Giving to Others in Loving Service

We must demonstrate that a new way exists and show the world a new reality, the reality of God’s righteousness and holiness, which is opposed to the spirit of this world. We must show with our lives that men and women can live lives of purity, peace, unity, and love wherever they dedicate their energies to working for the common good; and not only by creating spiritual community, but by sharing in practical ways. Above all, we must witness to the power of love. Each of us can give our lives to others in loving service. ~Johann Christoph Arnold, Sex, God, and Marriage

The Moor

MOOR

Ter Hill

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The Moor

It was like a church to me.
I entered it on soft foot,
Breath held like a cap in the hand.
It was quiet.
What God there was made himself felt,
Not listened to, in clean colours
That brought a moistening of the eye,
In a movement of the wind over grass.

There were no prayers said. But stillness
Of the heart’s passions – that was praise
Enough; and the mind’s cession
Of its kingdom. I walked on,
Simple and poor, while the air crumbled
And broke on me generously as bread.

 ~ From the Collected Poems of R. S. Thomas

Memorial of St. Polycarp

Polycarp

Keep looking forward in prayer, and persevering in fasting; requesting in supplications the all-seeing God to lead us away from temptation. ~St. Polycarp

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

Happy Feast Day to the Bishop, clergy, consecrated women and men and lay faithful of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

POCSP

The primary mission of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is evangelization.

The Ordinariate exists for those who are and who will be coming into full communion with the Catholic Church. Through the reverence and beauty of our worship, study of sacred Scripture and charity for those in need, we desire to share the joy of being Roman Catholic!

With respect and gratitude for the Anglican heritage that nourished us, we seek to build bridges with all our brothers and sisters who are drawn to the Church, so that we might build up the one Body of Christ.

Our mission is particularly experienced in our celebration of liturgy, which features Anglican traditions of worship while conforming to Catholic doctrinal, sacramental and liturgical standards. Through Divine Worship: The Missal — the liturgy that unites the Ordinariates throughout the English-speaking world — we share our distinctive commitment to praising God in the eloquence of the Anglican liturgical patrimony and Prayer Book English.

In addition, the founding documents of the Personal Ordinariate make clear that it is intended to be an instrument of Catholic unity: an opportunity to model what the future reconciliation of separated Christian communities could be. We wish to fulfill the Holy Father’s vision for Christian unity, in which diverse expressions of one faith are joined together in the Church. ~POCSP Mission Statement

JOY

joy

“You will always have joy in the evening if you spend the day fruitfully. Never be entirely idle, but either reading or writing or praying or meditating, or endeavoring something for the public good, and you will always have gladness.” ~Thomas a Kempis

The Truth We Know About Ourselves

BOXERS

Humility is like underwear: We have to have it, but we should never show it. Pride is what we think ourselves to be; humility is the truth we know about ourselves, not in the eyes of our neighbor, but in the eyes of God. ~Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Words to Live By

No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire. ~Saint Ignatius of Antioch