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St. Gabriel and All Angels

Absolution, one of the Seven Sacraments of the church catholic, comes from the Latin root words ab solvo, which mean "to loosen". This Sacrament is intended to help the person to discontinue from erroneous behavior, but, as, or more important, to be relieved and disconnected from the downheartedness and guilt that perpetuate of such behavior. Absolution provides an important feature in the life of the spiritual aspirant.

Absolution has commonly become known in just one of it's forms - confession - the telling of one's sins to a priest. The Liberal Catholic Church offers two additional, traditional forms of the Sacrament of Absolution.

The most frequently experienced is the "general absolution," the blessing which follows the beautiful Confiteor prayer at the beginning of Holy Eucharist and many other of our services. The priest absolves all those present, who, in the Confiteor, have acknowledged the human condition on the path of evolution - "...often we forget our (spiritual) heritage, and wander from the path which leads to righteousness...". But those who pray the Confiteor also acknowledge the essential fact of human origin - "Thou hast created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of thine own eternity...".

Another form of Absolution is known as Holy Unction. This ancient rite is not unknown within other catholic churches, but is rarely practiced in the Western church. It does not include the confession of sins to a priest. Rather, it consists of being anointed with holy oil and receiving powerful blessings.

Invoking the name of the Blessed Trinity, the priest then says over the person, "I exorcise all influences of evil, that thou mayest be rightly purified to receive this sacrament of Holy Unction." The priests then anoints the forehead, top of the head, throat and nape of the neck with a holy oil, olem infirmum. Then, gently laying his hands upon the person's head, the priest prays "Christ, the Son of God, pour down his healing power upon thee, and enfold thee in the light of his love.'

Holy Unction is very popular among Liberal Catholics who have experienced it. A wonderful, blessed surprise awaits anyone who ventures to approach this valuable Sacrament. Very often it creates a distinct clearing of negative emotions and self-denigration, and in their place arises self-forgiveness, renewed hope and a fresh, positive attitude toward the present and future.

In the Liberal Catholic Church, the Sacraments of Jesus Christ are open to any and all who approach in reverence, whether members of the church or not, so you come, too!

WHAT IS THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH?
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A CEREMONIAL CHURCH
The Liberal Catholic Church is one of thirty or more Catholic Churches in the world which are independent of Rome, such as the Greek Orthodox, Coptic, Old Catholic, etc. It teaches the Christianity of the Christ and administers the seven Sacraments which are regarded as channels of His blessing. It is a church wherein there is intellectual and religious freedom and a natural balance between ceremonial worship, devotional aspiration, scientific and mystic thought. continue reading

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DOCTRINE OF THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH
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FOREWORD
"The LiberaI Catholic Church believes that there is body of doctrine and mystical experience common to all the great religions of the world and which cannot be claimed as the exclusive possession of any. Moving within the orbit of Christianity and regarding itself as a distinctively Christian church it nevertheless holds that the other great religions of the world are divinely inspired and that all proceed from a common source, though different religions stress different aspects of this teaching and some aspects may even temporarily drop out of recognition. continue reading

The Liberal Catholic Church, as part of the larger Christian Church, has a special role to play, and I feel blessed to be able to participate. The heart of the Church as a whole is to be a vehicle for the distribution of Christ’s power and love to all who sincerely desire to know God. Through the sacraments, Christ comes to all, and wakes up His Life within us. As we come more and more awake to that Divine Spark within our heart, we live and breathe the Love of Christ in all we do and live for the greater good of all life, not just for ourselves. continue reading

I just want to express my appreciation of this very profound and moving sermon. It reminds me of how extraordinary St.Gabriel's is and how lucky I have been to be part of it. Ria

Advent—What It Is

Advent has been celebrated in Christianity for about 1800 years. It corresponds to the nature religion’s celebrations of the winter solstice, when the days started getting longer, and spring approached. It is a time when all traditions remember and enjoy light.

Each Sunday in Advent at church, we light a candle in the advent wreath. The first Sunday, one; the next Sunday, two; and so on. So the amount of light increases as we get closer to Christmas. This symbolizes our growing awareness and experience of Christ as we get closer to his birthday. continue reading

Finally! Someone is talking and writing about a third point of view in the so far divisive "evolution vs. creationism" theological battle. I find the Intelligent Design theories myopic. On the other side, the atheists surely do not have an answer that represents my experience of God.

The third way is called Evolutionary Theology, and I think... continue reading

St Raphael & Trinity 20 Sunday
Trinity 20 Intent(Serenity)

Epistle
Book of Tobit(Tobias), Chapter 12, Verse 6

Gospel
St. John, Chapter 5, Verse 2

Color White
Color of Joy

The story in the Gospel is a about our own lives. It illustrates for us our own condition. The pool of water as our own inner well of pure consciousness, the 5 porches are our inner senses and all of the experiences that keep us from engaging fully in this pool.

According to the Gospel story, a great Multitude lay in the porches. These were described as:
-Impotent Folks(lacking in inner fullness—unable to give fully or appreciate fully) continue reading

About 40 years ago, I had the opportunity to begin serving at the altar. I remember the smell of the incense during Holy Eucharist, serving the priest, ringing bells, and more importantly, a sense that I was serving something bigger than I could comprehend. These memories are giving rise to a new program for youth at Saint Gabriel and All Angels.
In the upcoming weeks, in cooperation with the parents of some of our youth, we will begin the Youth Server Program. This program will be open to those youth whose parents believe are ready for this service to our community, the mission of our church and to their own spiritual growth. continue reading

by Deaconess Lucinda Hall

I’ve started using bibliodrama in St. Gabriel’s Sunday School group, age range 6 to 15. Bibliodrama is a form of role-playing in which parts are taken from biblical texts. The result is a form of commentary and interpretation blended with self-expression and discovery. It is a way to gain insight, ask questions, and build community.

The fullest bibliographic experience, in late July, was the Bethesda pool story. The theme was “confidence” and my goal was scripture insight, and personal knowledge connections.

We analyzed the levels of confidence, and the source of confidence for each of the characters in this story: the man who made it to the pool and to be healed, the man who tried but could never make it to the pool, and Jesus. The confidence in Jesus was of course God, and that automatically became the measuring rod for the others’ levels of confidence, and the goal: union with God as the source of confidence. At the end, the children told me all the ways to develop relationship with God, and thereby confidence: prayer, meditation, worship, good works, and knowledge. They really got it! continue reading