The Bishop of Malta

Why did the Bishop of Gozo make this gesture?  Here are a few thoughts: 

1) Jesus prayed to the Father that Christians would be one in him and the Father is answering this prayer.  (John 17)

2) There is a rising tide of Christians from all traditions whose passion is to offer themselves to see this prayer of Jesus become a growing reality in our day.

3) The Holy Spirit is breaking down barriers and opening up unimaginable possibilities. 

4) This Bishop is simply following the example of Pope Francis.

Source: Ryan Thurman  -  "Signs of Hope:  A Lenten Surprise", A2J Blog post on 2 March 2017, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/signs-of-hope-a-lenten-surprise

Patty's Story

When I was a teenager I displayed my history and theology geekery to its fullest during Halloween.  As everyone walked around in various levels of dazed sugar highs and dressed as alter egos, I would proclaim to anyone interested or listening, “Happy Reformation Day!”

It was on October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.  This simple act done by a Catholic monk and theologian was a pivotal act in history that sparked the Protestant Reformation.  2017 marks the 500-year anniversary of this event.

It was significant to me as a youth because I had undergone a reformation of my own.  Against all odds as a Thai American, I grew up in a family of Christian faith.  It’s estimated that there are only 300,000 Thai Catholics worldwide.  Thailand is a Buddhist country and less than 5% of its population counts itself as something other than Buddhist.  Thanks to French missionaries that came to Thailand in the 1700s, I count it a privilege that my family has worshipped at St. Xavier Parish in the heart of Bangkok for generations.  I also need to thank my tenacious maternal grandmother who had the forethought to ensure one condition in my parents’ informal prenup - all of their children were to be raised Catholic.

 I’m also a member of a living community of people who have had a sublime, metaphysical, faith experience.  In some cultures, people refer to this as being “born again”.  Whatever those connotations, I can at least affirm that it was a life-changing experience for me.  In fact, it happened to me while I was in junior high. Since I attended a school that was grades 7-12, when I graduated, I was voted “most philosophical” as well as “most changed.”  It’s a memory that is real, and deeply personal.  It changed me then, and continues to shape who I am now.

​For example, I love science fiction. I often think that I find this genre appealing because the idea of an alternate reality or a portal to another world isn’t so far-fetched to me.  Even though I’m an intelligent, rational person, I touched, saw, and experienced something other. Not only do I believe in a God, I believe God is good and mysteriously powerful enough to care about me personally and still manage to handle the weight of the world. 

It was after this experience that my faith and worldview began to expand beyond my Catholic upbringing.  After meeting God in such a visceral way, I had an unquenchable thirst to know more about the God that I’d met.  My family went through a lot of grief as they watched me go through a “rebellious” stage as I began to question things at the parish I attended, at my Confirmation classes, and in my family.  I went through a vitriolic apostasy phase.  At age thirteen I found myself sitting in the reference section of the city library reading extremely large, bound, hard copies of the Encyclopedia of Religion.  I am thankful to many friends who invited me to different churches and youth groups of various non-denominational and mainline Protestant churches.  That was my first experience with non-Catholic Christians and it felt foreign.  It was in that environment of welcome while feeling a sense of alienation that I had an epiphany about a fundamental aspect of my Christian faith - I could own it.  What did this Thai American have in common with Latin and German speaking, white, male monks like Luther or Augustine?  Same God, same faith, same family, same tradition.  I could own it like I owned my family tree. 

Through providential circumstances I also attended a small evangelical Christian college in the Midwest.  I was culture shocked in more ways than one.  As a native Southern Californian, I learned the definitions of the words “cold” and “autumn”.  I learned that “15 miles from downtown” meant something completely different in the Midwest than it did in LA.  I learned that evangelical Christian culture is a world of its own and also imperfect.  As I entered a new phase of apostasy with evangelical Christianity, I found myself making peace with my Catholic tradition.  In an evangelical environment that I wanted to disown, I found myself taking refuge in Catholic liturgy that spoke to the inexpressible mysteries of faith in my heart.   After much heartache and wrestling, I eventually made peace with my faith “families” both Catholic and Protestant.

