Just then she looked up the cliff beside the tiny waterfall. To her delighted surprise she saw a beautiful little plant. It was growing in a tiny crevice of rock and on its stem grew a single flower. Much-Afraid stared at the brilliant red petals. "What is your name, little flower? I have never seen another like you before?"
"My name is 'Bearing-with-Love,'" the little plant seemed to whisper. "But some call me Forgiveness."
Much-Afraid realized at once that this was the new lesson the Shepherd wanted her to learn. "Why is that your name?" she asked.
A little whispering laugh seemed to pass through its leaves. "I was taken away from my family and friends and put in the prison of this rock. The ones who did this left me alone, not caring what happened to me. But I didn't stop loveing, and Love helped me push through the crack. Now look at me! What flower is more blessed and satisfied than I?"
Much-Afraid looked at teh flower's tiny glowing petals and wanted to be like it was. She knelt beneath the imprisoned flower and whispered, "Here I am. My name will be Bearing-with-Love too. No matter how I am hurt or mistreated, I will choose to forgive."
Source: Hannah Hurnard - "Hind's Feet on High Places", arranged and illustrated for children, pp. 71-72
Evangelicals Visit Rome
At the press conference, Annette Kurschus of the evangelical leadership highlighted the importance of “reconciled diversity” and emphasized that the ecumenical visit to Rome—“the global city of Catholicism”—on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation also has “significance” for the Protestant world on the journey to unity.
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United Protestant regional churches and denominations in Germany, with some 24 million members. The federation’s Bishop Bedford-Strohm, in greeting Pope Francis said, “Our churches feel a special responsibility to develop ecumenism further, since the divisions started with us in Germany.”
Source: Gerard O'Connell - "German Evangelical Church issues historic invite to Pope Francis", America : The Jesuit Review, 6 Feb 2017, http://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/02/06/german-evangelical-church-issues-historic-invite-pope-francis
The Repentance Project
I AM SORRY that our nation has prospered at the expense of African Americans for 400 years through slavery, slave codes, Jim Crow, segregation, and lingering inequality in many systems in America.
I RECOGNIZE that many of the most devastating social problems in our country and local communities are direct results of these deeply-rooted injustices.
I KNOW that there is nothing I can do to change what has happened or to fix everything, but I can say that I am truly sorry. I acknowledge this legacy and its effects and I grieve.
BECAUSE OF WHAT I RECOGNIZE, I repent and I will respond by seeking to build genuine relationships with those who bear the brunt of this legacy.
I WANT TO listen, learn, and better understand how the perpetuation of systems that leverage benefit for some and pain and disadvantage for others, continues today. I will also do what I can to promote communities of equality, justice, reconciliation, and love for one another.
Source: Repentance Project - An American Lent, Week 7, Day 6
https://mailchi.mp/b17d3704f85c/an-american-lentstatement-of-repentance-502107?e=4afc552e4b
The Bold Prophets of Unity
But there were women and men who, in times when this joint commemoration was still unimaginable, already gathered together to pray for unity or to form ecumenical communities. There were theologians, women and men, who already entered in dialogue, seeking to overcome doctrinal and theological differences. There were many, who together offered themselves to serve the poor and the oppressed. There were even some who suffered martyrdom for the sake of the Gospel.
I feel deep gratitude for those bold prophets. As they lived and witnessed together they began to see one another no longer as separated branches but as branches united to Jesus Christ. Even more, they began to see Christ in their midst and to acknowledge that even in those periods of history when dialogue was broken between us, Christ continued talking to us. Jesus never forgot us, even when we seemed to have forgotten him, losing ourselves in violent and hateful actions.
