Letters
from 27 March to 3 April 2005
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Gateway
to Holy Communion?
I
am a 15-year-old Episcopalian from
Baltimore, Maryland. Recently, I have taken an Anglo-Catholic
point of view. I have started to venerate and pray
to Our Lady. I have also started to say the Anglican
Rosary to God and Our Lady. I pray the Angelus (Regina
Coeli since we are in Eastertide). My church is not
Anglo-Catholic, but I practice all of the these devotions
in my own private spiritual life.
As
taking this Anglo-Catholic point of view I have started
to show more reverence for the Holy Eucharist. I
understand that it is the central part of Anglican/Episcopalian
worship. I also know that the wine and host changes
into Our Lord's physical Body and Blood. I have a
question though. Do Anglicans/Episcopalians have
an official First Communion as Roman Catholics do?
My
first time taking Communion was when I was Confirmed.
I had taken it once or twice before that, but after
my Confirmation was really when I started taking
Communion on a regular basis. Is there a specific
age when children are supposed to have Communion?
Or can you take it whenever you want? I was just
wondering this because I know that, to Roman Catholics,
First Communion is part of becoming a member of the
church.
Phillip
Clark
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
rollerblader749@hotmail.com
28 March 2005
Hushed
reverence, not noisy haggling
With
regard to the family of Terri Schiavo, may there
be a reconciliation between the parents and Terri's
husband.
With
regard to the onlookers of the Terri Schiavo situation:
May each one be aware of his/her distance from the
heart of the family, which was forged in the fire
15 years ago. May each one step back far enough to
realize there IS a distance between an outside onlooker
and a family insider and have compassion for those
who have been at the heart of this sad story from
the beginning of its end, 15 years ago.
Our
democracy demands and expects a variety of opinions,
as long as they are offered with charity, compassion,
humility and an awareness of grace — the cost of
grace and its priceless benefit. May the sense of
the word 'eternal' be
forever linked with the word 'life'. As a long and
painful chapter gives way to the beginning of a story
as old as the creation, may the words from our Prayer
Book remain front and center:
...cleanse
the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration
of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love
you, and worthily magnify your holy Name, through
Christ our Lord.
Under
this spirit, there is no room for the noisy
and free-for-all nature of the haggling that
has been taking place, where there should only be
a hushed reverence for the 'still, small voice' that
has never left Terri Schiavo's side and will continue
to guide her.
Maggie
Hurll
St. David's-in-the-Pines Episcopal Church
Royal Palm Beach, Florida, USA
1 April 2005
Earlier
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