Joe Tosini

Tosini wants to be there to celebrate with Pope Francis a new process of what he calls “relational reconciliation,” a process that “is not about doctrinal alignment” or theological differences among Christians. It’s about affirming that in Christ, Christians are brothers and sisters called to love one another, even when they differ like siblings in any family do.

“The scandal of division is completely opposite of what Jesus prayed for,” Tosini said.

“Our challenge is going to be the diversity, the differences that we have,” he said, but the key is to let them be “reconciled in Christ” just like members of a healthy family accept their differences as a natural part of family life.

An important step, Tosini said, is to follow Pope Francis’ example having Catholics and Pentecostals acknowledge each other as Christians and stop treating and speaking of each other as less than Christian.

Source: Joe Tosini - As quoted by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service, "U.S. Pentecostal promotes what pope calls ‘walking ecumenism’", 17 Oct 2016, https://cnstopstories.com/2016/10/17/u-s-pentecostal-promotes-what-pope-calls-walking-ecumenism/

A Catholic Priest in a Presbyterian Church

Fr Martin Magill’s Ecumenical Tithing: Rosemary Presbyterian Church
....
When I used to live in North Belfast, over 15 years ago, I was a regular visitor to events at Rosemary Presbyterian church. I returned there, this time to the church halls, for evening worship. I spoke to a number of people I remembered from that time.
...
As I reflect on the whole experience, I recognise how good it was to worship with people I had known over 15 years ago. I had a number of conversations reflecting on the area and the challenge for the churches in North Belfast I detected a keenness for the churches to work together. I heard about a prayer course based on the ideas of the 24/7 prayer initiative which was open to all the Christian denominations in the area. I also found it helpful to hear about discipleship because the gospel passage which I will preach on from the Common Lectionary comes from Matthew 28 and the command of Jesus to make disciples.

Source: Fr. Martin Magill - As quoted by Gladys Ganiel on her blog Building a Church Without Walls, 2014, http://www.gladysganiel.com/irish-catholic-church/fr-martin-magills-ecumenical-tithing-rosemary-presbyterian/

Wrestling in Prayer

(12) Epaphras (who started the church in Colossae; see Colossians 1:7), who is a servant of Jesus Christ from Colossae, sends his greetings. He is always wrestling (fighting) in prayer for you, so that you will stand strong in God’s will, mature and full of assurance. (13) I can tell you that Epaphras is working hard for you in Colossae and for the believers in the neighboring cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis (modern Pemukkale). (Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis are all located in the Lycus Valley of modern Turkey).

Source: The Apostle Paul - Colossians 4:12-13 (IEB)

2017

The year 2017 will see the first centennial commemoration of the Reformation to take place during the ecumenical age. It will also mark fifty years of Lutheran - Roman Catholic dialogue. As part of the ecumenical movement, praying together, worshipping together, and serving their communities together have enriched Catholics and Lutherans ... The spirituality evident in interconfessional marriages has brought forth new insights and questions. Lutherans and Catholics have been able to reinterpret their theological traditions and practices, recognizing the influences they have had on each other. Therefore, they long to commemorate 2017 together.

Source: Lutheran - Roman Catholic Commission on Unity - Conflict to Communion: Report of the Lutheran - Roman Catholic Commission on Unity, p. 12

Revival in Möttlingen, 1844

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

Encouragment from Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day, an old acquaintance of mine who worked for decades among New York City's poor, said that in trying to change the world the biggest obstacle is never other people or institutions, but our own sense of discouragement and futility. "We can change the world, to a certain extent," she admonished in a newspaper column. "We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever-widening rippes will reach the world."

Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.214

From a Descendant of Nazis

“During the war, the Church, which knew what was happening, kept quiet,” Reuss adds. “Those people who believe in the God of Israel did the exact opposite of what the Holy Scriptures say. So it is important to us as Christians to speak and shout out against anti-Semitism and against the hatred towards Israel. The best way to understand the meaning of anti-Semitism is to look it in the face, and that’s what we’re doing. We understand the meaning of anti-Semitism and where it can lead, because we look at our family’s history and see what our forefathers did. So coming here is a powerful thing which conveys a message in an excellent way.”

