“The boar’s head in hand bear I..."

"...Bedecked with bays and rosemary.
And I pray you, my masters, be merry.
Quot estis in convivio.”



I believe it was C S Lewis who once wrote, that in the present divided state of Christendom, those at the center of their particular confessions would have more in common with one another, than they would with those on the fringes of their own. After putting in some time on free-for-all Catholic lists (and you know who you are), I can believe it. And if we look at the nature of God and His universe in more than one-dimensional terms, we can believe it all the more.

Recently, I don't remember how I found it, but I did, in the form of The Boar's Head Tavern. As I am to understand, it has been a challenge to retain a Catholic on their roster. But what of it? Can the experience possibly be any more difficult than that of the anti-Catholics who remain obstensibly attached to Rome, if for no other reason than to command an audience of such magnitude as we possess (one-fifth of the USA and one-sixth of the world, at last count)? And if we contemplate what Jack Lewis had to say on the matter of our divisions, it seems to me that true ecumenism begins when you are honest with yourself about what you believe, and can be equally honest with that fellow who believes differently. There can be no growth without pain, and the fruit of well-founded rigor, in the long run, is the plea rooted in the Gospel, "that all may be one."

My introduction to the company of "separated brethren" can be found here. They shouldn't mind my calling them that. In centuries past, they've been referred to as much worse. And from what I've read so far, a couple of them are at pains to refer to "papists" any more kindly.

Wish me luck.

“Caput apri defero, reddens laudes Domino.”
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