Source: Rev. Dr Martin Junge - Rev. Dr Martin Junge, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, Sermon on the occasion of the Joint Commemoration of the Reformation, Lund Cathedral, Sweden, October 31, 2016, https://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/joint_commemoration_mj_sermon_final_en.pdf
Themes of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (1968-2017)
1968 To the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1: 14)
1969 Called to freedom (Galatians 5: 13)
(Preparatory meeting held in Rome, Italy)
1970 We are fellow workers for God (1 Corinthians 3: 9)
(Preparatory meeting held at the Monastery of Niederaltaich, Federal Republic of Germany)
1971 ...and the communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13: 13)
(Preparatory meeting in Bari, Italy)
1972 I give you a new commandment (John 13: 34)
(Preparatory meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland)
1973 Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11: 1)
(Preparatory meeting held at the Abbey of Montserrat, Spain)
1974 That every tongue confess: Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2: 1-13)
(Preparatory meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland)
1975 God’s purpose: all things in Christ (Ephesians 1: 3-10)
(Material from an Australian group. Preparatory meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland)
1976 We shall be like him (1 John 3: 2) or, Called to become what we are
(Material from Caribbean Conference of Churches. Preparatory meeting held in Rome, Italy)
1977 Enduring together in hope (Romans 5: 1-5)
(Material from Lebanon, in the midst of a civil war. Preparatory meeting held in Geneva)
1978 No longer strangers (Ephesians 2: 13-22)
(Material from an ecumenical team in Manchester, England)
1979 Serve one another to the glory of God (l Peter 4: 7-11)
(Material from Argentina - Preparatory meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland)
1980 Your kingdom come (Matthew 6: 10)
(Material from an ecumenical group in Berlin, German Democratic Republic -Preparatory meeting held in Milan)
1981 One Spirit - many gifts - one body (1 Corinthians 12: 3b-13)
(Material from Graymoor Fathers, USA - Preparatory meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland)
1982 May all find their home in you, O Lord (Psalm 84)
(Material from Kenya - Preparatory meeting held in Milan, Italy)
1983 Jesus Christ - the Life of the World (1 John 1: 1-4)
(Material from an ecumenical group in Ireland - Preparatory meeting held in Céligny (Bossey), Switzerland)
1984 Called to be one through the cross of our Lord (1 Corinthians 2: 2 and Colossians 1: 20)
(Preparatory meeting held in Venice, Italy)
1985 From death to life with Christ (Ephesians 2: 4-7)
(Material from Jamaica - Preparatory meeting held in Grandchamp, Switzerland)
1986 You shall be my witnesses (Acts 1: 6-8)
(Material from Yugoslavia (Slovenia) - Preparatory meeting held in Yugoslavia)
1987 United in Christ - a New Creation (2 Corinthians 5: 17-6: 4a)
(Material from England - Preparatory meeting held in Taizé, France)
1988 The love of God casts out fear (1 John 4: 18)
(Material from Italy - Preparatory meeting held in Pinerolo, Italy)
1989 Building community: one body in Christ (Romans 12: 5-6a)
(Material from Canada - Preparatory meeting held in Whaley Bridge, England)
1990 That they all may be one...That the world may believe (John 17)
(Material from Spain - Preparatory meeting held in Madrid, Spain)
1991 Praise the Lord, all you nations! (Psalm 117 and Romans 15: 5-13)
(Material from Germany - Preparatory meeting held in Rotenburg an der Fulda,
Federal Republic of Germany)
1992 I am with you always ... Go, therefore (Matthew 28: 16-20)
(Material from Belgium - Preparatory meeting held in Bruges, Belgium)
1993 Bearing the fruit of the Spirit for Christian unity (Galatians 5: 22-23)
(Material from Zaire - Preparatory meeting held near Zurich, Switzerland)
1994 The household of God: called to be one in heart and mind (Acts 4: 23-37)
(Material from Ireland - Preparatory meeting held in Dublin, Republic of Ireland)
1995 Koinonia: communion in God and with one another (John 15: 1-17)
(Material from Faith and Order, Preparatory meeting held in Bristol, England)
1996 Behold, I stand at the door and knock (Revelation 3: 14-22)
(Material from Portugal - Preparatory meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal)
1997 We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5: 20)
(Material from Nordic Ecumenical Council - Preparatory meeting held in Stockholm, Sweden)
1998 The Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8: 14-27)
(Material from France - Preparatory meeting held in Paris, France)
1999 He will dwell with them as their God, they will be his peoples (Revelation 21: 1-7)