Source: Itay Ilnai - "Nazis’ descendants sing ‘Hatikva’ to Holocaust survivors", Ynet News, 6 Jan 2017, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4902914,00.html

Reflection from A2J in Phoenix

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

Jesus our Common Center, Church Fathers our Common Heritage

We share meals, snacks, adult beverages, tell our life stories, identify our parishes, talk about books we’ve read and books we should read—each year I see some of the same people and we catch up. Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox acknowledge our differences in doctrine and worship but without animosity or rancor. Of course, Jesus is our center, but the works of the Fathers of the Church are our common heritage. Other names are often mentioned: C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Stanley Hauerwas, Pope Benedict XVI, Dietrich Bonheoffer, Wendell Berry, Charles Taylor, George Florovsky, Dorothy L. Sayers, etc. Two names I seldom hear mentioned are Martin Luther and John Calvin. It isn’t as though the Great Schism or the Protestant Reformation never happened, but the focus on Mere Christianity, the central doctrines of the Christian Faith and the feeling that we must unite on those doctrines and the challenges we face guide the speakers and the audience.

Source: Stephanie Mann - "Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox in Wichita, Kansas" blog entry, National Catholic Register, 20 Jan 2017, http://www.ncregister.com/blog/stephaniemann/protestants-catholics-and-orthodox-in-wichita-kansas

Philemon & Onesimus

(17) So Philemon, if you consider me a partner in Christ, I ask you to welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me. (18) If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, you can charge it all to me. (19) I, Paul, am writing this letter with my own hand. I will pay you back everything that Onesimus owes you—not to emphasize that you owe me your very life.

Source: The Apostle Paul - Philemon 17-19

Austria's Reformation Commemoration

I found it also very important, that one pastor made very clear, what exactly we were doing.

it is not possible to substitute in repentance those who did evil.

But it is possible to identify with the guilt of the past and bring it before the Lord.

Source: Unknown - From a personal (unofficial) report on the Reformation Commemoration Tour of Austria, August 16-26, 2016

Jesus is the Only Hope for Peace

Several Sundays ago, my family and I visited Concord Church where Pastor Bryan L. Carter spoke powerfully about the turmoil and discord surrounding this issue. He focused our attention on Jesus as the only One who has and can ever bring complete peace in situations like this one that have roots too deep for human solutions to reach. It was beautiful and challenging

Source: Priscilla Shirer - "#FERGUSON" blog post on Going Beyond, 26 August 2014, http://www.goingbeyond.com/blog/ferguson/

Ghaidaa

In spring 1998, Carroll and Doris King - old family friends - traveled to Iraq with a human rights delegation to examine the effects of UN sanctions there. While in Baghdad they met Ghaidaa, a woman who had suffered more than any mother I had ever heard of, but was still ready to forgive.

Ghaidaa lost nine children in the destruction of Al Amariyah, a massive, reinforced concrete shelter in Baghdad that was penetrated by American "smart bombs" during the Gulf War. More than one thousand Iraqi civilians were incinerated in the bombing, most of them women and children.

Today, Ghaidaa leads tourists among the shelter ruins, hoping that those who see its horrors - among other things, ghostly silhouettes were left wherever human bodies shielded the walls from the extreme heat - will speak out against future bombings. After taking one of Ghaidaa's tours, Carroll and Doris, stunned, asked her to forgive them for what America had done to her family and people. A former Air Force officer who had flown bombing sorties over Europe in World War II, Carroll especially felt he bore a share of the guilt. Shaking his hand, then hugging Doris and bursting into tears, Ghaidaa cried, "I forgive you."

Ghaidaa will never find "justice" on human terms. How can one ever replace nine dead children? She will certainly never be able to forget them. But in finding the hearts of two people who asked her to forgive them, she has found peace - something that no one can put a price on.

Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.30-31

Repentance for Racism

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: Peggy S. - Posted on FB 3 June 2020

Pursuing the Unimaginable

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, 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

Olivier-Maurice Clément

Olivier-Maurice Clément (1921-2009) was one of the foremost Orthodox theologians of the 20th century. He actively promoted the reunification of Christians (he was friends with Pope John Paul II), dialogue between Christians and people of other beliefs, and the engagement of Christian thinkers with modern thought and society. As a history professor, he taught at the Louis-le-Grand lyceum in Paris for a long time. As a professor of the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute (Institut Saint-Serge) he became one of the most highly regarded witnesses to Orthodox Christianity, as well as one of the most prolific. He was a founder of the Orthodox Fellowship in Western Europe, and was the author of thirty books on the life, thought and history of the Orthodox Church, and their meeting with other Christians, the non-Christian religions and modernity. He was responsible for the theological journal, Contacts, and became a Doctor honoris causa at the Institute for theology in Bucharest and at the Catholic University in Louvain.

Source: New City Press - Author page for Olivier Clément
https://www.newcitypress.com/authors/clement-olivier.html

Questions from Fr. Peter

… there were not separate denominational movements of Holy Spirit renewal. There was one movement of the Holy Spirit touching Christians of every tradition. The real questions are:

  • For the existing churches: How do we as churches respond to this one ecumenical movement of God's Holy Spirit?

  • For participants: How do we as Christians baptized in the Spirit and part of an ecumenical work of God across all of the churches relate this grace to our own church tradition and to our lives as committed church members?

    Source: Fr. Peter Hocken - One Lord One Spirit One Body, pp.59

Followers of Christ, not Politics

William Stocks, a white, Alabama-born, Republican-leaning member of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, arrived at the tiny apartment of a Syrian refugee family on a Wednesday night after work. He was wearing a green-striped golf shirt and a gentle smile, and he was eager to teach yet another improvised session of English 101.

Mr. Stocks, 23, had recently moved to Georgia from Alabama, states where the governors are, like him, Southern Baptists. They are also among the more than 30 Republican governors who have publicly resisted the federal government’s plan to resettle refugees from war-ravaged Syria, fearing that the refugees might bring terrorism to their states.

To Mr. Stocks, such questions belonged in the realm of politics — and he had not come that evening for political reasons. Rather, he said, he had come as a follower of Christ. “My job is to serve these people,” he said, “because they need to be served.”
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“I have been here for four months,” Anwar said, “and I have seen nothing except goodness.”
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“It’s not unusual that we have politicians timid in the face of fear,” Mr. Moore said. “But the task of the church is a different one. The church is called to see the image of God in all people and to minister Christ’s presence to all people. That’s what churches are doing.”
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The Rev. Bryant Wright, the senior pastor of Johnson Ferry, acknowledged the possibility that there could be dangers in admitting the Syrians to the United States. “I know there’s risk,” he said. “I’m not being naïve.”

But Pastor Wright said that Jesus commanded his disciples, in the Book of Matthew, to “make disciples of all nations.”

Source: NY Times - Richard Faussett and Alan Blinder, "Evangelicals Ignore G.O.P. by Embracing Syrian Refugees", NY Times, 6 Sept 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/07/us/syrian-refugees-christian-conservatives.html

"the potential for worst evil lies within each one of us"

These are struggles common to us all and illustrate the need for honest identification with the sins of our nation when we stand before God asking for His mercy. Nehemiah and the families with him assembled themselves before the Lord with fasting, in sackcloth and with dust on their heads. Though they were just a remnant, they completely identified with their nation and its history. "Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all the foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers." (Nehemiah 9:2) When we ask for God's mercy on others, we should never say, "How could they do such a thing?" We know exactly how they could do it, for the potential for worst evil lies within each one of us, apart from God's saving grace and the life of Christ within us. "I find then the principle of evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good," Paul said in Romans 7:21.

Source: John Dawson - What Every Christian Should Know About Reconciliation, p. 21