A Song from Cliff Hunter

We don't see eye to eye but I pray one day that we'll arrive
At a place where grace and love abide, where differences are put aside.
For the sake of peace we'll murder pride, stop breeding death, start speaking life,
And maybe we could spend some time seeing the world through the other's eyes.
Forgiving more, condemning less, stop adding to this awful mess.
Praying to see the other blessed, sharing those things inside these chests.
I'm guilty but don't wanna be, this sin just comes so naturally,
But I repent, I wanna see our mutual prosperity!

Source: Cliff Hunter  -  From Now On, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxoLizX1fIk&feature=youtu.be

Forgiving a killer

Tonya Godwin-Baines agreed with her sister about the need for forgiveness.

"The thing that I would take away the most from my father is he taught us about God ... how to fear God, how to love God, and how to forgive. Each one of us forgives the killer."
Her voice breaking, Godwin-Baines credited her faith with keeping her strong and helping her recognize others are grieving, too.


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

A Jesuit on the Reformation

Gerard O'Connell, Vatican correspondent for the Jesuit magazine America, says the pope's participation in commemorating the Reformation is proof of the extraordinary change in Catholic-Lutheran relations.

"A recognition, perhaps, that both sides missed something at the time of the Protestant Reformation," says O'Connell. "The Catholic Church missed ways of reforming itself. Luther and those around him pressed in a way that just couldn't be taken on board, so, in a way, both sides misspoke."

Source: Gerard O'Connell  -  As quoted on National Public Radio, 28 Oct 2016, "The Pope Commemorates The Reformation That Split Western Christianity", http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/10/28/499587801/pope-francis-reaches-out-to-honor-the-man-who-splintered-christianity

"3 Years Ago" ... 3 Years Ago

3 years ago this month I was given a trip to Wittenberg for the 500 year anniversary of the reformation. In that place where the 95 thesis were nailed to the door and a split came within the church, we all gathered - Protestants, Baptists, Non-denominational, orthodox, Catholics and so many more- to pray, confess, and forgive one another for causing harm to Christ’s Body. We then committed to work for the health and reconciliation within the family of God. Today my prayer is that Christians from all persuasions can see Christ in one another even through all different types of opinions, practices, and even politics. It is Christ who unifies, all else divides. Differences are important, but to truly celebrate differences rather than smooth them over and pretend we are all the same, we need the love of Jesus Christ.

Source: Edouard L. Pichette  -  Posted on FB 3 Nov 2020

Where Can a Protestant Theologian Find a Place of Shelter?

Until these matters could be clarified, Bonhoeffer needed a place of shelter, a haven from the ever-watchful eye of the Gestapo. His “nomadic existence” was becoming less tenable. “[I need] to plant myself somewhere a little more permanently,” he wrote to his parents. Ettal was first suggested by Paula Bonhoeffer, Dietrich’s mother, who was familiar with the area from vacations she and her husband had spent in the nearby village of Oberammergau. In this way, the Protestant theologian found himself living in a Catholic community.
...
Bonhoeffer found spiritual nourishment at Ettal in the daily rhythms of Scripture, prayer, silence, and song. This pattern resembled, in some respects, Bonhoeffer’s organization of community life at Finkenwalde, with its antiphonal reading of the Psalms, stated hours of prayer, hymn singing, and silence. This form of spiritual life was dubbed by some of his critics as “a new kind of monasticism.” Now ensconced in a rather “old” form of monasticism based on the Rule of St. Benedict, Bonhoeffer reflected on the inherent value of monastic life for the entire church: “It would certainly be a loss (and was indeed a loss in the Reformation!) if this form of communal life preserved for 1500 years were destroyed, something those here consider entirely possible.”

Source: Timothy George  -  "Bonhoeffer at Ettal: Advent", First Things, 12 Dec 2016, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/12/bonhoeffer-at-ettal-advent-1940

The 4 Corners Festival

Fr Magill, one of a family of three whose parents are deceased, has always worked in Belfast  and as a parish priest first in St Oliver Plunket from 2003 to 2013 – where he immediately inaugurated the annual St Oliver Plunkett lecture – and now in Sacred Heart where he has made a demonstrable contribution to wider civic society.

Last year with Presbyterian minister Rev Steve Stockman he co-founded the 4 Corners Festival which “promotes unity and reconciliation” against the background of the legacy of the Troubles and the challenges of today. It is deliberately scheduled around the time of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity so the 2015 events begin at the end of next month.

“This time our theme is generosity and imagination and we will be asking what generosity actually looks like.”

Source: Martin O'Brien  -  "A Quiet Peacemaker", The Irish Catholic, 11 Dec 2014, http://www.irishcatholic.ie/article/quiet-peacemaker

Ignatius Spencer: Apostle of Ecumenical Prayer

In 1838, Father Spencer instituted a great “Crusade of Prayer for the Conversion of England” and soon after being appointed as the chaplain to the seminarians at Oscott College in Birmingham, preached at St. Chad’s in Manchester on the need for unity between Catholics and Anglicans in England. He went to Oxford to talk to John Henry Newman, Vicar of St. Mary’s the Virgin, Fellow at Oriel, and leader of the Oxford Movement to discuss the goal of unity in truth but Newman refused to meet with him.
...
His zealous efforts in the cause of unity between Catholics and Protestants, and his desire for England’s conversion, have earned him the title of “Apostle of Ecumenical Prayer”.

