Too often we forget that Hitler’s demise did not automatically guarantee peace to a traumatised and broken Europe. Euphoric scenes of Allied soldiers giving out chocolates, cigarettes and kisses to flag-waving crowds quickly gave way to the daunting reality of rebuilding a devastated and divided Europe. It’s one thing to win a war. But how do you win the peace?
Chaos threatened on all sides. Hatred and bitterness towards the enemy and collaborators poisoned grass-roots attitudes among victor and defeated alike. Families had been separated, divided and destroyed. Deep wounds festered physically, psychologically and spiritually. Hunger, poverty and unemployment added to the miseries of injury and upheaval, totally eclipsing anything we are currently experiencing in Europe today. The Cold War was about to begin. Today’s generations have never known the climate of mistrust and suspicion, crisis and conflict that dominated Europe over the five years following the war.
Reconciliation
Today thoughts of such conflict among EU nations are unthinkable, thank God! Thanks in large part to the story of the stunningly rapid yet lasting Franco-German reconciliation after the Second World War. Central to that story is an unassuming, French lawyer-politician, acknowledged as the ‘Father of Europe’, Robert Schuman. Drawing inspiration from his Christian faith and Catholic social teaching, he searched for an alternative to the old order of competing nation states which had repeatedly led to war. Even while imprisoned by the Nazis early in the war and again after escaping in hiding, he wrote that ‘we French will have to learn to forgive and love the Germans to rebuild post-war Europe’. To many that sounded like treason. After the war, when appointed Foreign Minister, Schuman kept looking for a way to prevent the vicious cycle of war.
Exactly seventy years ago on this Saturday, on May 9, 1950, Schuman announced a plan in a speech lasting a mere three minutes. Surely that was the defining moment of post-war Europe! For that speech laid the foundations of the European House in which today half a billion people in twenty-seven nations live together in peace. From that moment on, there was a plan on the table with the goal, in Schuman’s thinking, of forming a ‘community of peoples deeply rooted in basic Christian values’. These values stemmed directly from the teachings of Jesus, Schuman argued. True democracy was ‘evangelical’, he wrote, rooted in the gospel, embedded in the
Source: Jeff Fountain - "Who Won the Peace?", Weekly Word eNewsletter, 4 May 2020
https://us9.campaign-archive.com/?e=0b86898e11&u=65605d9dbab0a19355284d8df&id=cd6d1b85b2
M. Basilea Schlink
The joyous shout "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin!" was missing in my life - and with it the joy of heaven, which is ours in Jesus. And all because I had forgotten what it means to weep over my sins! That is why my love for Jesus had burned low. It's pardoned sinners who are on fire with love. From bitter experience I know how impoverished a life without daily repentance is. No nearness of heaven. No radiant joy. No worship ascending from a heart overflowing with thanksgiving. No passion for Jesus. No power or anointing or fruitfulness in ministry.
Source: M. Basilea Schlink - Repentance: The Joy-Filled Life, pp. 15-16
The South African Prime Minister, and His Wife
The Dutch Reformed people, however, almost lost the prime minister as a communicant at one point, however. He and his wife were together at the communion service, and an elder approached him. "Mr. Prime Minister," he said, "with all due respect, sir, your wife will not be permitted to take communion with us because she is [a Pentecostal]."
The old man nearly exploded, and was ready to storm out of the church. "This is the last time I will ever come into this place or any like it," he said loudly enough to be heard for several pews around him. But his wife, a truly humble saint, held gently onto his arm, and quieted him. She appealed with all the power within her for him not to turn his back on the church. Despite his anger, he honored her plea the rest of his life.
Source: David du Plessis - From "A Man Called Mr. Pentecost", as told to Bob Slosser, Ch. 7, pp 46-47
Facing Unity - 1985
The international commission's 1985 document "Facing Unity" recommends that Roman Catholics recognize the Augsburg Confession -- the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran church -- as a legitimate profession of faith. "Facing Unity" invites Catholics to recognize Martin Luther as our common teacher, as one whose heritage has been distorted over time.
