On Eucharistic Community

On Eucharistic Community

“Judge not, and you will not be judged.” Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ teaches this to us. In teaching this, Christ gives us a commandment about life in eucharistic community—how to live in community—a community the nature of which is people in prayer and celebrating the Eucharist: that we are not to judge. While it may not seem the case, in fact this is a teaching shrouded in the mystery of God: for this teaching seems contrary to the actions of Him Who, for example, drove the money changers out of the Temple for their inappropriate behavior, having, it seems, judged them to be unfit for worship in the community. And so, because of this seeming contradiction, continuing our reflections in Trinitytide on the “eucharistic life,” we look at the mystery of life in eucharistic community. “Judge not, and you will not be judged.” It is short; it has a ring to it. Yet, despite its brevity, is its meaning straightforward? Are we to turn a blind eye to sin committed by others? Such as in our parish family, are we to pretend someone sinning is not in fact sinning? Or that, despite the fact that certain persons in a community are sowing dissension and discord in the congregation, it is all good? Or that what such a person is doing is their business, and not for us to take mind about? It seems like it could be about that, does it not? Judge not this person’s sinful behavior, and you will not be judged, seems like what Jesus is teaching. Judge not and you will not be judged sounds like accept and tolerate and look the other way. Yet we see in the teaching of Saint Paul, who because of the gifts given to him by God has always been recognized by the Church as proclaiming the Gospel and sharing true teachings not of himself but of Christ, that Paul had no patience for people sinning within the parish community. We need look no further than Paul’s first epistle to the church in Corinth. In it he clearly called to task all sorts of misbehavior: anyone sowing divisions within the parish; persons engaging in sexual immortality; appealing to a secular court instead of settling disputes within the parish community; disunity at the celebration of the Eucharist; speaking in tongues, and more. Paul is calling out sinful behavior, and he is calling out unacceptable behavior, of this there can be no question. Furthermore, respecting sexual immortality, Paul writes in 1 Cor 5:4-5, “In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, along with my spirit, within the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Does Paul teach us to accept, tolerate, and look the other way? Clearly Paul is not. Does this conflict with Jesus’s commandment, to judge not? It seems to, but in fact, there is no conflict. What Paul teaches is to discern sinful behavior. To see it for what it is. Discern sinful behavior: meaning to perceive, to recognize, to distinguish and discriminate between sinful behavior and godly behavior. The Devil wants us to accept, tolerate, and look the other way. To discern sinful behavior is not to judge, but rather to see clearly, by the light of Christ and His virtuous life which we are to imitate. Without the light of Christ, we cannot distinguish right from wrong, instead relying on whether something is legal or illegal according to civil law, or simply our personal opinion and personal morality. We are to look to Christ, for He reveals the life of virtue, the life of godly behavior. And when a person not only falls short of that, but chooses to fall short, choosing to sin–knowing what the life of Christ is and choosing to live contrary to His life—we are to recognize this, and we are not to ignore it. We are to not pretend it is not happening, but make it known in the community in appropriate ways. Judging a person is something different than all this. We are not to judge. Judging people is not Christian, according to our Master Jesus Christ. The act of judging happens when, after having discerned a person’s behavior is unholy, we then pile on with pronouncements and condemnations, whether out loud or silently in our heart. We see such a person as inferior to us, that is, we imitate the Pharisee instead of the tax collector. We put ourselves in the place of God. As Saint James writes in his epistle: “There is one lawgiver and judge, He who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that you judge your neighbor?” It is very often the case that when we judge another person, we have projected our own sins and inadequacies onto the other person, and in judging that person, we therefore judge ourselves. We have not taken the log out of our own eye; we have not confessed our sins to God and received sacramental absolution. It takes restraint and it takes faith to live in Christian community with our eyes open. Ultimately we are commanded by Christ to trust God entirely despite witnessing sinful behavior in the community. And this is a mystery, the mystery of life in community. We are to suffer, in community, knowing that we are sinners and every person in the parish is a sinner; suffering that we sometimes sin, and they sometimes sin; we are to endure the faults and sins of others. The Church is a hospital for sinners, not a club for the spiritual elite. Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Because of His voluntary sacrifice of Himself on the Cross, which is love in perfect expression, ultimate expression, we have the Eucharist to feed us, to love us, and to give life to our community. All of the baptized are fed and loved by Christ in the Eucharist, so that being in communion with the baptized through Holy Communion, His relationship with us is profound and intimate. Because of the Eucharist, God can become our life, and all of our life can become His life lived through us and through our body. In community, we must ever remember that God already knows everyone’s sins, that God already knows everyone’s heart. In community we must ever remember that God is at work in the heart and mind of every person to bring them to repentance, to confession, to humility and honesty before Him. Within the mystery of God is the mystery of trusting Him that He is in control, that unto Him all hearts are open, all desires known, and from Him no secrets are hid. An open secret in parish life is that there are never easy answers to people who habitually act poorly in a parish community. While we are to discern what this behavior is, and never approve of it or condone it, we are not to do God’s work of judgment, but instead abide in the mysterious work of God, which happens in community through the community’s life of prayer and thanksgiving to God: that is, through its eucharistic life. In the words of the prophet Jeremiah: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” Because Christ’s mercies upon sinners never cease, nor should ours. “I came that they may have life,” Jesus said, “and have it abundantly”—through the same Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe [https://frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The English Spirituality of Martin Thornton

