Mar
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Bishop Daniel Herzog Comes Home
March 30, 2007 |
According to a story at The Living Church Foundation, Bishop Daniel Herzog, the retired Episcopal Bishop of Albany, NY, has entered into full communion with the See of Rome. While I don’t think salvation hangs on such things, I do confess to a certain amount of excitement at such news. Is it nothing more than a feeling of pride that yet one more person is out there who sees things more or less the way I do, or is it genuine joy at the prospect of at least some partial restoration of that Unity for which Our Lord prayed so fervently? I suppose if I were honest I would have to say it’s both, though I hope that someday I will grow up enough to feel only the latter. In writing to the new Bishop, William Love, of his decision, Bishop Herzog had this to say:
My sense of duty to the diocese, its clergy and people required that I not walk away from my office and leave vulnerable this diocese which I love. I believed that it was my responsibility to provide for a transition to the future. Your subsequent election and consecration discharged that duty and has given me the liberty to follow my conscience, and now resign my orders and membership in the House of Bishops.It is certainly no reflection on you or your ministry which Carol and I both admire and respect and for which we pray daily. Needless to say, we have only fondness and appreciation for you and the diocese in whose ministry Carol and I have invested the past 35 years of our lives.
I can think of at least one other Episcopal Bishop that I would like to see make a similar decision, even prior to retirement. Then all would indeed be right with the world in my tiny little mind. Failing that, I take comfort in knowing that plenty of non-Catholics are already in a state similarity, if not Unity, that surpasses even what some of my fellow Catholics are able to muster. So things are, perhaps, not as bleak as they sometimes seem.
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As I read conversion stories from different faiths to the Roman Catholic Church, I am moved to tears. I was born a catholic, raised at my grandmother’s knee; and, my mother’s knee. I loved Mary from the moment I laid eyes on her. I wanted to be married to Jesus from the moment I understood the meaning of being a nun. Being the only girl of 8 children, I never made it to any nunnery. But I have always remained close to Mary Mother of God, Jesus, all the celestial angels, the saints, i.e., Sister Faustina (I pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, St. Michael the Archangel (I pray the Chaplet of St. Michael daily with Mother Angelica), Father Pio, Joseph, all the major and minor saints. Because of my upbringing, my love for the Holy Trinity, God,Mary, Jesus, Joseph, all the saints and angels here on earth and up above; if I had to give all this up because God revealed to me that the Roman Catholic Church was not his church, I would surely die. Therefore, all of the people who are coming home, in pain and agony, you have already shared with Jesus, his agony at the garden, how much God must love you because he asked so much of you; and, you responded. God love you and I keep all of you in my prayers. You are the true warriors of God. May he grant you peace. Pray for all those souls who have been called by God and have not responded. In order for God to be there for us, we must protect the family; at all cost. Thank you for listening to GOD.
A catholic who was born to the faith, will die by the faith; and will pray for those who have listened to GOD; and come home, even stripped of all you held dear. For you and those of you who have returned or will return, the choir of angels sing loud and proud. Do not forget, as you share in the body and blood of Jesus Christ, during mass, the angels are present.
I converted from Roman Catholicism to Anglicanism. It wasn’t because of any hypocrisy on the part of the RC, rampant child molestation by perverse priests, or the untenable papal claims to infallibility whenever speaking ex cathedra–it was because Christ was the and remains more accessible to me in Canterbury than in Rome. But I know his presence is with us wherever we are: Emmanuel.