Dear Carole,
Certainly, I agree that Methodists aren't Catholics!
However, there is much that is Catholic about them and that sets them apart from mainstream Protestantism.
Methodists are not themselves personally "heretical" since they were born as Methodists and when they sincerely believe and practice their faith, then God is with them, to be sure.
Catholics who believe in a religion of Sunday Mass only et al. - well, who has any use for them?
As for the rules on ecumenical gatherings, I don't know and I'm sure that what Cardinal Kasper did, he did with the Vatican's approval. There is no report, as yet, that he has been defrocked or otherwise censured by the Pope or the Vatican for his actions.
Here in Toronto, we have "Holy Ann Preston" an Irish Methodist cleaning woman who died on June 21, 1906.
She was converted by a Methodist circuit missionary near where I used to live. She prayed for hours daily and although had trouble reading, could plough through the Bible and memorize endless passages with ease.
She was hailed as a local miracle-worker and the Irish Catholic boys in her neighbourhood dubbed her "Holy Ann Preston." The name stuck and her cottage and other places she frequented are now protected by the municipal government here and the plaques reference her as "Holy Ann." I once visited a woman with cancer who lived on the street her cottage is on (one block away from the UGCC parish there) and she told me she had invoked the help of "Holy Ann Preston."
The well near the cottage was dry and the boys she was raising had to carry water for half an hour daily for their needs. She decided to ask God to restore the water in the dry well, and after two hours of intense prayer, she threw in two pails into the well and pulled up fresh water! She took the water home and asked the eldest boy, Henry, what he thought? He said, "Well, why couldn't you ask your Father to do that three weeks ago?"
She prayed to her "Father" all the time, asking Him what to cook for the children, how to do this or that chore. People began coming to her for her prayers and advice and so Dr. Reid built a prayer-shed for her which still stands beside the well that is now capped with cement in "Annswell Park."
And one more thing - it was a snowy day when a man pulled up in front of her home with a horse-drawn carriage. She ran out and said, "My Father told me you would take me to church today!"
The man replied, "Madam, I don't give rides to women - I'm a Catholic priest!"
"Well," Ann said, "My Father said you would take me anyway. . ."
"Who is your 'father,' the bewildered priest said.
"The Heavenly Father!" Ann replied. "Well, in that case, climb aboard, . . " the priest said. During the entire trip, she talked to him about scripture verses etc. and the priest couldn't believe that such a simply, unlettered woman had such a command of sacred scripture!
At her funeral, there were clergy from six denominations present, including the Mayor of Toronto who said, "This week I have had two honours - I met the President of the USA and and I attended the funeral of Ann Preston - for me, by far, the greater honour was the latter."
For years afterwards, both Protestants and Catholics visited her prayer-shed in Thornhill and it is on the walking tour there.
She was not a Catholic. But may we all be as earnest in the practice of our faith as she was in hers.
Alex
