As we were repenting for the sins against the Eucharist, we were very careful not to criticize the teachings and beliefs of other Christians. Our desire was to confess what a treasure this gift of the Eucharist is, and the deep longing of the Lord that we partake of it together. The problem is not the rules, discipline or practice of any one Church or denomination, but the distortions and deviations in practice that have brought about the present situation. We believe that confessing these sins with which we identify clears the ground and opens the door to new breakthroughs in the future.
Source: Peter Hocken - TJCII Communique, 2016-1
Vatican II
At the second Vatican Council, in its decree on ecumenism the Catholic Church officially embraced the ecumenical movement in its goal of restoring the full visible unity of the one body of Jesus Christ:
"Today, in many parts of the world, under the influence of the grace of the Holy Spirit, many efforts are being made in prayer, word, and action to attain the fullness of unity which Jesus Christ desires. This sacred council, therefore, exhorts all the Catholic faithful to recognize the signs of the times and to take an active and intelligent part in the work of ecumenism."
Source: Fr. Peter Hocken - Pentecost and Parousia, Peter Hocken - p. 19 [Unitatis Redintegratio 4 Decree on ecumenism of the second Vatican Council]
A2J Reflection + Action + Prayer
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
Hidden Figures
Although these women encountered constant gender and racial discrimination, they refused to embrace a victim mentality or succumb to bitterness. Instead, they modeled all of the core skills of relational wisdom.
They turned to God for strength and guidance. They mastered their emotions and exercised astonishing humility and self-control. They related to insensitive co-workers with grace, patience and forgiveness, keeping their focus on serving the astronauts whose very lives depended on the accuracy of their calculations.
Source: Ken Sande - "Hidden Figures", Relational Wisdom 360 blog post, 16 Jan 2017, https://rw360.org/2017/01/16/hidden-figures/
No Animosity?!
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
Before It's Too Late ...
Is There Someone You Should Call?
What about you? Is there someone you should call or go to today to seek reconciliation? A parent, a sister, a brother? A former friend or coworker with whom you had an argument long ago and haven’t spoken to in years?
Someone whom God has brought to mind again and again, but you’ve refused to pursue?
Don’t wait. Do it today. Pick up the phone. Write a letter—not an email and certainly not a text!
Better yet, go and meet face to face, just as Jesus commands (Matt. 5:23-24).
Source: Ken Sande - "Reconcile before it's too late", Relational Wisdom 360 blog post, 2017 Jan 8, https://rw360.org/2017/01/08/reconcile-before-its-too-late/
Adolf von Harnack
Such an injustice as that done by the Gentile church to Judaism is almost unprecedented in the annals of history. The Gentile church stripped it of everything; she took away its sacred book; herself but a transformation of Judaism, she cut all connection with the parent religion. The daughter first robbed her mother, then repudiated her.
Source: Adolf von Harnack - Adolf von Harnack (German Lutheran historian and theologian), The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries, p. 69, as quoted by Daniel Malakowsky in Lesson 7 of The History and Nature of Church Divisions, http://www.churchdivisions.com
Maturing Towards Wholeness
63 – Abraham. Moses. Ruth. David. Elijah. Mary. John. Polycarp. Anthony. Patrick. Teresa of Avila. John Wesley. William Carey. Billy Graham.
64 – God’s anointing—his hand upon individuals—permeates 4,000 years of Judeo-Christian history, reaching across the Christian traditions.
Source: George Miley - Maturing Toward Wholeness in the Inner Life, Chapter 1, "Restore the Ancient Anointings", https://www.amazon.com/Maturing-toward-Wholeness-Inner-Life/dp/0578613719/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=maturing+toward+wholeness&qid=1579303032&sr=8-2
Peter Grieves
Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Source: Bible - Mark 14:72
Want a Big Victory?
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
Forgiven by the Girl He Napalmed
Referencing a Vietnam pilot forgiven by the girl he bombed with napalm:
Reflecting on the way the incident changed his life, John maintain that forgiveness is "neither earned nor even deserved, but a gift." It is also a mystery. He still can't quite grasp how a short conversation could wipe away a twenty-four-year nightmare.
Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.162
"Be the first one to dance!"
