Feria

Friends in Christ,

Christian greetings on this Labour Monday ( a public holiday ) in New Zealand. In my last blog I touched on 'Evangelism', an important subject in the life of a Catholic Christian and in the life of the Church. I justed wanted to share a few more thoughts with you on this topic. In Anglican Catholic circles, we just got to get this right, otherwise there is not going to be any growth in Church membership. In my life as a Catholic Christian I have been a member of a number of Anglo-Catholic Parishes, not only in this country of New Zealand, but also in Australia, and then in the city of Melbourne. And yet... I must confess that evangelism , no matter where I worshipped and were I was actively involved in the sanctuary as a Subdeacon, a thurifer, a layreader and one carrying the processional Cross, was a grey area in all these places. There is nothing worse, then after Mass standing in the coffee room with a cup of coffee in your hand and nobody.. yes nobody comes around to great you and make you feel welcome. I experience this for instance when trying to settle into Saint Peter's Easter Hill, Melbourne. But... it has been a few years since I was there last, so you never know whether this situation has improved. So this is really evangelism amongst ourselves, this is where we need to start first, before we go out and about and preach the word. Because if we are so successful in bringing some-one, e.g. a collegue from work to our Parish Church and that person sees how Catholic Christians live pas each other, then our evangelizing is in vain. I am a member of the TAC, as you will note in my blog, even being part of this body, you can be so lonely. One of the worst excuses I hear is that Bishops are always pre-occupied, they are always busy, they are always on the move. What is the answer? One of the good things of a blog spot is that you can allow others to comment on your train of thought and on important issues. Let's read your thoughts on the matter.

There is something very clear offcourse, that our Lord has no grandchildren.

If you are in New Zealand enjoy your Labour Monday holiday, here in Oxford the sun is shining. May God bless you and keep you wherever you are.

In XC

Ed Bakker