Ordinary Catholics

"It cannot just be Pope Francis who puts action behind the words that Catholics and Lutherans must get closer to each other," said Ewa Siekierski, a Danish Catholic who crossed over from Copenhagen into Sweden to see the pope. "We — ordinary Catholics — must also do (our part) for it to become a reality."

Source: Ewa Siekierski  -  As quoted by Andrew Medichini, Jan M. Olsen & Nicole Winfield of the Associated Press, "Pope on Reformation: Forgive 'errors' of past, forge unity", 31 Oct 2016, https://www.yahoo.com/news/reformer-pope-heads-sweden-mark-luthers-reforms-050227744.html

Pope Francis: Forgive the Errors of the Past

Pope Francis urged Catholics and Lutherans on Monday to forgive the "errors" of the past and forge a future together, including sharing the Eucharist, as he marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation by traveling to secular Sweden with a message of Christian unity.

Francis and the leaders of the Lutheran World Federation presided over an ecumenical prayer service in the Lund cathedral, the first time a pope has commemorated the anniversary of Martin Luther's revolt with such a symbolically powerful gesture.

Francis quoted Luther and praised him for having restored the centrality of Scripture to the church.

"The spiritual experience of Martin Luther challenges us to remember that apart from God, we can do nothing," Francis said.

Source: Andrew Medichini, Jan M. Olsen & Nicole Winfield  -  Associated Press, "Pope on Reformation: Forgive 'errors' of past, forge unity", 31 Oct 2016, https://www.yahoo.com/news/reformer-pope-heads-sweden-mark-luthers-reforms-050227744.html

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/

Catholic: Some Conversions to Evangelical Protestantism Might Be Good

That question did occur to me, but I decided that he had a right to pursue his ministry, and the handful of evangelicals at Catholic universities have a right to be ministered to. Although his organization is not interested in “sheep stealing,” I could certainly foresee that some students who were baptized Catholic might decide to convert to evangelical Protestantism. I think such conversions could, at least in some instances, turn out to be a good thing. And I think John Paul II might agree with me.

Source: Daniel P. Moloney  -  "Evangelicals in the Church of Mary", First Things, December 2000, https://www.firstthings.com/article/2000/12/evangelicals-in-the-church-of-mary

Ted Follows Not Peter

I gave the same kind of advice to Ted. Sadly, his pride clouded his judgment, and he continued trying to vindicate himself in the eyes of his elders and congregation. One defensive argument led to another, and within three months, he was voted out of the church.

Neither of these results is inevitable, but you will always better off if you live out the wisdom of 1 Peter 5:5:

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”


Source: Ken Sande  -  "The Best Way to Rewrite History", EmotionalWisdom360 Blog, 2017 Jan 23, https://rw360.org/2017/01/23/best-way-rewrite-history/

The Aged Apostle John

With so much hatred, confusion, and despair we must keep our heart fixed on God and keep walking with Jesus and let his love pour through us to those God puts in our lives.  I am strengthened by the story of the Apostle John who had lived in Ephesus into his extreme old age, and could hardly be carried to the meetings of the church by the disciples, and when in speaking, he could no longer put together many words, he would not say anything else in the meetings but this: “Little children, love one another!” When at last the disciples and brothers present got tired of hearing the same thing again and again, they said, “Master, why do you keep saying the same thing?” John replied with a saying worthy of him: “Because it is the Lord’s command, and it is enough if it is really done.”

No labor of love is ever in vain and love does indeed win because God is Love.

Source: John the Apostle  -  As quoted by Ryan & Noleen Thurman in their eNewsletter, 29 Nov 2016, http://us11.campaign-archive2.com/?u=2f84e6db2c8ce790e960d7e88&id=56a66dcd7d&e=41a5c4ce00

BBC Calls Church to be Peace-Makers

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster recently, Prof John Brewer of Queen’s University Belfast claimed that the churches have evacuated the public sphere and are not living up to their peace-making responsibilities.