I am pleased to report that the 2026 Breck Conference on Martin Thornton was a great success! Attendance was high—the most attendees of any Breck Conference to date. The pre-conference, which I co-led, delved deeply into aspects of Martin Thornton’s life and pastoral and ascetical writing. The conference had superb presentations by the speakers, focusing on matters pertaining to four Thornton texts: English Spirituality, The Purple Headed Mountain, Pastoral Theology, and Christian Proficiency. The conference concluded with a robust panel discussion between the speakers and the attendees. All the while the gathering worshiped according to the Prayer Book pattern: daily Matins, Mass, and Evensong, with fellowship at meals and elsewhere. My own talk looked at the text English Spirituality, but that was preceded by a long look at Martin’s biography, which is about 2/3rds of the talk. Besides covering the major touch-points of his life, I also looked at his "Beech Tree Experience” of God in his late 20s, and took a deep dive into its significance for his Christian identity, his priesthood, and his writing. The rest given to the theological context of English Spirituality and aspects of the book itself: how to understand the book in terms of purpose and genre, how to use the English school of spirituality, the significance of Margery Kempe to this school, and Thornton’s proposal for devout experiment to synthesize the ascetical teachings of Margery Kempe, Jeremy Taylor, and Hugh of St Victor. I am grateful to Father Greg Peters, the Breck Conference Chair, for his leadership and for co-leading the pre-conference with me. Likewise I am grateful to Bishop Stephen Scarlett, Father Cole Hartin, and Father Thomas Buchan for their talks. The conference papers will be published in a book that is aimed to be released by the end of 2026. There you will be able to find and read the final text of my talk and those of the other speakers. Meanwhile, let us continue to learn from Martin Thornton, the great Anglican theologian— Let us pray that, if it be God’s will, the fama sanctatis (reputation for holiness) of Martin Thornton grow by His grace, that the Church may one day more fully recognize what the faithful already sense in their hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe [https://frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Eucharist as Sacrament of Christ's Death

On these Sundays after Trinity, I will be reflecting on the Eucharist. We are eucharistic people, we are part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church because the Eucharist is necessary to our life in Christ; because the Eucharist is never considered optional, but required of all Christians to receive who are able to do so. Over the Sundays after Trinity I will be looking at the Eucharist from different angles, always looking for perspectives on the Eucharist that edify us, that is, build up our house, our heavenly house—for we, as Saint Paul teaches, are living Temples of the Holy Ghost our Comforter. I concluded my preaching last Sunday with these words: The Eucharist must always remind us of Christ’s love; and in receiving the Eucharist, we are fed so as to be able to continue to live in His love made available to us—in our heart and soul—which is fully realized and received when we imitate Christ and love others. The Eucharist is a heavenly banquet. In receiving the Eucharist we are participating in heaven, because we are receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, Who has ascended to heaven; Who shares Himself with us from His ascended and heavenly existence. What we are to imitate of Christ is His love, His Divine love. And it is divine love that is shown on the Cross of His Crucifixion. As Saint John writes in our Epistle: “By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” Christian life, which is life in liturgical community that worships Christ at its center, which is fed by Him Who is our daily Bread, being rooted in Christ known through the power of the Holy Spirit, is rooted in Christ’s revealing of love through the Cross. This is why Saint Paul teaches that “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” Because the Cross of Christ is love in perfect form, our receiving of the Eucharist truly happens when Christ’s love shows forth from us towards others. Notice the how Saint Paul regards the Eucharist. “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup,” he says, “ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” In speaking about the Lord’s death, Paul is describing the essential and highest truth of Christianity: that the Cross of Christ is glory, is salvific, and transcends the conditions of time and space. And with this transcendent truth, Paul associates the Eucharist. The glory of the Cross is associated with the truth of the Eucharist, the fact of the Eucharist, the meaning of the Eucharist. Certainly the Eucharist is a Sacrament of Christ’s Love, but we can also speak of the Eucharist as the Sacrament of Christ’s Death, which reveals His love. Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say “For as often as you hear a sermon, you do show the Lord’s death.” Some people might think preaching is more important that the Eucharist; Paul would disagree. Nor does Paul say, “For as often as you simply attend Mass, you do show the Lord’s death.” Some people might think the most important thing is simply being present at a church service; Paul would disagree. Nor does Paul say, “Whenever you decide to receive the Eucharist on your own personal schedule, you do show the Lord’s death.” Some might think that receiving the Eucharist is something they do every once in a while, whenever they feel like it, whenever they do not have a better offer; Paul would disagree. And so does Christ. We heard His parable today about the great banquet. We heard the excuses people made in the parable: “I must go out and see my new field”; “I am going to look at my oxen”; “I just got married”–what great reasons, obviously, to not receive the gift of the great banquet that was prepared for them. The clear inference of Christ’s parable is that the heavenly banquet should be the highest priority of the people invited to attend. Should celebrating the perfect expression of love which is the Eucharist ever be less than the highest priority for us? This is why Paul teaches what he does. The Eucharist can become our highest priority when we see it intimately tied into Christ’s sacrificial and voluntary offering of Himself for us our of His love. We show the Lord’s death–which is His perfect love–when receiving the Eucharist through the channel of the Church becomes the source and summit of grace in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe [https://frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Ep. 4: S. Cyprian on the Lord's Prayer

