Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Georgia (US)

Beginning in 1908, Christians have observed an annual time to pray for the ultimate gift of full unity. The observance began in New York with Episcopalians and Catholics and has since developed into a worldwide octave of Prayer for Christian Unity. The octave concludes with the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25. This year, I shared in the ecumenical prayer service at Emory University on Jan. 24 and joined my voice with those Christians of other denominations asking the Lord to heal our divisions and in His grace and time to unite us more perfectly in Christ Jesus.

I hope that many such opportunities for ecumenical prayer and fellowship will connect the communities of the Archdiocese of Atlanta with our Christian neighbors and friends. We have recently made great progress in learning how to care for one another with greater mutual respect and affection.



Source: Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory  -  The Georgia Bulletin, "The love of Christ compels us to reconcile", 26 Jan 2017, https://georgiabulletin.org/commentary/2017/01/love-christ-compels-us-reconcile/ (ALSO IN SPANISH at https://georgiabulletin.org/commentary/2017/01/el-amor-de-cristo-nos-apremia-reconciliarnos/?lang=es)

An example of "ecumenism of blood"

It all began with the case of the missing pastor.
On the morning of 13 February, Raymond Koh was exiting a highway in the leafy suburb of Kelana Jaya just outside of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
A widely circulated CCTV clip appears to show what happened next. A convoy of black SUVs and motorcycles is seen swooping down on his car and boxing it in by the side of the road.
Then, several men jump out and run to Mr Koh. There is a flurry of activity, and the convoy moves off - along with his car. It is allegedly the last time anyone sees him.
...
The heads of Malaysia's Methodist, Anglican and Roman Catholic churches attended a prayer service for Mr Koh last week.

Source: BBC  -  "A missing pastor and the disappearances chilling Malaysia", Tessa Wong, BBC News, 12 April 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39252139

A Catholic Honors His Evangelical Heritage

Fundamentally, says Kreeft, an Evangelical is faced with the choice of trading one fullness for another, and that’s the dichotomy that we, as Catholics, must erase.
As an Evangelical Protestant convert to Catholic myself, I’ve been profoundly attracted to the idea of receiving the fullness of Christ in the Catholic Church: being able to receive Christ in the Eucharist, being able to receive more of a more of God’s graces through the sacraments, and reconnecting to the ancient Christian Church.
But, it’s a significant trade-off to leave the Evangelical world and become a Catholic.
To give up an enriching Evangelical community of fellowship, worship, and prayer.
Many parishes are sleepy: their worship music drones on with no one in particular joining in, their priest’s homilies are trite and without thread of a theme, their programming for families (something as basic as Sunday School) is largely absent, and they don’t feel like communities (everyone keeps their coats on and has a foot out the door by the end of Communion).
This is what Kreeft means by trading one fullness for another.

Source: K. Albert Little  -  The Cordial Catholic on Patheos, 26 April 2016, "The Catholic Church Must Become More Protestant", http://www.patheos.com/blogs/albertlittle/the-catholic-church-must-become-more-protestant/

Martin Bucer

These efforts came to a culmination in the 1541 Imperial Diet at Regensburg (Ratisbon). Henry VIII sent Bishop Stephen Gadiner of Winchester, Rome sent the irenic Cardinal Contarini. MacCulloch writes, “When introduced to Bucer, [Contarini] observed, ‘How great will be the fruit of unity, and how profound the gratitude of all mankind’. Bucer replied equally graciously: ‘Both sides have failed. Some of us have overemphasized unimportant points, and others have not adequately reformed obvious abuses. With God’s will we shall ultimately find the truth.'”

Not everyone wanted Regensburg to succeed: “some of the Emperor’s own princes were not anxious to see the Habsburg family’s problems solved, even less so the King of France, who would have been a necessary party to any final agreement.” But the politicians weren't the cause of the failure; the theologians were: “Contarini could not give ground on the eucharistic doctrine of transubstantiation; the Protestants were not prepared to say that confession to a priest was necessary. Their measure of agreement on justification in the Regensburg Book was therefore irrelevant. Then messages from both Rome and Luther in Wittenberg made it quite clear that even that would not be accepted.”

Source: Martin Bucer  -  Martin Bucer, Regensburg Diet, 1541, as quoted by Diarmaid MacCulloch in "Europe's House Divided", as quoted by Peter Leithart, "Ecumenism in the Sixteenth Century", First Things, 6 Feb 2017, https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/leithart/2017/02/ecumenism-in-the-sixteenth-century

Racism in Healthcare

I have worked in healthcare for most of my adult life. I have witnessed countless examples of racism* and in some instances, participated, believing my non-racist intentions to exempt me from culpability. In moments of witnessed racism, I have sat in silence, almost without fail. It is clear to me now that silence in the face of racism is more than “just a sin of omission”; it is ultimately an act of violence against my neighbor. For these and all my sins I repent, and in doing so resolve to do right by my neighbors of color and all those who are oppressed and seeking justice.

