“Belief in Christ involves (if our discussion has been on the right lines thus far) a vision of the entire human world as a network of oppression and privation, in which no one is wholly free from the responsibility of making victims: so that penitent awareness is indispensably part of reconstructed humanity.”
Rowan Williams, Being Christian, p.55
We can only pray ‘in the name of Christ’ because Christ has already, in our name, offered up our desires to God and continues to offer them. In our name, he lived a life agreeable to the will of God, in our name vicariously confessed our sins and submitted to the verdict of guilty for us, and in our name gave thanks to God. We pray ‘in the name of Christ’, because of what Christ has done and is doing today in our name, on our behalf.
James Torrance, Worship, Community and the triune God of Grace, p. 35
The Eucharist is a mystery not because it is mysterious, but because it is a sign of God’s secret purpose, which is to unite all things in Christ. In the Eucharist we celebrate that the mess of human history, with its violence and sin, its wars and genocides, is somehow, in ways that we cannot now understand, on its way to the kingdom. It is God’s will that we be gathered into unity, reconciled with each other. And so we begin the Eucharist asking the forgiveness of our brothers and sisters, the angels and the saints, the whole vast community of the kingdom. It is a sign that we are willing to be gathered into God’s peace with the rest of creation.
Timothy Radcliffe, Why Go to Church? p.19
“…if you want to understand the body of Christ, listen to the Apostle Paul speaking to the faithful: ‘You are the body of Christ, member for member.’ If you, therefore, are Christ’s body and members, it is your own mystery that is placed on the Lord’s table! It is your own mystery that you are receiving! You are saying ‘Amen’ to what you are: your response is a personal signature, affirming your faith.”
Augustine, Sermon 272
“The purpose of the dogmas of the Church is not to shut down further discussion. Quite the opposite: they evolved in opposition to heresies which did just that, wrapping up the truths of our faith in narrow theological positions which betrayed the mystery. …dogmas can be treated as idols, which halt our search for God, but properly understood they are icons which invite us to carry on our pilgrimage towards the mystery, pushing us beyond too easy answers.” Timothy Radcliffe, Why Go to Church? p.67
“If we go to confession, it is not to plead for forgiveness from God. It is to thank him for it… When God forgives our sins, he is not changing his mind about us. He is changing our minds about him. He does not change, his mind is never anything but loving: he is love.” Herbert McCabe, God, Christ and Us, p.16.
“…worship is the gift of grace. The Father has given to us the Son and the Spirit to draw us into a life of shared communion – of participating through the Spirit in the Son’s communion with the Father – that we might be drawn in love into the very trinitarian life of God himself.”
James Torrance, Worship, Community and the triune God of Grace, p. 25
We are not our own judges. We can neither justify our sin nor guarantee the righteousness of our good works. We stand before God only because, in the bad and the good, God stands for us, not simply wanting that we be good, but making it that we are. This is the gospel, the free humanity of Jesus given to be our very own, no judgement to fear.
[ECT]
“Prayer is not a narrowly private activity; it is about your belonging in the body of Christ, and in the family of humanity. If you understand what is going on when you pray, then the world changes. And if in prayer you are gradually becoming attuned to the will and purpose of God, then the divine power that comes into you is bound to finds its outlet in this healing of relations. That is not to say that you pray in order to be a nicer person, or so that justice and reconciliation will happen. You pray because Christ is in you. And if that is really happening, then the sort of things you can expect to see developing around you are justice and reconciliation.”
Rowan Williams, Being Christian, p.73
“…the essence of prayer as the New Testament presents it is to let Jesus pray in you and take you into the very heart of God the Father. Just as Jesus empties himself out of love for us, we, in return, empty ourselves. We push away the selfish desires and the limiting images that crowd into our heads. We make room, we empty our minds and hearts, so that the love of God can fill them. So our prayer is that we may be made one with the will and the action of Jesus. And that means, says Origen, that when we pray and join in his activity we are doing a priestly thing, bringing the pains and needs of earth into the heart of God.”
Rowan Williams, Being Christian, p.67