This is unedited audio of my parish’s Saturday morning class in which we study Scripture with the help of the Church Fathers. This class is currently reading On the Lord’s Prayer by S. Cyprian of Carthage. In this episode, we look at chapters 15. I take a close-reading approach to the text, and I read aloud every word of the text. It is found in this volume which I suggest you purchase [https://www.amazon.com/Tertullian-Cyprian-Vladimirs-Seminary-Patristics/dp/0881412619] if you want to follow along in the most effective way. Enjoy! If you like this content, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions go a long way towards supporting my online ministry. Click below to subscribe! Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe [https://frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

On Loving Poor Lazarus

Having worshipped through Pentecost, completed on its Octave Day, Trinity Sunday, we have now finished the portion of the liturgical year which celebrates of the events in the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ that make up the greater part of the Creeds: the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed: these the Liturgy has lived into. For what the Liturgy starting in particularly in Advent sets before us in an orderly manner are the highest Mysteries of our Redemption by Christ on earth, till the day He was taken up into Heaven (Christ’s Ascension), with the sending down of the Holy Ghost from the Father, through Christ, at Pentecost. Having reflected and adored the Blessed Trinity, the Liturgy now proceeds through the Sundays after Trinity in a way that seeks to edify us, that is, build our house up—for we, as Saint Paul teaches, are living Temples of the Holy Ghost our Comforter. The liturgy in this season of Trinitytide seeks to provide us, and make known and available to us, Christ’s Gifts and Mercies; that having oil in our lamps, we may be made more ready to meet the Bridegroom at His Final Coming, and be allowed by Him to enter the heavenly banquet. Throughout the Liturgy of Trinitytide (the green season) we are provided echoes and reflections upon the Mystery of Pentecost (the life of the Spirit): because Christian experience is a continual initiation into fact of Pentecost. The Christian life is life in community with Christ present among us as He was in the Upper Room Church of Jerusalem with the 120 apostles after His Ascension. Christ’s Ascension gives us the divine knowledge that Christ is everywhere all the time. He is everywhere, generally, because Christ abides in us, the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us makes the Divine Majesty of Christ known, makes us aware of Christ’s presence and majesty, indeed recognizing Christ means the Holy Spirit has revealed Him to us. This is all very personal; Christ is known through our inner perception by the eyes of the heart, the ears of the heart, the taste of the heart, the touch of the heart, even as fragrance perceived by, one might say, the nose of the heart. Yet we know that Christianity is life in community. Saint John says to us today: “Beloved, love one another.” We cannot love another in isolation; we cannot love the poor man Lazarus from a distance; we cannot love Lazarus (who is always symbolic of people poor in knowledge and love of Christ) if we live in such a way that we separate ourselves from his world. Not only can we not love Lazarus alone, but we cannot learn humility when we are alone and isolated—and humility is the primary Christian virtue: the queen of virtues. It takes participation in a Christian community to learn humility; it takes participation in a Christian community to love Lazarus with the love from God, the love by which we are reborn as children of God. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, so that in dying on the Cross, the true nature of love would be revealed: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The glory of the Cross is that it is an icon of love: love that gives life—as Saint John says, “God sent His Son into the world, that we might live through HIm.” We live in Christ’s love; without it, we are spiritual corpses, without light, without salvation. Without Christ’s love, we are the pitiful Rich Man in a life of torment in Hades. Christian life in community, being rooted in Christ known through the power of the Holy Spirit, is rooted in Christ’s revealing of love through the Cross. This is why Saint Paul teaches that “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” Life in community, fed by Christ our daily Bread through the opening of Scripture and the breaking of bread—is life in eucharistic community, for we receive life in Holy Communion. But this life is Christ’s love revealed on the Cross. We show the Lord’s death in and through our love for others. The Eucharist must always remind us of Christ’s love; and in receiving the Eucharist, we are fed so as to be able to continue to live in His love made available to us—in our heart and soul—which is fully realized and received when we imitate Christ and love Lazarus with the love He showed on the Cross: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for—not the world, not “humanity” in the abstract, but Lazarus: the poor man laid at the gate before us covered with sores and desiring to be fed. To ignore him is to ignore Christ; to feed him, and clothe him, and care for him and love him is to love the very Christ Who lives and reigns with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe [https://frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]