The problem with this is that I feel like the child of divorced parents.  Along with my personal journey, my love of history makes me aware of centuries of bad blood between Catholics and Protestants, Protestants and Protestants, Christians and Jews . . . The list goes on.  I can’t disassociate myself from these traditions because I’ve been adopted into this family, and even if it’s not my fault that there are skeletons in the closet as well as skeletons paraded around public discourse, it’s my family and so I own it and take responsibility for it.  And when I examine my own life, I know that I’ve been guilty of closing the door to keep those skeletons from view.

This makes me all the more grateful to be here in this time and place.  Today, I write this from a hotel in Berlin, Germany.  I have the privilege and honor of serving on the Board for Wittenberg 2017, a movement dedicated to reconciliation through prayer, repentance and unity.  Rather than culminating in 2017, the goal is to be a springboard for healing and unity as we gather an international and ecumenical group comprised especially of Catholics, Protestants and Messianic Jews.

While there is a vast amount of diversity within the Church community, most everything that divided us in 1517 doctrinally is no longer an issue.  Yet the Church today faces a new set of issues.  It is still seen as fragmented rather than diverse, scandalized rather than transforming, hurtful rather than healing.

As we approach 2017 we are truly in a kairos moment.  In Greek, “kairos” refers to a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens.  Growing up, preachers referred to pregnant women about to give birth as a kairos moment.  Another example can be found in physics.  This morning I read an article about the physics lab in Cern, Switzerland.  Regarding the results of the Higgs mass measurement, there are scientists who believe that our state of the universe is at its least stable. That we are on the verge of a “phase change.”  The article made the analogy to “supercooled water poised to freeze or superheated water on the point of boiling.” Like the pregnant woman analogy, one minute you’re pregnant and the next minute you’re not.  That’s a kairos moment phase change.

What phase change will the Church undergo post-2017? That is a question I find myself dreaming about and imagining almost daily.

Source: Wittenberg 2017  -  "Patty's Story", from the Wittenberg 2017 (US) website
http://www.wittenberg2017.us/pattys-story.html

A Reformed Theologian Honoring ... a Catholic Bishop

I want to share a simple story of friendship this month. One of my greatest joys in my work of ecumenism has been the deep and abiding friendships I have been afforded. One of my real friends is the well-known Catholic teacher and evangelist Bishop Robert Barron. If you do not know the ministry of Word of Fire I heartily urge you to tap into their many resources. Yes, it is Catholic. But it is a Christian ministry that exalts the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel. Every Christian will benefit if you are humble and teachable.

I first heard Bishop Barron on Chicago radio about fifteen years ago. As I drove to preach at a church about twenty minutes from home each Sunday I listened to Fr. Barron. I was delighted by his Christ-exalting  exposition of the Gospel text for the day. He almost always spoke directly to both my heart and mind. Later, I met Fr. Barron and a friendship developed. Fr. Barron and I have done presentations in many diverse settings, including Catholic and Protestant audiences. I have never shared a pubic meeting with him without being more determined to love Christ better. He once told me I was a Barnabas. I am not sure that is true but it gave me grace to continue in the work of teaching and encouragement.

Source: John Armstrong  -  November 2020 Friends Letter, 4 Nov 2020
https://mailchi.mp/f0592e0aa9ae/november-2020-friends-letter?e=4c0e810bbb

A Catholic Recognition of the Pope's Prayer Answered In ... a Protestant Church

On January 1, 1901, Pope Leo XIII prayed to the Holy Spirit. He sang the Veni Creator Spiritus by the Holy Spirit window in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. That same day, in Topeka, Kansas, at the Bethel College and Bible School, the Holy Spirit came upon a group of Protestants who had been praying to receive the Holy Spirit as the early Church did in Acts chapter two. Agnes Ozman prayed in tongues, and people began to welcome the Holy Spirit to work in them as in the early Church with healings, miracles, deliverance, and power to effectively evangelize and help people convert to Jesus Christ. This beginning of the charismatic renewal highlights its ecumenical nature that continues to be experienced over 100 years later. The commonly shared experience of being filled with passion and love for God has been a major way that the charismatic renewal helps bring Catholics and Protestants together to build relationships and learn to recognize many common areas of Christian living.