Source: Thomas Ryan - National Catholic Reporter, "Lutherans and Catholics chart path to unity", 16 Nov 2016, https://www.ncronline.org/news/theology/lutherans-and-catholics-chart-path-unity
Christ in the Center of Ecumenical Activities
Reflecting on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation , he said it’s an opportunity to put Christ back at the centre of their ecumenical relations. Just as the question of a merciful God was the driving force of Luther and the other Reformers, so it must be at the heart of our joint efforts to propose the radical truth of God’s limitless mercy to men and women today.
Source: Vatican Radio - "German Catholics and Lutherans take new steps towards unity", 6 Feb 2017, http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/02/06/german_catholics_and_lutherans_take_new_steps_towards_unity/1290682
Fr. Leo Tanner
In addressing the importance of this initial conversion, Fr. Leo Tanner – a regular parish priest who has been officially released by his bishop to dedicate seventy per cent of his time to his wider ministry such as Alpha (see Werder 2003) observed, “Current Catholic language and pastoral work lacks to some extent [this element] of a leading people to a decision for Jesus Christ. We [Catholics] speak of a habitual repentance … and thereby easily forget what Jesus first meant with his call to repentance: a primary, foundational change of life-direction…. Such a fundamental repentance and change of direction does not have anything to do with being more or less religious. [The apostle] Paul was perfectly religious before his conversion. What was fundamentally new for him was to have met Jesus as a living person: a relationship with Jesus Christ…. The pre-requisite for such a change of direction is a meeting with Jesus.” (Tanner 2001, Intro., p. 3)
„In der gängigen katholischen Sprache und Pastoral fehlt teilweise die Hinführung zur Entscheidung für Jesus Christus. Wir reden von der ständigen Umkehr zu ihm – besonders in der Fastenzeit – und vergessen dabei leicht das, was Jesus zuerst mit seinem Umkehrruf gemeint hat: eine primäre grundlegende Richtungsänderung des Lebens, der Beginn der bewussten Nachfolge. Bei einer solchen Richtungsänderung, Grundumkehr geht es nicht darum, mehr oder weniger religiös zu sein. Paulus war vor seiner Bekehrung ein religiös „perfekter” Mensch. Als ihm jedoch Jesus als lebendige Person begegnete, begann für ihn das grundlegende Neue: Eine Beziehung zu Jesus Christus…. Die Voraussetzung für eine solche Richtungsänderung ist eine Begegnung mit Jesus, wie die ersten Jünger dem irdischen Jesus begegnet sind.“
Source: Fr. Leo Tanner - TANNER, L. 2001. Werkmappe für Katholiken: zu „Fragen an das Leben“ Wels: BE Team, as quoted in foonote 37 of "Evangelicals Cooperatively Evangelising & Discipling with Catholics in Faithfulness to Evangelical Distinctives", by Paul Miller
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
Why now? Because through 50 years of theological dialogues, Catholics and Lutherans have shown repeatedly that we have the resolve and the capacity to address doctrines and practices that have kept us apart. Through our dialogues, we are renewed in our commitment to continue together on the way to full communion, when we will experience our unity in sharing the Eucharist, in the full recognition of each other’s ministries and of our being Christ’s church.
An outstanding fruit of these dialogues was the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. Here Catholics and Lutherans demonstrated how, through sustained theological dialogues and prayer, a major doctrine once deemed to be church-dividing can become a teaching in which we find our unity through reconciled diversity. The JDDJ provided an ecumenical breakthrough in distinguishing divisive mutual condemnations from diversities in theology and piety which need not divide the church, but which can in fact enrich it.
Source: Declaration on the Way - Declaration on the Way: Church, Ministry and Eucharist, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/ecumenical-and-interreligious/ecumenical/lutheran/upload/Declaration_on_the_Way-for-Website.pdf
Martyrdom of de Chergé
To many people, the death of de Chergé and his fellow monks proves the worst stereotypes of Islam. But to him it was the expected cost of being a peacemaker. To me, it is a stark reminder of the work that must be done world-wide to spread the healing message of forgiveness. In a time when so many people are willing to die in ongoing armed conflicts between the "Christian" West and the supposed "menace" of Islam - whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, Algeria, or anywhere else - where are there men and women who are willing to die for the sake of peace?
Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.60
Bread & Wine
A broad spectrum of Christian thinkers and mystics, both ancient and modern, echo and expand this thought in the Bread and Wine anthology, which accompanies the reader throughout Lent and Easter with seventy-two readings divided into sections entitled “Invitation,” “Temptation,” “Passion,” “Crucifixion,” “Resurrection,” and “New Life.” Each piece is chosen for its ability to help us come to a new realization of what Christ did for us, regardless of the writer’s denominational affiliation. Its ecumenical scope alone does away with some of the walls that must be demolished on the way to the cross.
Because no matter our confession, we will meet there. And no matter who we are, it can never become normal to see an image of Jesus’ suffering and walk by unaffected: We must be confronted each time we remember his pain. Our stomachs should constrict and our hearts pound when we see him suffering in the hatred, the confusion, the poverty, the violence of our world.
Source: Erna Albertz - "The Plough Diet: Bread and Wine", a Following Jesus blog post on Bruderhof.com, 14 Feb 2017, http://www.bruderhof.com/en/voices-blog/the-plough-diet-bread-and-wine
The Date of Easter
Francis closed his blessing noting that all Christians this year [2017] celebrate Easter on the same date- a rare occurrence since different churches use different calendars.
“With one voice, in every part of the world, we proclaim the great message: ‘The Lord is truly risen, as he said!’ May Jesus, who vanquished the darkness of sin and death, grant peace to our days.”
Source: Pope Francis - Quoted by Inés San Martín in "‘The resurrection is not a fantasy,’ Pope Francis insists on Easter Sunday", Crux, 16 April 2017, https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/04/16/resurrection-not-fantasy-pope-francis-insists-easter-sunday/
Mr. Pentecost
I saw clearly how forgiveness was the substance of my ministry. Without it, my ministry would die.
Source: David du Plessis - From "A Man Called Mr. Pentecost", as told to Bob Slosser, Ch. 18, p. 170
Ecumenical Tithing Ideas
But could Presbyterians tithe their Sundays to the Church of Ireland, i.e. go to the Church with the Anglicans rather than with their fellow-Presbyterians some five times a year? Could a member of the Church of Ireland reciprocate this ecumenical gesture or do likewise with the Methodists, worshipping with them on the occasional Sunday and also transferring the tithe of their support for the Church Missionary Society to the Methodist Missionary Society? Could Roman Catholics transfer a tithe of their support for Trócaire to Christian Aid? And sometimes buy and read the Church of Ireland Gazette instead of the Irish Catholic or Catholic Herald? Could Roman Catholic ordinands tithe their theological studies to another Church? In other words, could they study and live with Anglican, Orthodox or Presbyterian ordinands for a part of their course?
Source: Fr Michael Hurley - Christian Unity: An Ecumenical Second Spring? (Dublin: Veritas), p. 83-84, as quoted by Gladys Ganiel in her blog post "Fr Michael Hurley on Ecumenical Tithing", 5 November 2011, http://www.gladysganiel.com/irish-catholic-church/fr-michael-hurley-on-ecumenical-tithing/
Fr. Tom Ryan
[Thomas] Ryan envisions a reunified church that expresses the best of every Christian tradition: “When God puts us back together again . . . this great Church will be marked by the dignity and repentance of the Anglicans, the order and sacraments of the Roman Catholics, the warm fellowship of the United Church, the Presbyterian desire for good preaching and the Lutheran respect for sound theology. There will be the Evangelical concern for individual salvation, the Congregational respect for the rights of the lay members, the Pentecostal reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit and the Quaker appreciation of silence. We will find there the Mennonite sense of community, the social action of the Salvation Army and the Reformed love of the Bible, all wrapped in Orthodox reverence before the mystery of God” (179). Ryan recognizes that the path to reunion is the path of penitence, so in each case we can hope for a renunciation of all that is contrary to the Lord and His gospel.
