On January 1, 1901, Pope Leo XIII prayed to the Holy Spirit. He sang the Veni Creator Spiritus by the Holy Spirit window in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. That same day, in Topeka, Kansas, at the Bethel College and Bible School, the Holy Spirit came upon a group of Protestants who had been praying to receive the Holy Spirit as the early Church did in Acts chapter two. Agnes Ozman prayed in tongues, and people began to welcome the Holy Spirit to work in them as in the early Church with healings, miracles, deliverance, and power to effectively evangelize and help people convert to Jesus Christ. This beginning of the charismatic renewal highlights its ecumenical nature that continues to be experienced over 100 years later. The commonly shared experience of being filled with passion and love for God has been a major way that the charismatic renewal helps bring Catholics and Protestants together to build relationships and learn to recognize many common areas of Christian living.
Source: Catholic Diocese of Arlington - "Our History" page, http://www.arlingtonrenewal.org/about.html
The Lutheran Church Repenting For ... the Lutheran Church
Norway's state Lutheran Church has condemned the anti-Jewish legacy of Martin Luther, the 16th century German theologian who started the Protestant Reformation.
In a statement issued Friday ahead of next year's 500-year anniversary of the Reformation, the Church of Norway's General Synod said some of Luther's writings were later used in anti-Semitic propaganda, including in Nazi Germany.
Noting that such propaganda was also spread in Nazi-occupied Norway during World War II, the synod said that "in the Reformation anniversary year of 2017, we as a church must clearly distance ourselves from the anti-Judaism that Luther left behind."
Source: Norway's state Lutheran Church - As quoted in "Norwegian church denounces Luther's anti-Jewish writings", YNET news, 25 Nov 2016, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4884355,00.html
Pastors In Covenant, Austin TX
I’ve been in a Pastors in Covenant Group, with three black pastors and two white pastors. We spent about a year and a half listening to each other’s stories. We shed a lot of tears and made several apologies. In the end, we built a great deal of trust.
Source: Geno Hildebrandt - "I Want To Do More", Sermon on 7 June 2020
https://hope.org/sermons/2020/06/one-anothering-3/
Gozo, Malta
Yesterday, during the Ash Wednesday service in the Anglican church here in Gozo, we were all surprised, including the priest, to find out that the Catholic Bishop of Gozo had written a letter to us, and sent his secretary to read it on his behalf. In this letter the Bishop shared with us that during this season of Lent he was calling on all the Catholic churches in Gozo to take up a special Lenten offering that would go to the Anglican church to help with the very costly and necessary renovations of St. Paul's Church in Valletta where the Anglican church has been worshipping for 175 years. Can you imagine this? How did this happen when Catholics and Anglicans have such a painful past, each having deeply wronged the other and both historically viewing the other “with suspicion and hostility,”
Source: Ryan Thurman - "Signs of Hope: A Lenten Surprise", A2J Blog post on 2 March 2017, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/signs-of-hope-a-lenten-surprise
Fr. Peter Hocken
One area which Rome for a long time did not recognize was the charismatic work for Christian unity, according to Fr. Peter Hocken, an English priest long involved in the CCR.
The Renewal was born ecumenical - the fruit of Catholics being prayed over by Pentecostals - and from the start went beyond the conventional theological dialogue model that came out of the Second Vatican Council.
Hocken calls this extra element “charismatic ecumenism,” because it involves discerning the action of the Holy Spirit in - and recognizing the gifts poured out by the Spirit on - other denominations. One of its “striking hallmarks,” he says, is “the radical equality of all those baptized in the Holy Spirit,” one that “requires a new formulation of our convictions.”
Source: Austen Ivereigh - "Jubilee in Rome highlights charismatic fruits in Francis’s Pentecost papacy", Crux, 3 June 2017, https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/06/03/jubilee-rome-highlights-charismatic-fruits-franciss-pentecost-papacy/
St. Ephrem the Syriac
The lessons scripture taught were simple and clear. God did not play favorites. His love was bigger than all the controversies people invented to divide and destroy: “Our Lord,” Ephrem reminded anyone who would listen, “spoke gently to teach his followers the power of gentle words.”
