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Trinity 6, Steadfast Service
Steadfast Service! I think this is the cornerstone
of this church and the people who serve in it. I don't know if everyone
realizes this, but everyone here is a volunteer. Our priests and
clergy receive no salary; our organist donates her time (and we
bless and thank her for that, by the way!). Service to the Liberal
Catholic Church has always been a labor of love for those who embrace
its teachings and its philosophy.
From the little booklet, "Statement of Principles and Summary
of Doctrine," we read "The operations of the Liberal Catholic
Church are dependent entirely upon the voluntary contributions of
both its laity and its clergy. No salary or personal recompense
is given to its clergy; indeed, its clergy serve willingly, often
at considerable expense to themselves, and many earn their livings
in secular occupations."
It is true that, as the priest announces every Sunday, our people
are left free to interpret the scriptures as they wish, and that
in matters of belief everyone is left free to follow their own conscience.
This does not mean that the Liberal Catholic Church does not have
a body of teachings, for we do. Our former Presiding Bishop (that
is to say, the head of the Liberal Catholic Church worldwide), Johannes
van Alphen, published a few years ago a new Catechism. In it, Question
3 asks "What is the purpose of the Liberal Catholic Church?"
Bishop van Alphen answers thusly: "The Liberal Catholic Church
exists to forward the work of its Master-Christ-in the world and
to feed His flock. There is a growing awareness amongst men and
women in the world today of the reality of a spiritual world and
a belief that, whilst laboring in the material world, one may attain
to a greater sense of union with the Divine through a discipline
of religious and spiritual exercise.
"The purpose of the LCC is all-encompassing, offering sacred
rites and ancient teachings in a spirit of modern understanding,
and aimed at meeting the demands of a growing spiritual awareness
in the world of today."
I would also like to read the "Summary of Doctrine" from
the booklet I mentioned earlier. There are seven points.
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1. The Liberal Catholic Church teaches the existence
of God, infinite, eternal, transcendent, and imminent. He
is the one essence from which all forms of existence are derived.
"In Him we live and move and have our being." Acts
17:28.
2. God manifests in His universe as a Trinity, called
in the Christian religion Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three
Persons in one God, co-equal and co-eternal; the Father the
cause of all, the Son the Word who was made flesh and dwelt
among us, the Holy Ghost the life-giver, the inspirer and
Sanctifier.
3. A human being is a complex of spirit, soul, and
body. The human spirit made in the image of God is divine
in essence. Therefore it cannot cease to exist; it is eternal,
and its future is one whose glory and splendor has no limit.
4. Christ ever lives as a mighty spiritual presence
in the world, guiding and sustaining His people. The divinity
that was manifest in Him is gradually being unfolded in everyone
until each shall come "unto a perfect being, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians
4:13.
5. The world is the theatre of an ordered plan, according
to which the human spirit, by repeatedly expressing itself
in varying conditions of life and experience, continually
unfolds its powers. This spiritual unfoldment takes place
under an inviolable law of cause and effect. "Whatsoever
a man sowest, that shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7.
One's doings in each physical incarnation largely determine
one's experience after death in the intermediate world (or
world of purgation) and the heavenly world, and greatly influence
the circumstances of one's next birth. Humanity is a link
in a vast chain of life extending from the highest to the
lowest. As one helps those below, so also is one helped by
those who stand above on the ladder of life, receiving thus
a free gift of grace. There is a communion of saints, just
people made perfect or holy ones, who help humankind. There
is a ministry of angels.
6. We have ethical duties to ourselves and to others.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first
and great commandment, and the second is like unto it; thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:37-40.
It is our duty to learn to discern the divine light in ourselves
and others, that light "that lighteth everyone."
John 1:9. Because we are children of God, we are brothers
and sisters and inseparably linked together; that which harms
one harms all. Hence we owe it as a duty to the God both within
ourselves and others, first to endeavor constantly live up
to the highest that is in us, thereby enabling that God within
us to become more perfectly manifest; secondly, to recognize
the fact of that brotherhood by constant effort towards unselfishness,
by love of, consideration for, and service to our fellows.
The service of humanity, reverence for all life, and the sacrifice
of the lower self to the higher are laws of spiritual growth.
7. Christ instituted various sacraments in which an
inward and spiritual grace is given to us through an outward
and visible sign. There are seven rites that may be ranked
as sacraments, namely Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist,
Absolution, Holy Unction, Matrimony, Holy Orders. The doctrine
of these sacraments is sufficiently set forth in the authorized
Liturgy of the Liberal Catholic Church. Christ, the living
Head of the Church that He founded, is the true minister of
all sacraments.
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That is the "Summary of Doctrine." Then follows this short
paragraph: "Inasmuch as the Liberal Catholic Church welcomes
to its membership all who are seeking truth, it does not require
its members to accept this Statement of Principles and Summary of
Doctrine; it is, however, to be regarded as embodying the distinctive
contribution of the Liberal Catholic Church to Christian thought.
The Bishops of the Liberal Catholic Church are prepared to accept
as candidates for ordination only those who find themselves in general
agreement with this Statement of Principles and Summary of Doctrine."
So that is the foundation of this church, and we who serve her do
so gladly. But of course Steadfast Service does not apply to just
the church work. We all of us can and do practice this virtue-every
time we help another, help an animal, help the world itself. Pick
up and dispose of a piece of litter-steadfast service. Brake for
a squirrel-steadfast service. Give driving directions to him who
asks-steadfast service. Every day in little and not so little ways
we help each other; we offer our service without even a thought
of recompense. (I cannot imagine telling someone I'll tell him how
to get where he's going if he'll pay me to do so!)
The recompense will come, nevertheless. We in our turns will be
helped by others, and we will be given the opportunity for more
service. What's that phrase-the reward for work is more work. So,
too, the reward for service is service; the reward for love is love.
If we perform every service gladly, with an open heart, we will
teach others by our own good examples.
Recently I was talking about my current boss who has kindly been
bringing me in flowers from his garden of a Monday morning. I remarked
to my husband what a nice man my boss is. He asked me if my current
boss was nicer than two previous bosses I'd had. I stopped and thought
a moment, and then I had to truthfully say that I thought that they
were kinder than my current boss, nice as he is. I said this because,
as I thought back to my tenure with them, I realized I had become
closer to them because they showed that they truly cared about me
because they took the time to learn about and care about me and
my family. Whenever I now encounter them, they still always ask
about my daughter and the grandchildren.
So I had a moment of enlightenment spurred by this simple question.
I realized that the best of friends care about all of you-yourself,
your family, what is important to you. I also realized that I myself
am not always one who explores relationships to this depth, and
I asked myself if that's the kind of friend I wanted to be. The
answer was no, I want to be a true friend, and so I have resolved
to express more care for other people's families and interests.
I want to be the kind of friend that people are glad to have, not
a superficial one.
Perhaps I got a bit off the track here, but I can also see friendship
as a form of service, albeit one performed willingly and joyfully
rather than out of duty.
So let that feeling enliven all of the services that you perform-be
willing and joyful in your actions; offer your services up to Our
Lord, and you will reap your true reward.
And now to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost,
three Persons in one God, be ascribed all honour, might, majesty,
power and dominion, now and for evermore. Amen.
Judie A. C. Cilcain
Deaconess
July 22, 2001
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