(Material from Malaysia - Preparatory meeting held in Monastery of Bose, Italy)
2000 Blessed be God who has blessed us in Christ (Ephesians 1: 3-14)
(Material from the Middle East Council of Churches - Preparatory meeting held La Verna, Italy)
2001 I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life (John 14: 1-6)
(Material from Romania - Preparatory meeting held at Vulcan, Romania)
2002 For with you is the fountain of life (Psalm 36: 5-9)
(Material CEEC and CEC - Preparatory meeting near Augsburg, Germany
2003 We have this treasure in clay jars (2 Corinthians 4: 4-18)
(Material churches in Argentina - Preparatory meeting at Los Rubios, Spain)
2004 My peace I give to you (John 14: 23-31; John 14: 27)
(Material from Aleppo, Syria - Preparatory meeting in Palermo, Sicily)
2005 Christ, the one foundation of the church (1 Corinthians 3 1-23)
(Material from Slovakia - Preparatory meeting in Piestaňy, Slovakia)
2006 Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them (Mt 18: 18-20)
(Material from Ireland - Preparatory meeting held in Prosperous, Co. Kildare, Ireland)
2007 He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak (Mark 7: 31-37)
(Material from South Africa - Preparatory meeting held in Faverges, France)
2008 Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5: (12a) 13b-18)
(Material from USA - Preparatory meeting held in Graymoor, Garrison, USA)
2009 That they may become one in your hand (Ezekiel 37: 15-28)
(Material from Korea - Preparatory meeting held in Marseilles, France)
2010 You are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:48)
(Material from Scotland - Preparatory meeting held in Glasgow, Scotland)
2011 One in the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer (cf. Acts 2:42)
(Material from Jerusalem - Preparatory meeting held in Saydnaya, Syria)
2012 We will all be Changed by the Victory of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:51-58)
(Material from Poland - Preparatory meeting held in Warsaw, Poland)
2013
What does God require of us? (cf. Mi 6, 6-8)
(Material from India - Preparatory meeting held in Bangalore, India)
2014
Has Christ been divided? (1 Corinthians 1:1-17)
(Material from Canada - Preparatory meeting held in Montréal, Canada)
2015
Jesus said to her: Give me to drink (John 4, 7)
(Material from Brazil - Preparatory meeting held in São Paulo, Brazil)
2016
Called to proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord (cf. 1 Peter 2:9)
(Material from Latvia – Preparatory meeting held in Rīga, Latvia)
2017 Reconciliation - The Love of Christ Compels Us (2 Cor 5: 14-20)
(Material from Germany – Preparatory meeting held in Wittenberg, Germany)
Source: Vatican - "Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2017", Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/weeks-prayer-doc/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20160531_week-prayer-2017_en.html
Reformed Churches assent to Doctrine of Justification
“A new phase of friendship and cooperation, said Pope Francis, on welcoming the adherence of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) to the ecumenical consensus on the Doctrine of Justification, on July 5, 2017 at Wittenberg in Germany, where Luther’s Reformation began in 1517.
...
Monsignor Brian Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, represented the Catholic Church at the signing. He read a message of Pope Francis who welcomed it as “an eloquent sign of our commitment to continue together, as brothers and sisters in Christ, on the path from conflict to communion, from division to reconciliation.”
Source: Pope Francis - Quoted by Anne Kurian in "Pope Welcomes Adherence of the Reformed Churches to the Declaration on Justification", Zenit, 14 July 2017, https://zenit.org/articles/pope-welcomes-adherence-of-the-reformed-churches-to-the-declaration-on-justification/
Terry Mitchell
Went to a small gathering of couples tonight .. . By happenstance, we listed to a speaker talk about divisiveness, hate, bigotry, racism, political slandering . . . And often people use "selected" rules and viewpoints to support their position . . . Everyone looks for a loophole through which their behavior is condoned and justified . . .
In reality, we are simply called to love one another. Not love one another if they are this or that, or believe this or that, or have this style of behavior or that . . . It is not a wish, but a command. The command is simply "love one another". No conditions. No loopholes.
And then ask yourself today and every day, "What does love require of me?"
It was convicting, yet freeing. If we simply "love one another" unconditionally, so many issues just go away.
Love one another. I will try to do just that.
Source: Terry Mitchell - Posted on FB 10 Nov 2016
I am willing to ... (but I long for ...)