Source: Catholic Diocese of Arlington  -  "Our History" page, http://www.arlingtonrenewal.org/about.html

The Lutheran Church Repenting For ... the Lutheran Church

Norway's state Lutheran Church has condemned the anti-Jewish legacy of Martin Luther, the 16th century German theologian who started the Protestant Reformation.
 
In a statement issued Friday ahead of next year's 500-year anniversary of the Reformation, the Church of Norway's General Synod said some of Luther's writings were later used in anti-Semitic propaganda, including in Nazi Germany.
 
Noting that such propaganda was also spread in Nazi-occupied Norway during World War II, the synod said that "in the Reformation anniversary year of 2017, we as a church must clearly distance ourselves from the anti-Judaism that Luther left behind."

Source: Norway's state Lutheran Church  -  As quoted in "Norwegian church denounces Luther's anti-Jewish writings", YNET news, 25 Nov 2016, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4884355,00.html

Gozo, Malta

Yesterday, during the Ash Wednesday service in the Anglican church here in Gozo, we were all surprised, including the priest, to find out that the Catholic Bishop of Gozo had written a letter to us, and sent his secretary to read it on his behalf.  In this letter the Bishop shared with us that during this season of Lent he was calling on all the Catholic churches in Gozo to take up a special Lenten offering that would go to the Anglican church to help with the very costly and necessary renovations of St. Paul's Church in Valletta where the Anglican church has been worshipping for 175 years.  Can you imagine this?  How did this happen when Catholics and Anglicans have such a painful past, each having deeply wronged the other and both historically viewing the other “with suspicion and hostility,” 

Source: Ryan Thurman  -  "Signs of Hope:  A Lenten Surprise", A2J Blog post on 2 March 2017, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/signs-of-hope-a-lenten-surprise

Fr. Peter Hocken

One area which Rome for a long time did not recognize was the charismatic work for Christian unity, according to Fr. Peter Hocken, an English priest long involved in the CCR.
The Renewal was born ecumenical - the fruit of Catholics being prayed over by Pentecostals - and from the start went beyond the conventional theological dialogue model that came out of the Second Vatican Council.
Hocken calls this extra element “charismatic ecumenism,” because it involves discerning the action of the Holy Spirit in - and recognizing the gifts poured out by the Spirit on - other denominations. One of its “striking hallmarks,” he says, is “the radical equality of all those baptized in the Holy Spirit,” one that “requires a new formulation of our convictions.”

Source: Austen Ivereigh  -  "Jubilee in Rome highlights charismatic fruits in Francis’s Pentecost papacy", Crux, 3 June 2017, https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/06/03/jubilee-rome-highlights-charismatic-fruits-franciss-pentecost-papacy/

St. Ephrem the Syriac

The lessons scripture taught were simple and clear. God did not play favorites. His love was bigger than all the controversies people invented to divide and destroy: “Our Lord,” Ephrem reminded anyone who would listen, “spoke gently to teach his followers the power of gentle words.”

Source: Joseph P. Amar  -  St. Ephrem the Syrian – “Harp of the Holy Spirit”, The Maronite Voice, 21 June 2019
https://www.maronitevoice.org/articles/2019/6/21/st-ephrem-the-syrian-harp-of-the-holy-spirit

Andrew

Andrew later told me that everything in him resisted making such a confession. He feared he would lose the respect of the congregation and destroy his credibility as a pastor and preacher. But as he had prayed about it, several Scripture passages had come to mind and moved him to go against his feelings and do what he knew was right.