In the wake of events on and following the Twelfth of July, there have been various constructive suggestions about how churches might take on this role from people such as Prof Brewer, Dr Gladys Ganiel of the Irish School of Ecumenics, Methodist President Rev Heather Morris, David Smyth of Evangelical Alliance, Fr Tim Bartlett from the diocese of Down and Connor and Rev Steve Stockman of Fitzroy Presbyterian, to mention a few.

In addition to what they have been saying, I would like to offer these suggestions, keeping in mind that for the churches to lead the way in reconciliation, it will take leadership from clergy and public figures, as well as ‘small steps’ by people at the grassroots.

Source: Fr. Martin Magill  -  As quoted by Gladys Ganiel in "Fr Martin Magill’s Small Steps Towards Reconciliation", an article on her blog Building a Church Without Walls, 2 August 2013, http://www.gladysganiel.com/irish-catholic-church/fr-martin-magills-small-steps-towards-reconciliation/

Pursuing Those Who Cause Pain

Reflection
This section hits home hard for me. I find it easy to close my heart off to those who have hurt me and even more difficult to face the reality that I have hurt others and that my attitudes and actions have directly and indirectly led to division and disunity.   There are conflicts in my past where I have hidden behind the letter of the law, and fallen short of the spirit of law that calls me to follow Jesus to the cross.  Jesus is teaching and helping me to keep my heart open and pursue those who have brought me deep pain and to never lose hope that God can heal and restore in even the most hopeless situation.
 
Action
Ask God to show you a broken relationship in your life that He desires to bring healing and restoration to.  Begin to pray about this asking God to show you what to do.  Trust that He will speak to you and then obey what He asks you to do.  Consider inviting others to pray with you.  Never underestimate the rippling effects of healing and peace that can come from a restored relationship.
 
Prayer
Lord Jesus, who prayed that we might all be one, we pray to you for the unity of Christians according to your will, according to your means. May your Spirit enable us to experience the suffering caused by division, to see and confess our sin and being forgiven and restored prepare us to be bearers of reconciliation wherever you place us.  Amen.
 

Source: A2J Community  -  Apprenticeship to Jesus Community, Phoenix, Blog Post "Unity Week Devotion - Day 4", 21 Jan 2016, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/unity-week-devotion-day-4

Different Histories

A church book discussion about lynchings piqued Wesley Edwards' curiosity in area hate crimes, leading to Austin Callaway. A longtime African-American friend, Bobbie Hart, confessed ignorance to the lynching, prompting them to form the group "Troup Together." Through archival research and interviews, they pieced together parts of Calloway's story.


The "knowledge deficit" is what worries Edwards. If Callaway's lynching remained a mystery all these years, what else don't they know about?


"If white people have one version of history and African-Americans have a different one, then we don't know what we don't know," he said. "We've got to bridge that gap."

Source: Wesley Edwards  -  Quoted in "'Justice failed Austin Callaway': Town attempts to atone for 1940 lynching", Emanuella Grinberg, CNN, 28 Jan 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/26/us/lagrange-georgia-callaway-1940-lynching/index.html

Celebration, Florida

The church is a source for healing and comfort, transformation and peace--especially in times like this. We encourage you to come to our church in the middle of town, or the Celebration Community Church across from the hospital, or Illuminate that meets at the High School or the Catholic Church off Waterside, the 7th Adventist in the hospital or Susan Bubber's Anglican gathering. These great people are full of God’s love and offer the solution to pain and suffering in this world.

