This blog is to introduce people to the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. The views posted are those of individual contributors and are not intended to reflect the views of the ECC as a whole. It is not to thrash anyone or any faith community. Being Ecumenical we understand peoples rights to choose their belief and their faith. We choose to be Catholic and Christian and understand that all Christians are Ecumenical. This blog is to introduce people to WHY we are Ecumenical, HOW we came to be Ecumenical and to talk about the differences that set us apart from the Roman Catholic (RC) Church. If you find anything offensive or distasteful, please leave me a comment and I will look into the matter.

Thank you for visiting.

Fr. Frank

Reflections on the Thirty-Fifth Anniversary of My Ordination
January 3, 2010
Fr. Frank A. Quintana

I’ve been thinking a little about 35 years back to when I was ordained in 1975 and what the world was like. There was a phrase that was like a mantra that one of my professors kept repeating back then:
“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.”
These were the opening lines from a Vatican II document on the church in the modern world. These lines resonated with me back when I was in the seminary, and they still do. I was going through the seminary at a time when the church was taking a fresh look at itself. There were two pivotal documents: “Lumen Gentium” on the nature of the church, published in 1964 and “Gaudium Et Spes”, the church in the modern world, published in 1965. These documents still seemed fresh to us then, even though Vatican II was over for years.
They radicalized our thinking about the church. “Lumen Gentium” made clear that the church wasn’t just an institution or organization that represented God to us. It described church as the people of God, who were to mediate the presence of God. The hierarchy and the institution were to serve the people of God and not be served by them. Sadly, it seems as though that message is a tough one. Institutions yield power but reluctantly. …click here to read more

Thanks to
Gregory Holmes Singleton, Ph.D., CSF
Community of St. Francis, Chicago
This is Garrison Keilor’s “Writer’s Almanac” poem for today:

After Psalm 137
by Anne Porter

We’re still in Babylon but
We do not weep
Why should we weep?
We have forgotten
How to weep

We’ve sold our harps
And bought ourselves machines
That do our singing for us
And who remembers now
The songs we sang in Zion?

We have got used to exile
We hardly notice
Our captivity
For some of us
There are such comforts here
Such luxuries

Even a guard
To keep the beggars
From annoying us

Jerusalem We have forgotten you.

–”After Psalm 137″ by Anne Porter,
from Living Things Collected Poems. © Zoland Books, 2006.
Reprinted with permission.

Fr. Greg

ANTICIPATING THE ANTICIPATED

Jeremiah 31:7-9 Psalm 126 Hebrews 7:23-38 Mark 10:46-52

This is the third consecutive week that we will hear a portion of Hebrews referring to Jesus Christ as our great high priest. In the readings for last week and this coming week the author (I am of the “not Paul” school) compares Jesus to the former high priests “chosen from among mortals,” and the comparison is not favorable to our species. This coming Saturday we will be told that “Jesus holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.” Interestingly, none of the New Testament writers compare Jesus to any position held within early Christian assemblies. The Greek word for priest, iereus, has no etymological association with the three clerical orders of New Testament origin, episcopus (Shepherd or Bishop), presbuteros (Elder or Presbyter) and diakonus (Servant or Deacon).

In fairness, I must let the reader know that the previous paragraph is not a prelude to a meditation, but a prologue to a rant about one of my pet peeves: the widespread misunderstanding of the priesthood in the Church Catholic. (I thought it better to rant here than to dishonor the time allotted for the homily.)

I am a presbyter. I do not refer to myself as a priest. Realizing that this will be unsettling to some, I would prefer to follow biblical usage than perpetuate the combination of a theological position with no biblical basis and a gross linguistic error that has been protected for centuries under the cloak of “hallowed tradition.” The only claim I have to the priesthood is that shared by all of the baptized, as indicated by the passage from 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” …click here to read more

This is a response to a comment left by M. Couch

My apologies for being so tardy in response. (Blogslave)
Submitted on 2009/04/14 at 3:23pm
“what is the ECC’s sacramental theology concerning the eucharist? Similar to a Roman /catholic (transubstantiation) or closer towards an anglo catholic/Episcopal approach that says, Christ is present at communion, we presume not to know how?”

Reply 6/15 provided by Fr. Scott Jenkins, Pastor Holy Family Church and Vicar of the Rocky Mountain Region of the ECC.

As ecumenical Catholics we hold onto the belief in the “real presence” of Christ in the Eucharist.  This is not mere symbolism nor remembrance in terms of looking backward into time.  “Do this, in remembrance of me.” Is only understood in the Jewish sense.  To remember is so much more than to simply recall.  It means to re-experience the event all over again.  Hence, the same nuance is given to all Jews during the Passover meal.

To say Jesus is present is so much more than the former Roman doctrine of transubstantiation.  Turning bread into flesh and wine into blood after consumption is insulting to good Jewish liturgical theology and science as well.  The real presence of Christ in the meal means, we aint getting’ off the hook.  Our mass cards will not be punched!  Instead, real presence is about genuine, authentic encounter with the risen Lord.  It is through this transformative encounter where we are, “conformed (as process) to the image of His son”.  It is here where we are becoming the body of Christ (St. Paul), given and broken for the world.

Fr. Cutie, if you are reading this I invite you to visit the Ecumenical Catholic Communion web site at www.ecumenical-catholic-communion.org and feel free to contact us.

We are a Catholic community where we believe and practice “All Are Welcome”. We believe that a priest can have two callings. You have just entered the brotherhood of priests that have fallen in love with a woman and still feel the calling to be a priest. You don’t have to choose between the two.

Please contact us.

EASTER SERMON
by John Chrysostom

Are there any who are devout lovers of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!

Are there any who are grateful servants?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary from fasting?
Let them now receive their due!

If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their reward.

If any have come after the third hour,
let them with gratitude join in the feast!

Those who arrived after the sixth hour,
let them not doubt; for they shall not be short-changed.

Those who have tarried until the ninth hour,
let them not hesitate; but let them come too.

And those who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let them not be afraid by reason of their delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
The Lord gives rest to those who come at the eleventh hour,
even as to those who toiled from the beginning.

To one and all the Lord gives generously.
The Lord accepts the offering of every work.
The Lord honours every deed and commends their intention.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
…click here to read more

Chapter 4  / The Fourth Degree:
“Roamin’ (Roman) No Longer: Home at Last!”

by Deacon Charlie,

As a Catholic growing up, I often wondered why non-Catholic Christians would refer to us as Romans, Roman Catholic members or even, Papists.  The implication for me being that the Roman Catholic Church was just one (albeit the largest) of many Christian denominations who accepted Jesus Christ as its Lord and Savior.  For most cradle Catholics as myself, the Church’s teaching was that there is only one Church founded by Christ which can be truly called Christian and Catholic (or Universal) and that is the Holy, Roman Catholic Church.  Now this claim by the Roman Catholic Church that it is “exclusive” in itself is not suprising in so far as there are many other religious groups (Christian and non) who also, claim the title as the one, True Faith.  However, when the Roman Catholic Church goes so far as Cardinal Ratzinger did in 2000 by proclaiming that “all other religions, including other Christian groups, are radically deficient  in God’s Truth except for the Roman Catholic Church”, then it becomes time for me to seriously question that Roman Catholic validity.  It is useless to argue the theological or philosophical merits of the Church’s beliefs and practices for every argument one puts forth to question a belief or practice can be countered by a corresponding theological or philosophical response from the rich intellectual treasury of the Church’s long history of 2 millennia. …click here to read more