today is Ash Wednesday

If you live or work in the NW Columbus suburban area and wish to attend a service with communion and imposition of ashes, you're invited to one of the services at the three campuses of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church. The earliest, at 6:30, is over. At Lytham Rd. there is a 12:10 p.m. traditional service (liturgy), a 6:00 family service and a 7:30 traditional service. At Mill Run at 6:30 p.m. there is a family service, and a 7:30 contemporary service. At Hilltop at 7 p.m. there is a worship service with communion. Check the link for addresses, and maps.

Today's new word is CRUCIFER

When I was checking my robe this morning in the robe room at church, I noticed there were instructions for the CRUCIFER taped to the wall with some diagrams. After reading it, I understood that the crucifer is the person who carries the cross into the church service when we process in or out of the sanctuary. I'd always called him, "the guy who carries the cross," but then I didn't come from a liturgical background. CRUCIFER comes from the Latin word for cross, crux, crucis. I looked around the internet to see what other churches suggested for their crucifers, but most of the instructions were for acolytes to ask the crucifer what to do. On our instruction sheet it does tell the crucifer not to hold the cross with an awkward hand position which makes your elbows stick out like wings, and lower it when under the balcony. I have seen people who do that. So I don't know if these are our homegrown, UALC rules, or if they were copied from another's church manual.

We had people there at 7 a.m. to pray in the sanctuary, including two pastors, then about eight of us processed in and sat in the front rows, ready to go up to serve communion. We said the liturgy, sang the hymns. But during "passing the peace" one of the choir members noticed there were no communion rails (lowest step below the altar). So he came to the front, alerted some of the men, and there was much hustling to get the rails back into place.

I noticed a small water bottle at eye level, some incorrect knots, a wine stain on someone's robe, and the word crucifer, but not that the communion rail was missing.

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Monday Memories--head covering or prayer veil

Somewhere I have a small envelop containing a prayer covering. Mother always kept a few in her desk so that if we were visiting around Easter or the fall communion date for the Brethren Love Feast, her daughters or granddaughters could wear one to the service, and I think I may have brought one home after her funeral in 2000. There is a fairly long, but not unbiased, article about head coverings for Mennonite women here. We were not Mennonite and most Brethren women gave up the veil or covering in the 1920s. I've seen photos of my maternal grandmother in a bonnet similar to the ones on the left when she was a young married woman. As I see it, they have both a spiritual and cultural use. Among the Brethren, it was called dressing "in order," and it reminds us that there is a God given order between men and women, and humans and God. But they are also a witness to others about your faith and help maintain modesty. Women who cover their heads would look a bit silly with bellies hanging over waist bands, and bursting bosoms over the top of skinny t-shirts. Even sillier than those who do it with no head covering.

I was probably 11 or 12 when I was baptized. My parents drove from Forreston (15 miles) so I could attend the instruction classes at the Church of the Brethren in Mt. Morris, which I think were on Sunday afternoon. Most of the class was the children in this photograph. After baptism, I was given my own prayer veil which I wore to communion to sit with the women, twice a year. The last I wore a covering was about 10 years ago when I attended communion at my parents' church.

Interesting selection of head coverings for women over the centuries, including Lutherans, Episcopalians, Baptists, and Anabaptists.