Source: Community Presbyterian Church in Celebration, FL  -  Posted on FB, 14 Jan 2020

A South American Pentecostal Describes the Pope

"Mateo Calisi…developed contacts in Argentina with local Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders, with whom a new body was formed; the movement known as CRECES (literally, Renewed Communion of Catholics and Evangelicals in the Holy Spirit). From the beginning, Catholic archbishop of Buenos Aries, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, now Pope Francis, supported CRECES. Cardinal Bergoglio played a regular part in CRECES gatherings, and was prayed over by leading Pentecostal pastors.... Pope Francis is the first bishop of Rome to have had regular and warm relationships with Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders. This closeness is reflected in the welcome given to Cardinal Bergoglio's election as bishop of Rome by a leading Argentinian Pentecostal, Dr. Norberto Saracco: 'Bergoglio is a man of God. He is passionate for the unity of the church—but not just at the institutional level. His priority is unity at the level of the people.'"

Source: Norberto Saracco  -  As quoted by Fr. Peter Hocken in Pentecost and Parousia, p. 69

Fr. Peter Hocken dies

Fr. Peter Hocken died. Fearless giant and a pioneer among the Catholic Charismatics who walked with all Christians and Messianic Jews while making the desire of Jesus in John 17 to make us one reality of his every day.

This is very sad news for all of us who are into building ecumenical pathways but we hope his intercession will accelerate our work now.

Source: MajorChange  -  Posted on FB on 10 June 2017

"We must make Jesus Christ our center, not the church."

For decades I have been passionately engaged in bridge-building and collaboration in Phoenix and Arizona. My personal pilgrimage is based on an essential understanding of the gospel as St. Paul expresses it in the context of division in the church in Corinth: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Simply stated, this is Jesus plus nothing. He died not only to reconcile us to God, but to one another, and those two outcomes of the Cross are inseparable.
S

t. Paul writes, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Ephesians 2:14-16).
As Pope Francis stated recently in a meeting which I was privileged to attend, “We must make Jesus Christ our center, not the church.” We have our differences, but if we share faith in Christ, we can’t allow our distinctives to become reasons for division.

Source: Gary Kinnaman  -  Presented during Movement Day NYC, representing the John 17 movement and Greater Phoenix and Arizona Catholic/Evangelical Bridges, as posted on the John 17 FB page on 1 November 2016.

Honored by England’s Queen Elizabeth II

An English Jesuit who left his order to become a diocesan priest in Northern Ireland has been honored by England’s Queen Elizabeth II for his services to a community wrought by sectarian violence.

Father Paul Symonds, a priest of the Belfast-based Diocese of Down and Connor, has served for four years in Ballymena, a predominantly Protestant town known for anti-Catholic sectarianism. Father Symonds is especially known for his work with Catholics and Protestants in Ballymena’s Harryville section, where Catholics have been subjected to sustained campaigns of intimidation. As recently as the summer of 2005, Masses at Our Lady the Mother of Christ Church in Harryville were canceled because of such intimidation.

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#sthash.kh59mvOi.dpuf

Kerygma USA

Mrs. Harris was raised in Mount Pleasant, the daughter of a holiness Pentecostal pastor.
...
The next 20 years were filled with marriage, kids and ministry. The newlyweds had moved to southern California, where Harris was from and he joined a business Mrs. Harris’ family had started. Mrs. Harris home-schooled their children and the couple eventually worked in a book business and ministry.

They continued their involvement with missions, pro-life endeavors, their local church and Youth With A Mission. At the time, they also attended a nondenominational church.
But an experience after communion one day prompted Mrs. Harris to look deeper into the practice and the significance of Christ’s body and blood.

Through that, she began to look more closely into Roman Catholicism and particularly the teachings about marriage, because she said she hated her husband at the time.

Harris joined her in the study of the Catholic Church, even though he hadn’t necessarily initiated it. Harris said he always was looking for something different in a church and didn’t exactly know what he was looking for.

After a year of attending classes to convert, the couple converted to Catholicism.

“We didn’t see Catholic as (the) only thing, but for us personally, it kind of was the answer to some other things,” Harris said. “We retained all that we were before as a Christian. We just added being a Catholic.”

Some of their friends in ministry questioned their decision, but Harris didn’t mind.