Reconciliation & Reconstruction
I have heard some stories from those that have deep and abiding regrets about their life. It is rarely about the money they could have had, the job, the house, the car. In most cases, it is about the relationship they lost, or the friendship from which they walked away. In some ways, it is about a connection that was broken.
They all speak of doing it over, rebuilding that burned bridge, reconnecting; in other words, they are talking about redemption and reconciliation. What could have been done; what should have been done; what can still be done.
As we get older, we tend to see our lives in terms of the relationships we have or do not have, rather than those more material things we may strive for in our younger years.
Often, the mid-life crisis is one of identity, of goals not yet accomplished, of value in life. There can also be another type of mid-life or end-life crisis; one which is a crisis of relationships.
So how do we reconnect?
If we are estranged, then we need to look at why.
Is it the force of habit that has prevented reconciliation with another? Is it pride? Has our ego been bruised by another? Do we feel justified in never talking with them until they talk with us? Are there deeper issues that cause us to view that relationship as toxic, untouchable?
Sometimes a truly toxic relationship may be left alone; but until you really look at it, really examine the reasons, that feeling of needing to reconnect will not go away.
What do we expect from the reconnection?
Is it an apology? (look back at the pride question.) Is it understanding or forgiveness from the other for what you have done, or not done?
Don't expect an Oprah moment.
It may happen, but it is better to take baby steps; small and realistic goals. For example, just opening up a conversation can be a goal. For some relationships, this is a major step. Get your feet in the door; open the lines of communication.
It takes two to tango.
The other person has their own goals, expectations, and reasons for even letting you talk to them (if they do.) Realize that all those things play into the initial meeting and the process of reconcilliation. Be aware, always, that you are involved in a dynamic, two-sided relationship.
But be the first one to dance!
If it comes to a deadlock when we try to reconnect, be the first one to back down. Be prepared to take the moral high road. Be patient. Put your pride on hold. You can save face or practice some grace.
Treat each other as you are today; not how you remember them.
It may be all too easy to fall into old habits - which may be the ones that lead to your estrangement in the first place. Just because you may have had history, doesn't mean that that history needs to dictate how each person will respond to the other today.
Reconnection and Reconciliation is a process, not a one stop shop.
Getting a conversation started is a great place to begin. As with all relationship, we need to look at what happened; how close or far away you came to your and their expectations. Is it possible to continue the conversation again? Sometimes it is not. However, if the door is still open, move forward!
Reconnection and reconciliation is worth whatever hardship and time you may put into it.
Rebuilding bridges is never time wasted! Even if reconciliation does not happen, the attempt was made. It is easier to not regret trying that to regret not trying at all.
Source: Steven Lee - Posted on Facebook, 20 July 2018
Zacchaeus
Luke 19:8-9 and Acts 19:18-19 both show the distinct Old Testament pattern of open, public confession and repentance:
Lk. 19:8-9--"But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Look Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.' Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham."
Source: Dr. Gary S. Greig - The Biblical Foundations of Identificational Repentance as One Prayer Pattern Useful to Advance God's Kingdom and Evangelism, April 2001
Young People
I got a text earlier today which really encouraged me. It came from a youth worker who had been working with a group of young people in Belfast who had inspired him. This was part of the text he sent me:
"I have to say I was so taken back by their generosity. And thoughtfulness. Perhaps our wounded and wonderful city is beginning to heal through our young people. Go raibh maith agat".
Source: Author Unknown - Quoted by Fr. Martin Magill in a FB post on 22 March 2017
Baptist Longing for Catholicity
As a staunch Baptist I, too, long for catholicity. In many respects the future of Christianity depends upon a greater ecumenicity. Regular prayer with Benedictines has kindled a burning desire in me for Christ’s church to be one. When worshiping with these Christian brothers and sisters, I feel acutely the separation when the Eucharist is celebrated. While I understand the linkage of the meal to the larger sacramental system of the Roman Catholic Church, it reminds me that the unity for which Jesus prayed in John 17 is not yet realized. My spiritual friend, Abbot Gregory of Conception Abbey (a nearby monastery), shares this longing “that they might be one.”
