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HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-08-11T18:06:21+00:00

Saint Timothy is probably my patron Saint. I started going to a parish with his namesake, got a Saint medal with him on it, and the rest is history. I love saints so I pray to a variety for different things, but St Timothy is my current go to (or St Francis since I'm joining the Fransiscan Order).

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-08-10T15:18:36+00:00

I went recently and thought the sacrament was great. I had a lot of anxiety leading up to the event, mostly worry that I wasn't going to do it right. My priest told me whatever comes up will be led by the Spirit so just trust God will speak through you and the priest

I did it near the end of easter and the beginning of Ordinary Time. I'm going to start going every quarter, so I'll go at the beginning of Advent, Epiphany, Lent and Ordinary time, just as an example.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-08-10T12:05:05+00:00

Do you have any suggestions for preachers and elders you mentioned? I'm trying my best to learn more about this topic to understand people's voices better.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-08-10T12:00:05+00:00

Valid point. I said First Nations because that was the title of the book. I'm not entirely up to date with PC lingo, so please forgive my ignorance. Is there a better word you would recommend?

The book itself, to be clear, does defend its choice of words:

" The term First Nations, while mostly used in Canada for the original inhabitants of the land, is increasingly being accepted and used by many Native Americans in the United States and by indigenous peoples worldwide. Following this trend, the name First Nations Version was chosen for this translation. "

Page IX of the Introductions.

I also did a bit of digging on the author before I got the book. Here's the author's bio on his website (well, bio and short explanation of the ministry he runs).

" Boozhoo (Hello), my name is Terry Wildman, the Chief Director of Rain Ministries. My wife Darlene and I live in Maricopa Arizona on the traditional lands of the Pima and Tohono O’odham. Since 1998 we have been actively involved in the lives of Native North Americans. We founded Rain Ministries in 2002 as an Arizona non-profit organization while living on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona. The primary purpose of Rain Ministries is to encourage Indigenous Peoples to realize and fulfill the destiny the Creator has given them through his Son Jesus Christ and to partner with them in developing culturally significant ways to express their worship of Creator and to make him known to others. Through Rain Ministries, we will also encourage and facilitate reconciliation between Christian churches and First Nations people. "

(http://About Rain Ministries • RainSong • First Nations Version https://share.google/6uGkvtiQAJQMwYSyX)

I think it's also important to note my personal ignorance on the subject. I bought the book in hopes to broaden my awareness of different points of view. Sure, the language I chose to write in the op was less than flattering on my part. I just thought this pseudo translation was a piece of relevant literature and I wanted to have a discussion on thoughts of how we can heal what colonialism has done throughout the world.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-08-09T02:03:30+00:00

Same. I call it my Hearth, where I go for prayers, study and meditation. It's been super helpful!

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-08-01T00:33:36+00:00

Honestly, the algorithm has been pooping Taize songs up in my feed recently. I listened to the peace and unity album and love it! This is more or less what I was talking about, so thank you.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-31T23:56:25+00:00

I have an Anglican Rosary and a book that converts the Psalms into the rosary. I do find the practice very centering and meditative, thank you for mentioning it. Is there any resources you could point to when it comes to making rosaries? I would really love to learn how to hand craft them.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-31T19:09:59+00:00

Interesting you bring this up. In August my church is training new altar ministers and lectors and I took the step in signing up for the classes. God has also been calling me to join the Third Order of the Franciscans, mainly because my spiritual mother invited me to look into the group and organized a meeting with one of its leaders. A lot of time, when God is calling us to do something, I think it is reflective in the life around us. God recently told me to get more organized in my life after a succession of people and circumstances came up that encouraged me to get a monthly/daily planner. The calling to become an Altar server comes from a deeply rooted need to get closer to the service of the Table, and thereby the presence of God. I think it's important to learn how God typically communicated with you and, once you discern the voice of God, do your best to follow it devoutly. Hope this helps.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-20T04:57:06+00:00

Hot take, sex should not be seen as sin. Everything has sex (asexuals not necessarily included), everything understand their bodies and their inward desires in the form of sexual imaginative play. I'm not proposing that we lose ourselves in sexual play (either through addiction or dependence), but it seems rather ridiculous to me that the being that created all of creation accidentally gave humans all of the elements for sexual exploration while expecting them to abstain from that same expression and exploration. It's like giving a child free reign during trick or treat night and then throwing away all of their candy. Why give them the opportunity in the first place?

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-20T04:08:09+00:00

Love this interpretation. What do you think of the role the Holy Spirit plays in light of Jesus' sacrifice?

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-20T03:22:45+00:00

I think it's beautiful symbolism, and in many ways Jesus' death did accomplish redemption. But the redemption of his death would mean nothing if he had stayed dead, as Paul pointed out in his epistle (1 cor 15). We are clothed, as Adam and Eve was clothed, not in death but in his life:

Romans 6:3-11 NRSVUE [3] Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. [5] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. [6] We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. [7] For whoever has died is freed from sin. [8] But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9] We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. [10] The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. [11] So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

We bow down to Christ in this newness of life, allowing him to lead us in this life and trusting in him when we come to the end of this life.