*We know that racism in healthcare has devastating effects on communities of color. We only need to look at the maternal death rates for African American women for a concrete example of this. I have heard from several of my patients, particularly black women, that healthcare workers tend to not believe their medical complaints. I had one patient of color who, in order for her medical complaints to be believed by healthcare workers, she had a prepared folder with all of her healthcare records, notes from past doctors attesting that she was educated enough about her condition to make educated requests for treatment, and statistics showing the rate at which people of color are treated effectively for the same conditions as white people to show that she had done her homework and wasn’t going to be dismissed easily. I have heard coworkers describe patients and patient’s family members as “acting ghetto” in defense of their talking badly about that patient/family and blatant rudeness to the patient and their family. I have heard (a lot of) nurses talk about how wrong it is that some people (usually in reference to a patient of color) keep reproducing when there are so many others out there (usually the white friends of said nurses) who would make such good parents aren’t able to conceive. I have seen, and participated in, games of “guess the race” where you try to identify the race of a soon-to-be patient before seeing them based on their name. I have heard countless complaints of abuse of the system when people without insurance (an issue which disproportionately affects POC) use the ER as a primary source of healthcare, without a thought given to how it’s more likely that these patients are the victims of a system of abuse. These are only a few specific examples of racism I have seen in my workplace. It is easy enough for us to say we treat all of our patients with the same level of care, but when we acknowledge that so much racially influenced disrespect and judgment is happening behind the scenes, it becomes easy to see why we our success rates in treating POC for the same conditions as white people tend to be so much lower and we cannot dissociate our own prejudices and judgements with the physical harm of poor outcomes of persons of color. We are not innocent. We have failed as advocates.

Source: P. Sullivan  -  Posted on FB 3 June 2020

J.I. Packer

Across the years, Packer has been involved in theological conversations with Orthodox believers, Roman Catholics, charismatic Christians, as well as mainline Protestants. In each of these encounters, he has promoted a vigorous biblical and spiritual theology, in keeping with the Great Tradition. Packer has been ever mindful of the maxim of Richard Baxter, on whom he wrote his Oxford doctoral dissertation:
in necessariis Unitas,
in non-necessariis Libertas,
in utrisque Caritas.
Despite his charitable spirit and his desire to foster a unitive, irenic evangelicalism, Packer has not been able to avoid controversy. Nowhere have the reactions been more volatile than in the response to Packer’s participation in Evangelicals and Catholics Together. Like his friend Charles Colson, Packer became a major target of the initial evangelical protest against ECT.

Source: Timothy George  -  "Packer at Ninety", First Things, October 2016, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/10/packer-at-ninety

~8 years ago ...

I dream of several changes that might flow out of this:


I hope this would lead our churches into a similar process of listening deeply to God, the Holy Scriptures, and one another, more intensely than to the political echo chambers that form many of our views.
I would hope public Christian leaders would sit down with those who differ greatly to practice these steps and model them for others. Imagine if Franklin Graham, from Samaritan’s Purse, and Jim Wallis from Sojourners met each other as believers and modeled this effort toward coming to a common mind and communion of heart.
I dream of the day when Christians, instead of aligning with one political party or another, would line up together to advocate for public policies that reflect the whole of the counsels of the Bible and challenge both parties to end the either-or approaches that characterize so much of our politics that set our people against each other.


Source: Robert C Trube  -  rtrube54, "The Scandal of the Church in America: Part Two", Bob on Books, 14 Feb 2017, https://bobonbooks.com/2017/02/14/the-scandal-of-the-church-in-america-part-two/

Taizé

In our city and our region, there are people who also love Christ, but in a different way than we do. Calling ourselves “Christians” means bearing the name of Christ. We receive our identity as Christians through baptism, which unites us to Christ. Let us try to give more visibility to this common identity, instead of emphasizing our denominational identities.

Source: Taizé  -  As quoted on FB by John 17 Movement, 2 Dec 2016

A Gringo Asks Forgiveness

Two years ago today, Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez, a beautiful young 20 year old indigenous Maya-Mam woman from near Xela, was shot in the head and killed by a Border Patrol agent in Rio Bravo, Texas. She had made the long, dangerous trek towards the US in search of hope for her future. Tragically, she never made it to her destination.
I felt led to attend her wake at the family home about an hour from us in an all Mam village. It was a life-transforming experience. Seeing her lifeless body in an all-white casket, surrounded by her family and loved ones was heart-breaking. I was the only ‘gringo’ present, and was able to express my own indignation (and that of so many others) at the cruel, criminal, and inexcusable action of another white man like me. God allowed me (it’s quite a story) to ask forgiveness on behalf of my country for its dehumanizing anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric, which no doubt allowed that officer to feel justified in pulling the trigger on a petite and defenseless Guatemalan woman.
…
I am grateful for the beautiful unmerited seed of friendship with Claudia’s parents (Gil and Lidia). A situation that could have gone in an entirely different direction ended up with a sacred invitation last year to attend Claudia’s anniversary Mass in their home.

Source: Nate Bacon  -  Posted on FB 24 May 2020

Reckoning with Our Country's Original Sin

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

One Sign of Unity

Do we need energizing reminders in these turbulent times that this call to unity, this vocation, is more real and needed than ever? Yes, we do. And the signs are there that the Holy Spirit is alive and active, lighting the fire in our hearts for more visible communion with one another as followers of Jesus.