Because of Christ, I am willing to be part of a body that constantly underestimates the ongoing impact of racism. Because of Jesus, I am willing to associate with believers who outright deny systemic and institutional forms of inequality based on race. Because of our unity in the Spirit, I am willing to fellowship with believers who rebuke me for my honesty, and accuse me of sowing division because I speak of difficult subjects. I am still here. Bear with me if I sometimes long to worship with people who share not only my theology, but my pain as well.
Source: Jemar Tisby - "Trump's Election and Feeling 'Safe' in White Evangelical Churches", Reformed African American Network, 18 Nov 2016, https://www.raanetwork.org/trumps-election-feeling-safe-white-evangelical-churches/
An Orthodox Interested in a Roman Catholic
A friend who thinks of the Roman Catholic Church as the oldest form of Protestantism recently asked, “Why should an Orthodox Christian be interested in Dan Berrigan?” He was slightly scandalized that I, a member of the Orthodox Church since 1988, had written a biography of this often-jailed Jesuit priest, At Play in the Lions’ Den.
The core of my answer is that every Christian, no matter what church or communion or sect he belongs to, should interest us to the extent that he or she has lived a Christ-shaped, Christ-revealing life. While no community of Christians has been more attentive to preserving the theology and liturgy of the first millennium as the Orthodox Church, we don’t have a monopoly on sanctity. Christ did not say it was by our excellent theology that his followers would be known, but by their fruits. All sanctity deserves our interest—our divisions should not blind us to holiness on the other side of our ecclesiastical borders. As I recall, it was Metropolitan Platon of Kiev who, in the 19th century, remarked: “The walls we build on earth do not reach to heaven.”
Source: Jim Forest - "Father Daniel Berrigan, SJ: Why Should an Orthodox Christian be Interested in Him?", Orthdoxy In Dialogue, 12 Dec 2017
https://orthodoxyindialogue.com/2017/12/12/father-daniel-berrigan-sj-why-should-an-orthodox-christian-be-interested-in-him-by-jim-forest/
Quite a sight!
A fire engulfed Sts. Mary & James Church in Guthrie, Ky., on February 10, 2015.
...
The Catholic community would have been “homeless,” but when the church burned down, the congregation was able to lean on longstanding relationships of goodwill with other churches—which Father Frank Ruff, and other Glenmarians before him, helped nurture.
“(Protestant) ministers and Amish people came running during the fire,” explained Anita, a Catholic parishioner. “Before the roof collapsed, everyone from town rescued everything ... It was a sight to see a Baptist minister carrying out a statue of the Blessed Mother.”
Source: Frank Lesko - "After the Fire", Posted 3 Jan 2017 on Glenmary Home Missioners, http://www.glenmary.org/after-the-fire/
We Need the Holy Spirit!
Like Thomas Campbell, we are open to and we seek a better way toward Christian unity and maturity. Whatever that way is, it will not succeed if it is simply another method. As long as humans are involved and have their way, even the best way can end in division. Rather, the help of the Holy Spirit is needed to grant knowledge, wisdom, perspective, humility, and love, all of which are necessary if Christians are to be one.
Source: Keith D. Stanglin - "The Restoration Movement, the Habit of Schism, and a Proposal for Unity", by Dr. Keith D. Stanglin, in Christian Studies, Volume 28, August 2016, http://austingrad.edu/Christian%20Studies/CS%2028/Proposal%20for%20Unity.pdf
Sincere Mistakes
I was never taught to hate Catholics, but to pity them and to fear their errors. I learned a serious concern for truth that to this day I find sadly missing in many Catholic circles. The typical Calvinist anti-Catholic attitude I knew was not so much prejudice, judgment with no concern for evidence, but judgment based on apparent and false evidence: sincere mistakes rather than dishonest rationalizations.
Source: Peter Kreeft - Hauled aboard the Ark, http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm
Lesson in Unity from Galatians
This is a matter that first came home to me when I was doing my PhD work in the book of Galatians. In Galatians 2, Paul severely rebukes Peter because Peter's no longer having meals with Gentiles, he's withdrawn from unity with the Gentiles … and I began to think, what would Paul say to the church today, if he came back and saw the fracturing of the church? And that drove home to me the tragedy of modern Christianity, the disunity of the Church.