Of course his confession had exactly the opposite effect from what he feared. Instead of diminishing his congregation’s respect for him, his humble obedience to God catapulted him to a new level of credibility and trust in the eyes of the people God had called him to serve. In fact, years later when visitors asked what kind of pastor he was, his people would often describe this incident as an example of his character.

Once again, Jesus made good on his promise: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).

May God help each of us to remember Andrew’s example the next time we’re tempted to conceal, deny or minimize our own sin, and to trust God’s promise to bless those who humble themselves under his mighty hand.

Source: Unknown

Fr. Symonds

Father Symonds was to be the first Catholic priest to give a sermon at Ballymena’s Methodist church for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan. 18-25.

“I love working here,” he said. “I’ve made great friendships, both within my own congregation and within the Protestant communities. Members of the Presbyterian Church have been particularly supportive of my ministry. I am convinced that I am doing what God has wanted me to do.”

Source: Catholic Review  -  "English priest receives awards for work in Northern Ireland", 5 Jan 2008, http://www.catholicreview.org/article/faith/vocations/english-priest-receives-award-for-work-in-northern-ireland

Concrete Expressions of Repentance

From a story of revival in Möttlingen in 1844, with Johann Christoph Blumhardt:

In Möttlingen there was little of the emotionalism of most religious revivals - no exaggerated proclamations of wickedness or public avowals of repentance.  What happened there was too quiet and sober for that.  Pierced to the heart, people from all walks of life were suddenly able to see themselves in all of their shabbiness, and felt compelled from within to break out of old ways. Most significant, this movement went beyond words and emotions and produced concrete expressions of repentance and forgiveness.  Stolen goods were returned; enemies were reconciled; infidelities were confessed and broken marriages restored.  Crimes, including a case of infanticide, were solved.  Even town drunks were affected, and stayed away from the tavern.


Source: Johann Christoph Arnold  -  Why Forgive?, pp.172-173

Chip Gaines

Our family wants to fight for a world that knows how to lovingly disagree. We believe it starts when we operate from a position of love in all things. If your position only extends love to the people who agree with you, we want to respectfully challenge that position. We propose operating with a love so real and true that you are willing to roll up your sleeves and work alongside the very people that are most unlike you. Fear dissolves in close proximity. Our stereotypes and vain imaginations fall away when we labor side by side. This is how a house gets unified.

Source: Chip Gaines  -  "Chip's New Year's Revelation", Magnolia Market, 2 Jan 2017, https://magnoliamarket.com/chips-new-years-revelation/

Buzz Leonard

It reminds me that we can learn from one another if we don’t condemn a person based on their opinions. For example, I know these two guys who are great friends. One is a Calvinist, the other an Arminian. They’ve been friends for 20+ years. The one thing I’ve noticed is that they really enjoy learning why the other has come to form their belief. They’ll agree to disagree without demonizing the other friend. Civility does that... Love does that. Guys, Stay the Course!!!

Source: Buzz Leonard  -  Posted on FB, 7 Feb 2020

Catherine of Siena

620 years ago, April 29 1380, CATHERINE of Siena died. In 1970 she was made a Doctor of the Church, an uncommonly bestowed title for a woman. What many do not know is that she was a major ECUMENICAL figure in the 14th century, authoring hundreds of letters appealing for UNITY in the church. Her appeals were addressed to Pope, bishops, and civic leaders. She did not suffer fools gladly, calling out the chicanery of manipulative political and financial schemes among church authorities. We should celebrate her today, and pray that women like her be raised up in our time to lead in a church caught in the grip of its own institutional dysfunction, not least in the arena of women's roles. St Catherine, pray for us!

Source: Ut Unum Sint (Facebook Group)  -  Posted on the Ut Unum Sint Facebook page, 29 April 2020

Grief for a rift

Paul's use of lupeo [Greek word for "to grieve"] in 2 Corinthians suggests that he understands the Corinthians' grief as their regret and mental anxiety for their part in the rift between them and Paul.

