Earlier this week, I wrote a piece on the cost of discipleship, on this Friday night I want to touch on the cost of discipleship, if for conscious reasons you have to change Churches as a disciple of Christ and in my case as a Priest.
My text , which relates very much to this blog comes from
Saint John chapter 13, verse 34 " A new commandment I give to you.....
"…33"Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Many Catholic Christians have not always been in the same Church right throughout their life, due to all circumstances. In my case I was born in Holland and brought up as an Old Catholic, emigrated to New Zealand and joined the Anglican Church there. In the course of my life in this country and I also in Australia I have been a committed Anglican Christian. In Melbourne I was in the choir of Saint George Anglican Church in Malvern during the time Bishop Andrew Curnow of Bendigo was the Vicar there. Then for nine years I served at the sanctuary of Christ Church Anglican Church, Brunswick. Then for a period
of 10 years we returned to New Zealand and we realized that the Anglican Church there had become so liberal , that our conscious told
us that we have to join a Church belonging to the Continiuum.
Immediately we were left in the lurge by previous Clergy and friends , who stayed behind.
Now as a Priest of the ACC/OP I approached my former Vicar and Bishop Andrew Curnow for some help regarding getting a place of worship or even using the hall of the White Hills Anglican Church.
White Hills refused me , I wrote to Bishop Andrew for help, but they don't want to know you. Other Churches such as the Uniting Church when approached for help in relation to renting worship space informed me that they don't let other Christians use their Churches ( which is probably not entirely true ).
I remember one time in Malvern calling on Fr.Andrew Curnow asking about opportunities to go into the Ministry.
So... this is the cost of discipleship I am really referring to ... those with whom you worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ for many years do not want to know you. Would this not go right against the commandment of
Jesus as expressed in Saint John 13:34? What do you think?
A well known Anglican layman , Dr.Muriel Porter made a public statement some time ago : " we bent over backwards to please the Anglican Catholics".Why are Anglican Catholics within the Anglican Communion suppressed , harassed and persecuted? Food for thought again. Many of us offcourse do know the answer.
Many Church buildings throughout this fair city of Bendigo stand empty during the week and most of the Sunday , perhaps a reflection on
the time we are living in. I think that if we as Catholic Christians really loved one another, I would have had some space to say Mass on Sundays a long, long time ago.
Father Ed Bakker
