Birthing pains. The agonizing pains a woman endures as the life inside desires to purge herself from her amniotic cocoon that’s been her incubator. Pain indicates the fullness of time. Time to exit a space no longer hospitable to life. Dying pains. Remarkably they mirror birthing pains; reluctance, fear of the unknown, purgation, and fragility. The guarantee of human existence is that we enter and leave in much the same way–– through birthing pains. Birth…
I should receive the sacraments by faith in Christ, with repentance and thanksgiving. Faith in Christ is necessary to receive the grace of the sacraments, and obedience to Christ is necessary for the benefits of the sacraments to bear fruit in my life. To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism We look again at Anglican theologian Richard Hooker for the Anglican perspective concerning the means to experience the “real presence” of Christ in the Eucharist.…
As my body is nourished by the bread and the wine, my soul is strengthened by the Body and Blood of Christ. I receive God’s forgiveness, and I am renewed in the love and unity of the Body of Christ, the Church. I should continue to grow in holiness, avoiding sin, showing love and forgiveness to all, and serving others in gratitude. To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism As Anglicans, we do not merely…
God’s revelatory nature is through matter, the pinnacle revelation is through that of the Incarnation. This pattern of God using matter to reveal himself in ways in which humans may once again perceive Him explains why our sacraments are celebrated and practiced as embodied forms. The visible signs and liturgy help us understand and receive God’s promises so that we may be formed by the invisible grace gifted through them. Nonetheless, the concept of invisible…
