THE P RTAL
January 2018 Page 18
Summoned by Bells
Some ecumenical thoughts from The Revd Sam Harris
Growing up in Northern Ireland , you cannot miss the sound of the Angelus Bell . My Grandmother in the Glens of Antrim would say to us , ‘ Off you go to the beach , but be sure to come home when you hear the Angelus Bell .’ A fair number of years rolled by before I had learned the crucial significance of the largely biblical Angelus prayer .
My Scottish Presbyterian Granny ’ s friends and neighbours were all Roman Catholics . We visited them often , sitting respectfully under pictures of the Sacred Heart . Thus began my spiritual journey , with occasional blunders into radical and modernist blind alleys .
Helped by the insights of writers in the catholic tradition , primarily John Henry Newman , [ now Blessed ], I recognised that it was the catholic vision of things ‘ seen and unseen ’ that underpinned my faith in Jesus Christ and my call to His service . It is a road I travel still . A family of Presbyterians , nowadays our spiritual home is within a fine Anglo-Catholic church in Yorkshire .
I greatly admire Pope Benedict , now Emeritus . As a retired Church of Scotland minister I also am ‘ emeritus ’! When dipping into his excellent book ‘ Journey into Easter ’, I would say to myself , ’ Now , there ’ s a fellow Christian I ’ d be glad to have in my pulpit any day .’ Indeed , even the Irish Presbyterian church ’ s magazine favourably reviewed one of his books .
Their reviewer was undoubtedly impressed that Benedict was , in Presbyterian terms , a man of God , who ‘ loved the Lord in sincerity and truth .’ That surely rings bells for the evangelical , for whom the testimony and authority of scripture are paramount . And there is a lot of scripture in Benedict ’ s writings .
The Angelus rang a bell for me as a child , keeping me within the bounds , lest I stray far from home . Having now long ago uncovered its meaning for prayer , devotion and doctrine , it still summons me back to the mystery of the incarnation , and Our Lady ’ s unique role in the fulfilment of God ’ s promises .
I look yet to the Roman Catholic church to keep our feet on the path of loyalty to the ‘ faith once delivered
to the saints ’. But is enough being done to restore something of beauty and dignity to the celebration of the Eucharist ?
Out in my parish some years ago , I met a lady whom I knew to be Roman Catholic . ‘ You know ’, she said ,’ I occasionally attend Mass under the auspices of the Society of St Pius X . The modern Mass is all right , but I miss the splendour .
These words haunt me to this very day . They echo what a colleague once observed of contemporary Presbyterian services , ‘ Some of them are so tawdry .’ One area in which to explore ecumenism might be to find ways of inspiring fellow Christians to restore that lost splendour to even the simplest act of worship .
The poet Robert Browning declared ‘ Ah , but a man ’ s hand should exceed his grasp , else what ’ s a heaven for ?’ A while back , RTE ceased to broadcast the Angelus on radio and TV . A wave of protest from all sides of the Irish religious spectrum , including the Church of Ireland ’ s Archbishop of Armagh , meant that it was restored . We hear it again on the airwaves .
On TV , the sound of the Angelus is accompanied by pictures of people feeding ducks ! No prayer , but the bell still rings out the Gospel message of Jesus Christ , Saviour of Mankind , Lord of Life , Son of Mary , Virgin and Mother .
It is catholic and credal enough to awaken a response in the catholic-minded heart . It is scriptural and evangelical enough to please the most ardent biblebeliever on the reformed end of the spectrum .
The Angelus rang a bell with me from childhood , and it always will .