Source: Stephanie Mann  -  Blog post 6 Sept 2016, "Servant of God Ignatius Spencer: Apostle of Ecumenical Prayer", http://www.ncregister.com/blog/stephaniemann/servant-of-god-ignatius-spencer-apostle-of-ecumenical-prayer

When I See Charlotte Being Stabbed ...

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

Unity Movements are not Exempt from Division

The further, tragic irony is that this same group, a unity movement, experienced its own divisions. In addition to the doctrinal and social reasons for the eventual divisions, it should be observed that later divisions reflected an ideological tension laid out in Thomas Campbell’s original vision. Unity and restoration, as an enduring pair of principles in the subsequent Restoration Movement, came into tension with one another. This conflict between the two values hinged on the inevitability of differing interpretations of Scripture.

In other words, if even the people who were willing to follow only the Bible could agree on its interpretation and application, then unity would indeed be the inevitable result. Such uniformity of interpretation and application, however, was not to be. This problem was evident during the Reformation and was a source of Roman Catholic polemic against Protestants. Taking the responsibility for biblical interpretation out of the hands of church leaders or the pope and putting it into the hands of all Christians simply made little popes out of everyone. The outcome of endless divisions, so the Roman Church argued with some justification, was predictable.

Source: Keith D. Stanglin  -  "The Restoration Movement, the Habit of Schism, and a Proposal for Unity", by Dr. Keith D. Stanglin, in Christian Studies, Volume 28, August 2016, http://austingrad.edu/Christian%20Studies/CS%2028/Proposal%20for%20Unity.pdf

A Catholic Honors the Strengths of Protestants

Kreeft regards Protestants warmly, believing that Catholics can learn from them.

“Until Catholics know the Bible better than Protestants do, and until they know Christ, both personally and theologically, better than Protestants do, there is no reason why God should end the Reformation and make all Protestants come back home,” he said. With this mentality, he has made it his mission to unite Christians of different denominations.



Source: Thomas Keenan  -  Catholic Author Peter Kreeft: To Save Your Soul, You Must Opt Out of the “Culture of Death” - See more at: http://aleteia.org/2014/10/22/catholic-author-peter-kreeft-to-save-your-soul-you-must-opt-out-of-the-culture-of-death/

With 1 Voice

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/

Austria (slowly) repents

Austria long presented itself as the first victim of the Nazis, a narrative initially supported by the Allies even though large parts of Austrian society celebrated the Anschluss and many took on roles in the Nazi war effort and the Holocaust.
 
The so-called 'victim myth' only began to crumble in the 1980s when an international scandal unfolded around Kurt Waldheim, who played down his past as an army intelligence lieutenant attached to Germany military units and became United Nations Secretary-General and president of Austria.
 
The process is still going on. Until 2013, visitors to an Austrian exhibition in Auschwitz, the Nazis' most notorious death camp, could see a display reading "Austria - First Victim of National Socialism". Austria is still updating the exhibit.

Source: YNET News  -  "Austria's Nazi past encroaches on election campaign", 1 Dec 2016, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4887151,00.html

A Cardinal Honors the Bruderhof

By the way, they brew the finest beer, make the best bratwurst, grow the most delicious produce, raise the finest turkeys, and bake the best pies, that this pro has ever savored...and they are a lot of fun!

Most of all, they show us that the Church of the Acts of the Apostles is still very much alive!

Source: Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan  -  "Radical Discipleship Lived in Our Midst", Catholic New York, 27 April 2017, http://www.cny.org/stories/radical-discipleship-lived-in-our-midst,15453

JPII

John Paul II then asked leaders and theologians of other churches to join him in seeking out a new way of exercising the papal ministry that would truly serve the cause of unity while remaining faithful to its essential mission.

Source: Pope John Paul II  -  Ut Unum Sint, 96

Our Share in the Aggregate Of Sin

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.


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

What If?

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

The "Knowledge Deficit"

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

A Businessman Repents to a Colleague

I simply said, “I really failed you during the reorganization. I should have come and talked to you right away. My absence and silence must have hurt you deeply. I have no excuse or explanation. I failed you as a manager and I failed you as a friend. I was wrong, and I’m so very sorry. Can you please forgive me?”

His eyes softened as he said, “That’s all I needed to hear. I know you didn’t mean to let me down, but it helps to hear you admit you did. Jesus has forgiven me far worse things, so yes, I gladly forgive you. This is behind us; let’s move on.”

And that was the end of it. No explanation. No excuses. Grace flowed. We were back on course. Ministering together better than ever.

Simple, sincere confessions, without excuses … a great way to take hold of the promise:

“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Prov. 28:13).

Source: Ken Sande  -  "No Excuses", RW360 blog post, 11 Feb 2019
https://rw360.org/2019/02/11/no-excuses-2/

A Catholic Priest Preaches Methodist

Father Symonds was to be the first Catholic priest to give a sermon at Ballymena’s Methodist church for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan. 18-25.

“I love working here,” he said. “I’ve made great friendships, both within my own congregation and within the Protestant communities. Members of the Presbyterian Church have been particularly supportive of my ministry. I am convinced that I am doing what God has wanted me to do.”

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