Such signs were manifest in Boston during the January 18-25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. There was a prayer gathering in a different denominational church each night of the week. On the opening evening, Wednesday, Christians from around the city gathered in an Evangelical church. On Thursday evening, people came together in an Eastern Orthodox church. And on Friday evening there was an energizing service of song and prayer in a Pentecostal church.

Source: Thomas Ryan, CSP  -  "Keep the Fire Burning", Paulist Fathers blog post, 6 February 2017, http://www.paulist.org/the-conversation/keep-the-fire-burning/

Largest US Lynching

The largest mass lynching in US history killed 11 Italians in New Orleans in 1891. And now an Italian-American group says [New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell] is set to offer a first-ever apology to Italian-Americans for the city's role in the lawless murders.
…
Mike Santo, who serves as special counsel for the commission, said he'd become aware of the lynching a few years ago, realizing how the 1891 lynching was a "longstanding wound" for the Italian-American community.
He said the commission got in touch with the mayor, who was amenable to the proposal, and his group has been coordinating for weeks with a liaison in the mayor's office to get the proclamation written.
He praised Cantrell, calling her the "right woman at the right time" to step up and acknowledge a darker aspect of her city's history.
"It takes a lot of nerve to do that," Santo said. "People want to see that, especially today."
He said he personally felt the pending proclamation was "refreshing." On behalf of Italian-Americans more broadly, he said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Source: Ryan Prior  -  "128 years later, New Orleans is apologizing for lynching 11 Italians", CNN, 1 April 2019
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/01/us/new-orleans-mayor-apologizes-italian-americans-trnd/index.html

My Biggest Problem is NOT Demons

It is my own testimony that the victories of my life have always come in the midst of repentance and confession … My biggest problem is not demons.  I am my biggest problem.  It is only when God has cleansed my own wicked heart that participation in the redeeming work of intercession/reconciliation becomes possible.  It is then that the power to change history is released through prayers.

Source: John Dawson  -  What Every Christian Should Know About Reconciliation, p. 23

Tolkien (Catholic) & Lewis (Anglican)

Can Protestants and Catholics work together? The world would be very different today if we couldn’t.
...
Thus it is that without the Roman Catholic J.R.R. Tolkien we never (humanly speaking) would have had the Anglican C.S. Lewis.

Source: Tom Gilson  -  "Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: Catholic and Protestant Changing History Together", The Stream, 4 March 2017, https://stream.org/tolkien-cs-lewis-catholic-protestant-together/

"The Thunderclap from Wittenberg"

Next Monday we pick up the thread again in Augsburg, where Luther was first summoned to give account to Cardinal Cajetan. We visit St Anne’s Church where Luther stayed, and where more recently, in 1999, the dialogue between the Vatican and the Lutheran Church produced the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ).

This declaration revealed a major change of heart on behalf of the Catholic Church. On the basis of this declaration, Pope Benedict XIV, who–as Cardinal Ratzinger–was personally involved in the dialogue with the Lutherans, declared in St Peter’s Square in 2006 that Luther had been right about the doctrine of justification.

Which interestingly brings us back to Luther’s first thesis: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Matthew 4:17), he intended the entire life of believers to be repentance.”

At stake for Luther was the meaning of repentance. Did the Latin phrase Poenitentiam agite mean ‘to do penance’ as an external penitential action, or ‘to repent’ as an inner heart change? Repentance, he concluded, meant a change of heart, a lifestyle of heart-change.

This insight, prompted by reading Erasmus’ Latin translation newly published in 1516, triggered a 500-year argument which at last has been resolved through both sides adopting a change-of-heart attitude.

Other significant differences still remain, involving the ordination of women and the sacraments. But if we would all take our cue from Luther’s first thesis, adopting a lifestyle of heart-change, this commemoration year could be one of great mutual discovery.

Source: Jeff Fountain  -  "The Thunderclap from Wittenberg", Weekly Word eNewsletter, 3 July 2017, https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15d07442002018f4

Anglicans & Catholics

In the course of these two centuries, much has also changed between Anglicans and Catholics, who in the past viewed each other with suspicion and hostility.  Today, with gratitude to God, we recognize one another as we truly are: brothers and sisters in Christ, through our common baptism.  As friends and pilgrims we wish to walk the path together, to follow our Lord Jesus Christ together.

Source: Pope Francis  -  Address to the Anglican Parish of All Saints in Rome, as reported by Vatican Radio, 26 Feb 2017, http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/02/26/pope_catholics_and_anglicans,_brothers_and_sisters_in_chris/1295193

Forgiveness in Marriage

I often think about how our marriage might have turned out if we hadn't learned to forgive each other on a daily basis right from the start.  So many couples sleep in the same bed and share the same house but remain miles apart inwardly, because they have built up a wall of resentment between themselves.  The bricks in this wall may be very small - a forgotten anniversary, a misunderstanding, a business meeting that took precedence over a long-awaited family outing.

Source: Johann Christoph Arnold  -  Why Forgive?, pp.122