Source: Joseph P. Amar - St. Ephrem the Syrian – “Harp of the Holy Spirit”, The Maronite Voice, 21 June 2019
https://www.maronitevoice.org/articles/2019/6/21/st-ephrem-the-syrian-harp-of-the-holy-spirit
Andrew
Andrew later told me that everything in him resisted making such a confession. He feared he would lose the respect of the congregation and destroy his credibility as a pastor and preacher. But as he had prayed about it, several Scripture passages had come to mind and moved him to go against his feelings and do what he knew was right.
Of course his confession had exactly the opposite effect from what he feared. Instead of diminishing his congregation’s respect for him, his humble obedience to God catapulted him to a new level of credibility and trust in the eyes of the people God had called him to serve. In fact, years later when visitors asked what kind of pastor he was, his people would often describe this incident as an example of his character.
Once again, Jesus made good on his promise: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
May God help each of us to remember Andrew’s example the next time we’re tempted to conceal, deny or minimize our own sin, and to trust God’s promise to bless those who humble themselves under his mighty hand.
Source: Unknown
Fr. Symonds
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: 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
Concrete Expressions of Repentance
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
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/
Buzz Leonard
It reminds me that we can learn from one another if we don’t condemn a person based on their opinions. For example, I know these two guys who are great friends. One is a Calvinist, the other an Arminian. They’ve been friends for 20+ years. The one thing I’ve noticed is that they really enjoy learning why the other has come to form their belief. They’ll agree to disagree without demonizing the other friend. Civility does that... Love does that. Guys, Stay the Course!!!
Source: Buzz Leonard - Posted on FB, 7 Feb 2020
Catherine of Siena
620 years ago, April 29 1380, CATHERINE of Siena died. In 1970 she was made a Doctor of the Church, an uncommonly bestowed title for a woman. What many do not know is that she was a major ECUMENICAL figure in the 14th century, authoring hundreds of letters appealing for UNITY in the church. Her appeals were addressed to Pope, bishops, and civic leaders. She did not suffer fools gladly, calling out the chicanery of manipulative political and financial schemes among church authorities. We should celebrate her today, and pray that women like her be raised up in our time to lead in a church caught in the grip of its own institutional dysfunction, not least in the arena of women's roles. St Catherine, pray for us!
Source: Ut Unum Sint (Facebook Group) - Posted on the Ut Unum Sint Facebook page, 29 April 2020
Grief for a rift
Paul's use of lupeo [Greek word for "to grieve"] in 2 Corinthians suggests that he understands the Corinthians' grief as their regret and mental anxiety for their part in the rift between them and Paul.
Source: Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan - "Comfort, O Comfort, Corinth: Grief and Comfort in 2 Corinthians 7:5-13a", Harvard Theological Review, 104:4 (2011), p. 436
From the author of "Killers of the Flower Moon"
So one of the things that you realize when you spend time in Osage county is that the descendants of both the victims and the descendants of the murderers still live there. They often live down the street from each other. And one Osage woman told me, "We try not to hold them accountable for what their ancestors did." Part of that is the story of America, this intertwining and this kind of reckoning with this original sin that is part of our formation as a country.
Source: David Grann - David Grann, author of "Killers of the Flower Moon", quoted in "In The 1920s, A Community Conspired To Kill Native Americans For Their Oil Money", Morning Edition, NPR, 17 April 2017, http://www.npr.org/2017/04/17/523964584/in-the-1920s-a-community-conspired-to-kill-native-americans-for-their-oil-money
Max Josef Metzger
Max Josef Metzger
Priest and Martyr (1887–1944)
Max Metzger, who was born in a small German village, was ordained as a priest shortly before the outbreak of World War I. His experience at the front, serving as an army chaplain, inspired a deep revulsion for war and a determination to devote himself to the cause of peace and reconciliation.
After the war he founded the World Congress of Christ the King, a movement dedicated to Christian unity and international peace. He was also an early pioneer in the ecumenical movement, working to promote dialogue between Catholics and Protestants in a movement called Una Sancta.