“We knew it was what God called us to do,” he said.
 ...
Upon entering the Catholic Church though, the couple noticed a ministry opportunity of which they were previously unaware.

Youth With A Mission, more commonly known as YWAM, had a Catholic-oriented ministry called Kerygma. Kerygma is Greek for “proclamation” and, in this case, refers to the proclamation of the Gospel. It emphasizes building unity between Catholics and other Christians.

The Harrises sensed a calling to this ministry, so after an introduction to it and some additional training, they became the co-directors of Kerygma USA. Mrs. Harris had ties to YWAM from her previous training as a young adult so because the ministry new them already, it was a natural fit.

Though Kerygma existed internationally, it had not flourished nationally and the Harrises wanted to change that.

They became full-time staff members, and serve as directors of the Texas and U.S. ministry, living on the financial support of people who believe in their work.

Kerygma’s focus has been to work in evangelization and discipleship of young Catholics so they don’t leave the church. In addition, they focus on learning to walk hand-in-hand with the Protestant community.

It isn’t about being Protestant or Catholic, Mrs. Harris said. It’s about being believers and living in harmony.
...
In all of the ministry opportunities, the Harrises encourage participants to fully exercise their Catholic faith.

Harris said he wants the people who participate in their ministry to find the fullness of a relationship with Jesus that he and his wife have found.

He also wants them to know God as the ever present being that He is and be able to communicate His truth with others.

“I want them to go back to their parish and say, ‘Father, how can I help you in the church?’” he said of the youth.

Harris said he and his wife still retain the “fire of youth” in their heart and soul and want to share that with the people they work with. To Mrs. Harris, the work is fulfilling.

“The joy is watching God’s heart be blessed and having satisfaction knowing when God said (in) John 17:21, that they be one, that he didn’t mean that we all have to look alike and believe the same thing,” she said. “He meant that we have to love one another and they will know we are Christians by our love.”

Source: Source Unknown

Irish Catholic Priest works with Protestant Attackers

As well as enjoying good relations with the Church of Ireland (Anglican), Methodist and Presbyterian ministers in Ballymena, Father Symonds has worked closely with Protestants found guilty of sectarian attacks. ... "If you had told me when I was being ordained that I would be working with former loyalist prisoners, I would have thought that I would have been disastrous," he said.

Source: Fr. Paul Symonds  -  As quoted by the Catholic Review in "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#sthash.kh59mvOi.dpuf

"We have to forgive him ... and we will"

On May 13, 1993, five Amish children were killed by a speeding auto near Fredericksburg, Ohio.  The auto was driven by a young man, Eric Bache, who showed no remorse for his action in the days that followed.  After the funeral, an elder of the community, Henry Burkholder, said:  "We could take it a lot easier if he would feel sorry.  It's a little harder to forgive since he doesn't seem upset.  But we have to forgive him.  And we will."

Source: Henry Burkholder  -  Elder of the Amish Community in Fredericksburg, Ohio, quoted by the New York Times, 17 May 1993, as reported in Peter Schmiechen's "Christ the Reconciler: A Theology for Opposites, Differences, and Enemies", p. 112

Duane's Story

It’s hard to believe it has been three decades since that memorable church service.  At the time I was a young youth minister and I remember the steady stream of phone calls flooding our church office.  Caller after caller asked the same question:  “Is it true that Henri Nouwen is speaking at the Presbyterian Church in Santa Ana?”  “Yes, at 7:00 this coming Sunday evening,” our church receptionist Maggie kept responding.

What was striking about the surge of phone calls was that they weren’t coming from our church members or Presbyterians in Southern California.  They were coming from Catholics.  The callers’ first response to hearing that Father Nouwen was in fact speaking on Sunday evening was a quick, “Great!”  But nearly all callers followed with the same second question: “Why is Henri Nouwen speaking at a Presbyterian church and not a Catholic church?   He IS a Catholic priest after all!”  Maggie graciously answered, “You’ll have to ask Father Nouwen that question.”