Source: Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan  -  "Comfort, O Comfort, Corinth: Grief and Comfort in 2 Corinthians 7:5-13a", Harvard Theological Review, 104:4 (2011), p. 436

From the author of "Killers of the Flower Moon"

So one of the things that you realize when you spend time in Osage county is that the descendants of both the victims and the descendants of the murderers still live there.  They often live down the street from each other.  And one Osage woman told me, "We try not to hold them accountable for what their ancestors did."  Part of that is the story of America, this intertwining and this kind of reckoning with this original sin that is part of our formation as a country.

Source: David Grann  -  David Grann, author of "Killers of the Flower Moon", quoted in "In The 1920s, A Community Conspired To Kill Native Americans For Their Oil Money", Morning Edition, NPR, 17 April 2017, http://www.npr.org/2017/04/17/523964584/in-the-1920s-a-community-conspired-to-kill-native-americans-for-their-oil-money

Max Josef Metzger

Max Josef Metzger
Priest and Martyr (1887–1944)

Max Metzger, who was born in a small German village, was ordained as a priest shortly before the outbreak of World War I. His experience at the front, serving as an army chaplain, inspired a deep revulsion for war and a determination to devote himself to the cause of peace and reconciliation.

After the war he founded the World Congress of Christ the King, a movement dedicated to Christian unity and international peace. He was also an early pioneer in the ecumenical movement, working to promote dialogue between Catholics and Protestants in a movement called Una Sancta.

With the rise of the Nazis, Metzger came into regular conflict with the state. Beginning in January 1934 he was repeatedly arrested, but in each case the Gestapo failed to charge him. Finally, in June 1943, after the interception of secret letters he had written to foreign bishops, he was charged with treason and sentenced to death. He responded with disdain: “I knew there was no shame, only honor, in being declared dishonorable by such a court.”

On April 17, 1944, after spending most of a year in jail, much of it in irons, he was told to prepare himself for death. Kneeling to pray, he said, “Now, Lord Jesus, I come quickly.” He then walked calmly to the guillotine.

“I have offered my life to God for the peace of the world and the unity of the church. If God takes it I will be happy; if He grants me a still longer life I will also be thankful. As God wills!”

Source: Author Unknown  -  Posted by Michael Tessman on Greg Metzger's FB page, 18 Apr 2020

Forgiving their father's killer

Their father's killing was coldly posted on Facebook and shared widely online, but Robert Godwin Sr.'s children say they forgive his killer.

"I honestly can say right now that I hold no animosity in my heart against this man because I know that he's a sick individual," Debbie Godwin told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday night.
"I feel sadness in my heart for him," she said of Steve Stephens, the suspect in the shooting of her 74-year-old father while he was walking home from an Easter meal in Cleveland.

Source: Melissa Mahtani  -  "Cleveland victim's family: We forgive killer", CNN, 18 April 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/18/us/cleveland-victims-family-we-forgive-killer-cnntv/index.html

George Erasmus

George Erasmus, a wise aboriginal leader from the Dene Nation says, “Where common memory is lacking, where people do not share in the same past, there can be no real community. Where community is to be formed, common memory must be created.”

This quote gets to the heart of our nation’s problem with race. As a country, we do not share a common memory. White Americans remember a history of discovery, expansion, exceptionalism and opportunity. And people of color, starting with (but not limited to) Natives and African Americans have the lived history of stolen lands, broken treaties, slavery, Jim Crow laws, ethnic cleansing, boarding schools, internments camps, exclusionary immigration laws, segregation, mass incarceration and racial profiling. There is no common memory, and I think pretty much everyone can agree that the sense of community in this country is markedly low.

Source: George Erasmus  -  (aboriginal leader from the Dene Nation) Quoted by Mark Charles in a blog entry "A Native Perspective on Memorial Day", 2017 June 1, https://wirelesshogan.com/2017/06/01/a-native-perspective-on-memorial-day/