With the rise of the Nazis, Metzger came into regular conflict with the state. Beginning in January 1934 he was repeatedly arrested, but in each case the Gestapo failed to charge him. Finally, in June 1943, after the interception of secret letters he had written to foreign bishops, he was charged with treason and sentenced to death. He responded with disdain: “I knew there was no shame, only honor, in being declared dishonorable by such a court.”
On April 17, 1944, after spending most of a year in jail, much of it in irons, he was told to prepare himself for death. Kneeling to pray, he said, “Now, Lord Jesus, I come quickly.” He then walked calmly to the guillotine.
“I have offered my life to God for the peace of the world and the unity of the church. If God takes it I will be happy; if He grants me a still longer life I will also be thankful. As God wills!”
Source: Author Unknown - Posted by Michael Tessman on Greg Metzger's FB page, 18 Apr 2020
Forgiving their father's killer
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
George Erasmus
George Erasmus, a wise aboriginal leader from the Dene Nation says, “Where common memory is lacking, where people do not share in the same past, there can be no real community. Where community is to be formed, common memory must be created.”
This quote gets to the heart of our nation’s problem with race. As a country, we do not share a common memory. White Americans remember a history of discovery, expansion, exceptionalism and opportunity. And people of color, starting with (but not limited to) Natives and African Americans have the lived history of stolen lands, broken treaties, slavery, Jim Crow laws, ethnic cleansing, boarding schools, internments camps, exclusionary immigration laws, segregation, mass incarceration and racial profiling. There is no common memory, and I think pretty much everyone can agree that the sense of community in this country is markedly low.
Source: George Erasmus - (aboriginal leader from the Dene Nation) Quoted by Mark Charles in a blog entry "A Native Perspective on Memorial Day", 2017 June 1, https://wirelesshogan.com/2017/06/01/a-native-perspective-on-memorial-day/
Francis on the Protestant Reformers
Years ago, Francis spoke harshly of the Protestant reformers. But in the run-up to the trip, he has had only words of praise for Luther. He recently called the German theologian a reformer of his time who rightly criticized a church that was "no model to imitate."
"There was corruption in the church, worldliness, attachment to money and power," Francis told reporters this summer.
They are the same abuses Francis has criticized in the 21st-century Catholic Church he now leads.
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
John Armstrong
The vision Armstrong offers, however, perceives by exegesis that the unity of Christians, which Jesus prayed that the world might see, is neither unanimity nor uniformity nor union (as he neatly puts it) but loving cooperation in life and mission, starting from wherever we are at the moment and fertilized and energized by the creedal and devotional wisdom of the past. Thus the internal unity of togetherness in Christ may become a credibility factor in the church's outreach, just as Jesus in John 17 prayed that it would.
Source: J.I. Packer - Forward from Your Church is Too Small, by John Armstrong, p. 11
Paul's Urgency
Paul here was writing to those who had already put their faith in Christ, yet were now estranged from him and his companions who were carrying the message of the Gospel. This fragmented relationship gave way to a disconnect from God's purposes towards them. To be estranged from God's ambassadors and community was to be estranged from God himself. Alternatively, to be reconciled to them was to be reconciled in Christ to God.
There is an urgency in Paul which invites his pleading with this fragmented community. Reconciliation and unity are not subsidiary realities to the Gospel, but at the core of salvation and what it means to be the church. If God was in Christ to reconcile the world to himself, and he is now in the church, then he must be at work within the church to reconcile men one to another.
God continues to work to reconcile the community of the redeemed and the church is still his chosen method in revealing himself. The message of salvation is incapable of being disconnected from its incarnation in the community of Christ. As Christ works through to us to plead to the world, he is also at work among us in a similar way with the plea, 'be reconciled to God,' and with it, 'be reconciled with each other.’
Source: A2J Community - Apprenticeship to Jesus Community, Phoenix, Blog Post "Unity Week Devotion - Day 5", 22 Jan 2016, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/unity-week-devotion-day-5