Source: Thomas Ryan - As quoted by Peter Leithart in "Christian Unity", First Things blog post reviewing Thomas Ryan's book, 14 Feb 2017, https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/leithart/2017/02/christian-unity
Tolkien & Lewis
Can Protestants and Catholics work together? The world would be very different today if we couldn’t.
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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/
Jimmy Carter
That's what we're trying to do with the New Baptist Covenant: We need to let the black and white churches reach out to one another, first in a tentative way - maybe exchange pastors or exchange choirs. In Plains we've initiated a Christmas pageant where all the choirs in the area come together, black and white churches. So that's a wonderful experience we've had now for a few years that came out of the context of the New Baptist Covenant. We want people to reach across the racial divide.
Source: Jimmy Carter - Christianity Today, October 2016, "Jimmy Carter: Pursuing an Arc of Reconciliation", pp. 66-69
What Could Have Been?
As recounted in From Conflict to Communion, jointly produced by the Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Reformation was an academic dispute that careened into a division of the church.
...
It's hard to read this without thinking what might have been. . . . if everyone had stopped, quieted, breathed, listened, talked, disputed, clarified, taken a decade off to sort through the issues. What then?
Source: Peter Leithart - "Careening Toward Division", First Things, 10 Jan 2017, https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/leithart/2017/01/careening-toward-division
Anglicans and 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
Chip & Joanna Gaines
The Gaines shared, “Our family has made a commitment to put Christ first, a lifestyle our parents modeled for us very well. They showed us how to keep our marriage and family centered around God.
As for ‘Fixer Upper,’ we have been surprised at the impact of our faith through the show. We haven’t been overtly evangelical, but the rich feedback we have received on family and love all source from our faith. Jesus said the world would know His disciples by their love for one another, and we’ve glimpsed this in practice and strive for it every day.”
Source: Chip & Joanna Gaines - On CBS Sunday Morning, http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-couple-behind-fixer-upper/ , as quoted on http://qpolitical.com/1-chip-joanna-gaines-changing-america-easy-see/
Paul: Make Sure No One Treats Timothy With Contempt
Now when Timothy visits you in Corinth (sent from Ephesus), make sure that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, because he is carrying on the Lord’s work just as I am. Therefore, make sure no one treats him with contempt. Instead, send him on his way in peace so that he can return to me, because I am waiting for him along with my other ministry partners.
Source: The Apostle Paul - 1 Corinthians 16:10-11 (IEB)
History from Germany
Centuries ago, Germany consisted of many kingdoms and principalities but was united by a common church. The Reformation, led among others by Martin Luther, resulted in schisms within Western Christianity and ultimately in wars between Catholic and Protestant forces. The Peace of Augsburg (1555) temporarily put an end to these conflicts by stipulating that the people of a kingdom or principality were to adhere to the faith of their ruler. Those who believed differently were forced to convert or move to a different region. These provisions applied to Lutherans and Catholics, but not to the followers of Calvin and the Anabaptists, who were thus subject to persecution. The Peace of Augsburg held for over six decades until the outbreak of the Thirty Years War (1618–1648). Peace was regained again by the Peace of Westphalia which affirmed the Peace of Augsburg, this time, however, including the Calvinists. As a result, the German people lived in regional denominational isolation. Confessional diversity within a sovereign land was unthinkable and, driven by the horrors of war, mistrust and loathing between the denominations were rampant. The 19th century saw the advent of other churches and denominations in Germany, among them the Baptist and Methodist as well as old-confessional churches. Their rise was often due to inner church protest movements. As a result, these churches were relatively small in number and mostly disinclined to ecumenical relations.
Source: Council of Churches in Germany (ACK) - "The Ecumenical Situation in Germany", http://geii.org/week_of_prayer_for_christian_unity/prayer_worship/ecumenical_situation_in_Germany.html