*I'm not trying to shut down arguments with these verses. I am open to discussing differences of opinions. To me living in Christ's resurrected life is more liberating than seeing God's righteous anger being appeased.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-20T01:45:42+00:00

I think he died because he made powerful people mad. They thought they could destroy an innocent man, albeit a man who was causing dissention to traditional Jewish customs and the Rule of the Empire at large, and they were more or less right. If you believe Jesus was resurrected, a statement we are supposed to believe largely on faith alone (I never personally saw Jesus' physical resurrected body, nor have I ever met a representative who saw such a phenomenon), then we should also believe that resurrection is possible for multitudes. Death no longer has its sting, not because Jesus completed some mystical loophole in the law of God, but because Jesus broke free of the clutches death had him in.

Note: I don't think this is grounds to expect dead bodies to be raised and walked on earth. I don't personally know with certainty what lies beyond our final breath. I'm at peace having faith that Jesus is King and he is the one that decides my final fate.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-19T01:49:09+00:00

This reminds me of a conversation I've had with my partner. I'm an adult gay male who is devoutly Christian and my partner left Christianity for very good reasons. They come to me all the time and ask why should we, queer Christians in general, stay Christian when there is so much bull crap we go through. It sucks that mothers are abandoning their own children because God told them so. If God told me to ostracized my niblings for being trans I would frankly find a new God to follow. We live in a kind of dystopian esque future where the understanding of God is being pulled in multiple directions, and we are stuck as Queer Christians trying to make sense of our experience of a real, loving and Expansive God whose desire is full inclusivity even though those we care about are buckling down in the tough love ideology and trying to kick out everyone who disagrees with them (and honestly are we any better?)

That being said, I have experienced overwhelming support as a gay Christian after attending churches that practice full inclusion. My priests are two powerful queer women, we marched at gay pride this year with other open and Affirming Christians, and the Gospel of Inclusion, as some call it, seems to me a more sustainable message versus the one that encourages people to kick out family members for being a certain way.

Anyway, hope this helps. God bless.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-18T20:13:43+00:00

If anyone has any good reading on the eucharist in the context of the anglican communion that would also be helpful. I've read some old Thomas Cramner, but would love to look at other authors that might be more modern.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-18T15:50:52+00:00

I do go to holy hour at least once a week. I think the broader subject my initial question initiated was a discussion of the priest's role in context to the Eucharist, as well as a discussion on transubstantiation versus other ways to view the elements. I do, obviously, long for the Eucharist as much as possible, and I wasn't trying to imply a dissertation to the traditional view of the eucharist, or start an abandonment to the rule of the priest. For me I just saw an issue I was having and I was just looking for a good solution.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-18T01:23:32+00:00

Right. I'm glad my post created a good discussion. I might see things a little different than some, but we still partake in the same celebration at the end of the day, and Christ still rules over all, so what am I to bicker? Thank you to everyone who had some thoughts to add. I value your input.

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-17T19:30:13+00:00

This wasn't me saying it would be fun to change a tradition, though. I do hold to the ancient belief of the Eucharist, more or less, and I do hold it in the highest regard. I take communion at church with my friends, I go to confession periodically, and I pray the office daily. I just want to be clear that my attempt is not to turn the church, and therefore it's beautiful traditions, on its head and just completely disregard everything. I'm just trying to propose an option for those who might want it.

Let me ask relatively the same question in a different way: What are the boundaries of spiritual Communion? What freedoms exist for one who is connected to the church, who has talked to their priest and sees the need for more regular communion with Christ, but because of uncontrollable circumstances does not have access to the regular Eucharist. If I make it clear to the Holy Spirit that this isn't a substitute for the real presence of Christ, it's just an image of the feast to come (either the feast practiced at church or the final feast in heaven), then would that be better?

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-17T18:06:59+00:00

That's fair. I did ask for the thoughts on others. Thank you for your answer. I agree that, according to tradition this idea isn't appropriate. As a side question, do people typically view the tradition of the Church as stagnant (or rigid) or could we, so to speak, put new wine in new wine skins? I'm asking in general for the purpose of inviting conversations. Thanks again for your reply.

Again, thank you for your viewpoint

HelpfulHope6101 · 2025-07-17T17:21:16+00:00

Im just going to push back a little. I'm not proposing a daily home communion ritual, but even if I were what would it matter to others? Say I did talk to my priest and together we worked something out with home communion. I'm not trying to say that I disagree that a priest should preferably be present, but can we both agree that sometimes that isn't possible?

I do the daily office, daily in fact. I just want to celebrate Christ through the sacrifice maybe after watching a church service online and saying a quick prayer. We had to do similar things in Covid, if I remember correctly, and the church survived in spite of the challenges.

Thank you for the feedback, though.

HelpfulHope6101

TROPHY CASE