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I’m getting ready to depart for Australia whence I’ll go to New Caledonia and Vanuatu and back to Australia. I’ll be in Sydney, Melbourne, and the more rural area of Mildura. My girlfriend is Australian and we do the long distance thing right now. So, this is a chance to see her! I’m very excited!

My trips to Australia in the past have been quite nerdy. But that’s the way I like it! We always visit places like museums, galleries, historical sites, and other unique attractions. Above all, we visit churches. I’ve always been fascinated by churches, especially the different architecture and interior designs, and the way they operate liturgically. Usually, we visit Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches because they’re often the most prominent (and unlike many others, they’re usually unlocked, at least in the cities during the day). We have seen some wonderful ones, like St. Paul’s (Anglican), St. Patrick’s (Catholic), and St. Peter’s (Anglican), all Melbourne and St. Mary’s (Catholic), St. James (Anglican), and Holy Trinity (aka the Garrison Church, Anglican), all Sydney.

Visiting these churches as I explore where God is calling me to serve him will no doubt give them even more meaning. I hate the term “church shopping” but I am looking for a church where I can best live the catholic faith I’ve held for over four years now. I’m completely sure it’s not in the Episcopal Church and I’m pretty sure it’s not in Anglicanism. I feel God still is calling me more and more to Roman Catholicism. I’m hoping and praying that on my trip God will give me even more clarity. Sometimes when we get outside our local worlds it’s easier to see things more clearly. I’ve been hoping for some clear cut indications where God wants me, but God doesn’t always work that way. Usually I find it’s more about tuning out our human distractions (and sinful behavior) than about needing God to speak louder. I’m hoping on this trip I can tune out some of those distractions.

This blog won’t be updated as much while I’m gone, but I do hope to update it occasionally. I want to leave you with a beautiful travel prayer from Durandus of Mende (13th century) taken from the New St. Joseph People’s Prayer Book (pg. 397):

O God,
You called Abraham Your servant our of Ur
and kept him safe and sound in all his wanderings.
If it is Your Will,
protect your servants.
Be for us a support when setting out,
friendship along the way,
a little shade from the sun,
a mantle against cold and rain,
a crutch on slippery paths,
and a haven in shipwreck.
Bear us up in fatigue,
and defend us under attack.
Under Your protection,
let us fulfill the purpose for our trip
and return safe and sound to our home. Amen

Then the LORD said to Job: Will we have arguing with the Almighty by the critic? Let him who would correct God give answer! (Job 40:1-2, NAB).

Reading this verse in the Office really struck a chord with me, so much that I stopped in my tracks and reflected on it (of course I should do that with all Scripture). How many times have people of all churches and theologies been critics of the Almighty? I wish I had a quarter for everyone who said they could never find a perfect church, i.e. a church that totally agreed with them. At one point people submitted to the Church, but an unhappy result of the Protestant Reformation (an unintended one to be sure) is that no one submits to anything anymore, with the possible exception of his or her ego. Before anyone thinks I’m idealizing Rome, it’s worth mentioning that large majorities of Catholics openly disagree with their Church on important matters too. It’s not a Protestant problem, just a problem.

Especially, on the left critics of the Almighty are numerous. The liberals at least admit that God has changed his God’s mind. Or rather, we have changed God’s mind for him God. Liberals have given us every form of criticism under the sun. God may have revealed it one way, but we know what he God would have said if he God had the benefit of being a 21st century person. Of course then, God would also have the “sense” to reveal himself Godself without a male pronoun! Of course liberals are more than happy to point out the “flaws” in God’s revelation. The result is that we now have whole organizations devoted to telling us what God or Jesus really meant to say. Usually the results are predicatable: God and Jesus said very little about morality, the miraculous, or doctrine, but talked alot of vauge social liberalism. Darn it, I knew if we could just get past the dogma and miraculous Jesus would be a socialist before socialism!

I’m not a liberal, but I’m guilty of this attitude too. Many conservative, mainstream Christians are too. Look even at Protestant conservatives and their willingness to correct the Almighty. Jesus said divorce is prohibited, but most evangelicals have higher divorce rates than non Christians. On the issue of women in the church, most evangelicals ignore some of the clear statements in the Pastoral Epistles. In a couple generations, will these same groups that used to believe divorce was wrong, embrace gay marriage if/when it becomes culturally mainstream? After all, 50 years ago, you’d be hard pressed to find an evangelical who apporoved of divorce. Although less brazen, even conservative Christians are more than willing to correct the Almighty. So, it goes across all churches and the whole theological spectrum.

Maybe it’s an American thing. Our rugged individualism has served us well in our secular history, but in our religious experience it’s been a disaster. With 30,000+ denominations, we should be scandalized. Jesus prayed we would all be one as he and the Father are one, not be 30,000 as he and the Father are one. Our spirit that impelled us to separate from England should not be license to have daily revolutions in our churches to create more and more denominations. I think if Luther could foresee what has become of Protestantism, he probably would’ve taken a different path to reform. But then again, he couldn’t have anticipated American post-modernism!

The Memorial of St. Justin Martyr

St. Justin’s feast day in the Church is a very special one for me, primarily because he had such an impact in my life. As a strongly Protestant evangelical, I had always assumed that we did everything the “biblical way.” I also assumed that the doctrines we learned were ancient ones that everyone had always believed. When I decided to read the Church Fathers my world would turn upside down. The first Father I ever read was St. Justin.

Justin amazed me because his style of writing, his vocabulary and his manner of debate seemed so foreign. Yet, he also seemed to me to be sincere and thoughtful. Plus, since he was writing so close to the time of Christ, I figured he represented the ancient doctrines. On the issue of worship and the Sacraments, Justin’s writings stood in judgment of my prejudices. I had always believed that baptism was an empty symbol, something to be done because the Bible advised it. Yet Justin referred to it as regenerating us. Worship for me had been something akin to a party: free, contemporary, and a plain good time. Justin’s description of early Christian worship was one of Scripture reading, liturgy, dignity, meaning, and weekly Eucharist. I remember asking myself, “why don’t we do things like this?”

On the topic of the Eucharist, I had never been taught much. However, I “knew” that it couldn’t have been anything important, just a symbolic meal. Yet, Justin referred to the Eucharist in terms of change, that the bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Christ. This blew me away! I did not realize the full implications of Justin’s writings (or that all the Church Fathers affirm in some way or another his basic insights on worship and the sacraments) until later, but the seed was planted. I remember asking myself what authority Justin had. After all, I too was able to interpret the Scriptures for myself. Other than antiquity (which I did value), he had his “fruit.” He had given his life for his Lord. That was a very strong argument for his authority in my mind.

Because God led me to pick up St. Justin 5 years ago, I am an Anglican today, probably soon to be Roman Catholic. I have entered into the mystery of the worship of the Church and her Sacraments. Thank you St. Justin, for your sacrifice and your writings.