Catholics and Communion AGAIN!

Yesterday we said farewell to Natalie's gran. She was Catholic, but more important, as she always reminded us, she was Greek - from ATHENS!

Sadly, as we wished to express communion with her, the priest - as is his right - reminded the congregation that only Catholics in good standing were allowed to receive the sacrament. Not only did he remind us, but he rubbed it in, for about three minutes!

I found two statements interesting:

First, he said: "If you do not believe like we believe, then please do not come to the altar".
Second: "If you remain in your seats, please commmit yourself to praying for church-unity".

To me, communion is about community. Community is not about uniformity, it is the celebration of acceptance in the midst of divesity. How can I believe like you believe? How dare you or I exlude each other from celebrating God's act of love based merely on whether we agree or not?

What is church-unity? Once again, did he mean that I should pray that I may reach the point of becoming a Catholic?

I do not understand.

Out of about 250 people, only about 50 went up for mass. This is a statement in itself!

But, as Pete Grassow says, anyone is welcome to receive the elements at the church at which I serve. In fact, the more broken you are, the better.

Ciao nonna. Sorry about the church.

Matt is in love!

My boy is in love! At 3!

Her name is Livia. She is in Matthew's class and I am told that Matthew insists on sitting next to her all the time.

I questioned him about this relationship and he told me that he is going to take her to his granny's wedding (in June). He is going to get her a white dress and that "she will look soooo beautiful!"

Oh boy!

My Vespa restoration blog

Wondering where I am? Well, I'm busy restoring my Vespa. Chech out my new blog and follow my progress. Leave some comments. Check the Link on the right. Cheers

There is something about Peter

Last night, Maundy Thursday, I preached on Jesus' arrest. I was struck by Peter's response to Jesus' arrest. He drew his sword and struck someone.

This is the same Peter, who would later that night deny Jesus 3 times - A bit of a contrast, I think.

It leads me to the following:

I suppose we would much rather die in our defense of Jesus than drink the cup he has called us to drink.

This has been the basis for my Easter-meditations.

Hope you find it helpful too.

I'm coming up for air

So, I haven't blogged for a while. I've been fairly busy during the past couple of weeks.

 

First, I am busy setting up our denomination's Doctrine and ethics blogspot. Go check out this work in progress at www.mcsadewcom.blogspot.com This has kept me off the streets as my good friend Dion taught me how to ftp. Quite simple actually. Most things are if you know what you are doing.

 

On Friday I submitted the second draft of my thesis. Prof Wethmar looked pleased as he scanned through it, but will let me know next week about its acceptability. After that I have to make several copies for the external examiners as well as the defense committee. The defense will probably take place a few weeks after the externals have marked it. Then I have to write an article for a journal (I have already published one from my thesis, so now I don't have to write two).

 

Then there is Bertie (check previous blog-entries). I got him running, but he doesn't want to idle. SO, if there is someone technically minded out there, your advise will be appreciated. Bertie smokes quite a lot, but that is forgivable. When he is running, I have to open the throttle a bit to keep him going. Turning the idle screw does not affect the idling speed at all and when I close the mixing screw, he runs at his best. While running, he also dies when I pull out the choke. I think he is sucking air somewhere, probably through a cracked head. The engine will probably need to be overhauled, because I think the smoke is indicative of rings that need replacing.

 

What boggles my mind is that he has a lot of power. I took my brother for a spin and with 2 adults on, we reached 70km/h. Not too shabby. Any advise before I strip the carb and the engine?

 

Blessings to all.