On the Sunday Henri Nouwen was scheduled to speak, our pastor explained in the morning worship services that seating would be limited for our special evening service as we expected a large crowd.  Henri Nouwen had just returned from his extended time in Latin America and our church was one of the first churches in the United States where he would be speaking and sharing his experience.  On the church patio that Sunday morning were a lot of perplexed Presbyterians wondering who this Catholic priest was and why was he speaking at our church. 

I was not perplexed.  Our Associate Pastor Bob had introduced me to Nouwen’s work and Bob was instrumental in bringing Nouwen to our Presbyterian church.  I was excited and in awe that I would meet Father Nouwen, having read many of his books. I was deeply moved and influenced by his book Wounded Healer.  The book profoundly influenced my thinking about being a servant leader.  Decades later two quotes still resonate within me: 

For one man needs another to live, and the deeper he is willing to enter into the painful condition which he and others know, the more likely it is that he can be a leader, leading his people out of the desert into the promise land. For we are redeemed once and for all. The Christian leader is called to help others affirm this great news, and to make visible in daily events the fact that behind the dirty curtain of our painful symptoms there is something great to be seen: the face of Him in whose image we are shaped.

I arrived early to the Sunday evening service and was glad that I did.  Lots of people arrived early in order to ensure a seat. I took a seat with friends and they commented that there were a lot of “new” faces at the service.  My friends remarked that they suspected the majority of the new faces were Catholics.  We were delighted to see such a variety of people in church.
 
As I observed the people with the “new” faces I noticed two things: 1) Their faces looked unhappy; and 2) Most of them sat with their arms across their chests as if they were holding onto something internally.   I happened to know lots of happy Catholics and none of them sit with their arms across their chests.  It was clear to me that any unhappiness experienced that evening centered on the fact that they were displeased that Henri Nouwen had chosen to speak in a Presbyterian church rather than a Catholic church.  He WAS a Catholic priest after all.

But I also observed the faces of Presbyterians seated throughout the sanctuary.  They didn’t seem comfortable in their familiar pews.  They had the look of perplexity, uncertainty, and diffidence, as if their faces involuntarily blurted out “What is going on here?  I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this.”

The church was packed that Sunday evening.  People who arrived late had to stand in the back.  Into this odd mix of people and emotions our Pastor welcomed all, introduced Henri Nouwen, and offered a prayer.  Father Nouwen then rose and in his gentle, humble, and gracious manner shared of what God had shown him in Latin America, what God had impressed upon him, and as a result, his increased sensitivity to the work of the Holy Spirit in his and others’ lives. 

As Henri Nouwen spoke the atmosphere in the church changed.  Metaphorically speaking, an awakening dawn interrupted the evening service.  Into the darkness of discomfort and distrust beamed a transforming light.  Into the cool air blew a warm breeze of faith.  Onto the unhappy and perplexed faces of those gathered that night emerged smiles like sunrises spanning across the sanctuary.  By the end of the service there were no arms across chests, but rather arms extended and hands clasped, Catholic to Protestant, brother to sister.  We concluded the evening by singing, “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,” and for many of us gathered that evening, it was our first experience of what that Oneness could look like and feel like.  It was powerfully inviting, energizing, and unforgettable. 

The memory of that service is vivid three decades later.  The decades have taught me that God’s power is real and accessible.  Therefore it is NOT hard for me to believe that the Spirit of God can remove barriers, heal wounds, upend history, transform hearts and communities.  That night, and many others since, have convinced me that the work of Wittenberg 2017 and its call to prayer, repentance, reconciliation, and unity is a worthy pursuit and holds the promise of being a transformative experience.  It prompts me to recall another quote of Henri Nouwen from Wounded Healer, when he wrote:  It is exactly in common searches and shared risks that new ideas are born, that new visions reveal themselves and that new roads become visible.

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