Source: Dr. Peter Leithart - Preview of his new book, The End of Protestantism, at https://youtu.be/jUYFftPlfyI
A Sad Separation
Teresa Jodar, 58, who lives in Stockholm but is a native of Valencia, Spain, said she had taken the train from Stockholm to Malmo in the morning to bear witness.
“This is a historic event,” she said. “I am a Catholic. We are not celebrating the Reformation. That was a sad separation. But we are celebrating taking a step closer. It is wonderful that we can work together instead of thinking about all of the differences that separate us.”
Source: Teresa Jodar - As quoted by Christina Anderson, New York Times, "Pope Francis, in Sweden, Urges Catholic-Lutheran Reconciliation", 31 Oct 2016, http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/world/europe/pope-francis-in-sweden-urges-catholic-lutheran-reconciliation.html
A Welsh reconciler in Rwanda
Story of Rhiannon Lloyd, Welsh reconciler in Rwanda:
Finally Rhiannon tells them a personal story. "I come from a nation where two tribes have hurt each other," she says. "One day I was in a prayer meeting when an English Christian knelt at my feet. 'We have often made the Welsh our servants,' she said. 'Please forgive us.' And she proceeded to wash my feet. A deep healing took place in my heart that day because of the humility of one person who chose to identify with the sins of her people against my people." Rhiannon's simple story contains a key ... Each believer must take up the cross and apply it to their own identity. Even now God is looking for people like Rhiannon's humble English friend. He's looking for those who will express the humility of Christ and bring healing to the nations.
Source: John Dawson - What Christians Should Know About Reconciliation, p. 8
Justin Martyr - Just As Relevant Today!
We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country. Now, because of Christ, we live familiarly with such people and pray for our enemies.
Source: St. Justin Martyr - In his letter to the emperor defending the validity of Christianity, as quoted by Lee McLeod and re-posted by Costly Love on Facebook, 17 August 2017
What Unites > What Divides
I am convinced that some Christians, and a growing number of congregations, are experiencing something previously unknown in American church history: Catholics and Protestants are learning to interact with one another in gracious ways. They are forming friendships not possible before. Even within the Eastern Orthodox Church, a church that very few Americans understand, similar relationships are forming, though on a vastly smaller scale. Thus there are people in all three of the great Christian traditions who are actually learning how to love one another. They are finding out that what unites them is greater than what divides them. I believe this has to be the work of God's Spirit.
Source: John Armstrong - Your Church is Too Small, p. 23
Huge Changes
We are not denying that significant, even huge, differences remain between Evangelicals and Catholics. We are simply saying that in the midst of these huge differences, equally huge changes have occurred which have changed the landscape and which have widened the range of strategies available to the Evangelical missionary eager to introduce his message to the Catholic world.
Source: Paul Miller - "Evangelicals Cooperatively Evangelising & Discipling with Catholics in Faithfulness to Evangelical Distinctives", by Paul Miller
Where is the Lack of Unity Felt Heaviest?
Briefing reporters at the Vatican, the Rev. Martin Junge, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, said the question of sharing the Eucharistic table — or interfaith communion — is of prime importance.
"I really hope the joint commemoration gives us a strong encouragement to be faster, to be bolder and to be more creative," said Junge, "and with a very strong focus on where people feel lack of unity the heaviest, around the table."
Source: Rev. Martin Junge - As quoted on National Public Radio, 28 Oct 2016, "The Pope Commemorates The Reformation That Split Western Christianity", http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/10/28/499587801/pope-francis-reaches-out-to-honor-the-man-who-splintered-christianity
Steps of Humility
The history of conflict and mutual alienation [Catholic-Protestant] has caused a breakdown of trust, so that Catholic initiatives for unity, and particularly papal initiatives, are widely suspected of being cunning devices to restore Roman domination. In this situation the only Catholic initiatives that initially stand a chance of success are steps of humility that demonstrate that the age-old fears no longer have any foundation.
Source: Fr. Peter Hocken - Pentecost and Parousia, Peter Hocken - p. 100