Temporary November 2002

We are happy to announce that the persecution mentioned in our previous Temporary COCM has ended. Perhaps time will now be spent on something of value. That is not to say that defending the Church from servants of the devil is not of value, but often one stands in one place and the work one must accomplish for the Lord is delayed. It is still amazing how much we are hated. They hated Jesus first.

One good that came out of the last few months was the preparations of a few necessary service books for our clergy. The Altar Missal has been sent out to clergy for further comment and correction. No general publication is considered at this time. The breviary will be next.

The translation of the Lorrha-Stowe Missal on the web site has been set in PDF so that illustrations and music might be included. Any PDF reader program should be able to print it. Commonly used forms have also been set in PDF.

Thoughts:
Concerning persecution:
From the Words of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And he, lifting up his eyes on his disciples, said: "Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for you shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for you shall laugh. Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
Be glad in that day and rejoice; for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For according to these things did their fathers to the prophets. "But woe to you that are rich: for you have your consolation. Woe to you that are filled: for you shall hunger. Woe to you that now laugh: for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when men shall bless you: for according to these things did their fathers to the false prophets.

"But I say to you that hear: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them that calumniate you. And to him that striketh thee on the one cheek, offer also the other. And him that taketh away from thee thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also.

"Give to every one that asketh thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again. And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them in like manner. And if you love them that love you, what thanks are to you? for sinners also love those that love them. And if you do good to them who do good to you, what thanks are to you? for sinners also do this. And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thanks are to you? for sinners also lend to sinners, for to receive as much.

"But love ye your enemies: do good, and lend, hoping for nothing thereby: and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the sons of the Highest; for he is kind to the unthankful, and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.
Give, and it shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again.

"And he spoke also to them a similitude: Can the blind lead the blind? do they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one shall be perfect, if he be as his master. And why seest thou the mote in thy brother's eye: but the beam that is in thy own eye thou considerest not? Or how canst thou say to thy brother: Brother, let me pull the mote out of thy eye, when thou thyself seest not the beam in thy own eye? Hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thy own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to take out the mote from thy brother's eye. For there is no good tree that bringeth forth evil fruit; nor an evil tree that bringeth forth good fruit.

"For every tree is known by its fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns; nor from a bramble bush do they gather the grape. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. And why call you me, Lord, Lord; and do not the things which I say? Every one that cometh to me, and heareth my words, and doth them, I will shew you to whom he is like. He is like to a man building a house, who digged deep, and laid the foundation upon a rock. And when a flood came, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and it could not shake it; for it was founded on a rock.
But he that heareth, and doth not, is like to a man building his house upon the earth without a foundation: against which the stream beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.' [Luke 6:20-49]

And from Saint John, Apostle, Evangelist and Theologian, teacher of Saint Polycarp, teacher of Saint Irenaeus, one of the roots of the cursi of the Celtic churches:
"We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Dearly beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is love. By this hath the love of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we may live by him. In this is love: not as though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins. My dearest, if God hath so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abideth in us: and his charity is perfected in us. In this we know that we abide in him, and he in us: because he hath given us of his spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father hath sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. And we have known and have believed the charity which God hath to us. God is charity: and he that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him. In this is the charity of God perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment: because as he is, we also are in this world. Fear is not in charity: but perfect charity casteth out fear, because fear hath sin. And he that feareth is not perfected in charity. Let us therefore love God: because God first hath loved us. If any man say: I love God, and hateth his brother; he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not? And this commandment we have from God, that he who loveth God love also his brother."

Concerning the Readings of the XXI week after Pentecost:
Extract from the Met. Maelruain's sermon: Speak the truth to all you meet, not for the sake being right, or fulfilling a duty, but rather out of love of them for they were created in the image and likeness of God Himself Who is Truth and Love.
Do not be concerned that you do not see the Truth you spread growing in them or the world. As the Lord says, "the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed": if you have cast it into a field, it is so small that you will not find it unless it grows and you may have gone elsewhere when it finally does. You are merely the laborer. The field is the Lord's and the Word you preach is His.
They may hate you for telling the truth. That is today. What is necessary is that come to God and in planting the seed of Truth that might be possible. Do not expect a reward: look at what humanity returned to Christ for His love: the Cross.

The Priest's Cat
The cat awoke slowly. After a moment he stood, stretched and sauntered into his friend's room and up onto the bed and laid his back against the sleeping man's feet. Realizing he was not noticed, he turned over and placed his extended claws against the skin. This failing, he finally grabbed the nearer foot in a bear hug and held the big toe with his teeth: not to injure but
just for some well deserved attention, since the cat was always with the Priest: his closest friend. Apart from the man's father confessor, the cat was the primary confident to the man's private thoughts.

Yet the attention was not for himself: "time for Morning Prayer, and then Liturgy, eh?" The cat grinned and then surged up onto the only chair in the room. The man did his morning ablutions, dressed and went to the small oratory in the corner. The cat listened as he intoned the prayers. The man was alone: no others of his community had ever come for morning prayer and so
he had moved the practice into his room so that the treasurer would not grumble at him for lighting an empty church.

At the final Amen. the cat jumped down and preceded the man out to the door; and across the walkway to the church. The people saw the cat come in and then the man they called their Priest. The cat went directly from the door to his accustomed place in the right rear corner and curled up, to make himself small and unnoticed. The rest of the church was for the people. He never went there. The Priest began the Liturgy and the congregation sang their responses each time they noticed their cues.

The Priest censed the congregation and the cat sat up and watched. He liked the smell and anything that swung, but he was not sure about the smoke. The Gospel was read and the cat watched for a while. He was a better singer than his friend, but still liked to listen. The cat slept through the sermon. While the Eucharist was offered the he lay curled up until the servers
brought out the great communion cloth. The cat stood and grinned as each person came to receive the Body and Blood of Christ: although he knew it was not for him, it had always been a great joy to him that people could receive the Savior of the world.

Members of the parish prodded one of their number to confront the Priest about his cat: "why do you let that animal come with you to church? He does nothing but sleep." The Priest responded: " Yes, he is the only one who is here each week, but please pray for this sinner and his cat. He is more attentive to God's work than I. If he did not wake me, there would be no Liturgy. Everyone needs someone to watch over them them while they travel the Lord's Path." A few members of the congregation contacted the Bishop, but he had no one to send to take the Priest's place. No one wanted to serve that parish. The people were rich, but barely allowed the Priest heat in the winter. So the Priest and his cat stayed.

A few years after, the cat died. The Priest retired to a monastery where he could be with others when he prayed. The church stood empty. The people then understood that the simple cat cat had been watching over them too.

This is dedicated to Sparkle who watches over her friend Anna. Please pray for them.

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