Source: Molly T. Marshall - "Can a Baptist be a Catholic?", Baptist News Global, 13 September 2016, https://baptistnews.com/article/can-a-baptist-be-a-catholic/
Randall Gauger, Bruderhof Bishop
The most striking comments came from Randall Gauger, a bishop at the Bruderhof, who, with his wife, had lived for many years in a Bruderhof community in Australia. (They now live in a Pennsylvania Bruderhof community.) A bald man in his sixties wearing a tan sports coat, a black shirt, and a tan tie, Gauger described what he and his wife had done after “withdrawing.” They hung out with their neighbors at barbecues; they babysat and visited elderly shut-ins. Gauger became a police chaplain. Other Bruderhof members became firefighters or E.M.T.s. They collaborated with farmers on sustainable agriculture, partnered with charities, volunteered in “crisis situations,” and hosted thousands of guests, including politicians and Aboriginal leaders.
“Would we have done as much as a solitary nuclear family?” Gauger asked. “I doubt it.” He pointed out that capitalist society caters to people with “extraordinary talents”: “Only in a communal church can the old and the very young, hurting military veterans, the disabled, the mentally ill, ex-addicts, ex-felons, or simply annoying people, like myself, find a place where they can be healed and accepted and, what’s more, contribute to life.” His criticism of “The Benedict Option” was that it did not go far enough. “Why stop at Benedict when we can go back to the original source of Christianity? Christians living in full community is how the church began . . . and the early church was far more radical than anything Rod has so far proposed.” Dreher, sitting next to him onstage, listened, enraptured, with his head on his hand.
Source: Randall Gauger - Bruderhof bishop, quoted by Joshua Rothman in "Rod Dreher's Monastic Vision", The New Yorker, 1 May 2017, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/01/rod-drehers-monastic-vision
Violent Catholics
“I do not like to speak of Islamic violence because everyday when I look through the papers, I see violence here in Italy,” the pope told reporters. “And they are baptized Catholics. There are violent Catholics. If I speak of Islamic violence, I also have to speak of Catholic violence,” he added.
Source: Pope Francis - Catholic News Service, 31 July 2016, https://cnstopstories.com/2016/07/31/its-not-right-to-equate-islam-with-violence-pope-says/
"We confess not only our private sins ..."
Colin Dunlop, former Dean of Lincoln, articulates the nature of corporate identity and confession in Anglican worship with these words:
We make our confession as members of the Church, "members one of another." We confess not only our own private sins, but . . . our share in that whole aggregate of sin which all but crushed our Master in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The psalms are the praise of Christ in His Church, or of the Church in Christ. They are not an individual's prayer, but the prayer of the whole Body; they are the very stuff of what we prosaically call "corporate worship."
Source: Colin Dunlop - As quoted by Dr. Gary S. Greig, The Biblical Foundations of Identificational Repentance as One Prayer Pattern Useful to Advance God's Kingdom and Evangelism, April 2001
Mary Foley
Quoting Mary Foley, who forgave the girl who killed her teenage daughter:
Forgiveness did not come immediately, even after I knew it was what I wanted. It was hard. My main struggle was seeing Charlotte being stabbed in my imagination, and knowing that I hadn't been there to help her. I often envisaged her bleeding to death. When I saw these things in my mind, the old anger would begin to rise up in me, and I had to remind myself why I had chosen to forgive: so that I could release all that pain and hurt into the hands of God.
Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.74
A2J
Reflection
I will never forget a meeting I was part of in a small German city in 2003. A group of Christians from different traditions and countries had come together to pray for God’s blessing on this particular city, suffering under the weight of un-forgiveness and division. During the meeting a young Lutheran pastor said some hurtful things about the Catholic church, rooted in his own painful experiences. The tension in the room was palpable as we waited to see what would happen next. An older Catholic woman walked towards this young pastor and knelt down before him and asked for forgiveness for the specific ways he had been hurt by some in the Catholic Church. He extended his hand to her and helped her up, then they embraced and wept. Forgiveness and healing in Christ, won the day
Action
Have you ever considered asking someone for forgiveness for sin that was done against them by someone that you represent. In Daniel 9:16, Daniel confesses to God not only his own sins but the sins of his father and of his people.
Prayer
Triune God, following the example of Jesus, make us witnesses to your love. Grant us to become instruments of justice, peace and solidarity. May your Spirit move us towards concrete actions that lead to unity. May walls be transformed into bridges. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Source: A2J Community - Apprenticeship to Jesus Community, Phoenix, Blog Post "Unity Week Devotion - Day 6", 23 Jan 2016, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/unity-week-devotion-day-6