Luisa Hugosson from Colombia

Her friend Luisa Hugosson, 67, a native of Colombia, chimed in. “The pope’s visit is good for Lutherans and Catholics,” Ms. Hugosson said. “We are living in a new time, and we must be open and show respect.”

Source: Luisa Hugosson  -  As quoted by Christina Anderson, New York Times, "Pope Francis, in Sweden, Urges Catholic-Lutheran Reconciliation", 31 Oct 2016, http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/world/europe/pope-francis-in-sweden-urges-catholic-lutheran-reconciliation.html

JP2 Calls for Confession of Sins Against Unity

In his apostolic exhortation of 1994,Tertio Millennio Adveniente, John Paul II called for a confession of Catholic sins in the past, including sins against unity. "Among the sins which require a greater commitment to repentance and conversion should certainly be counted those which have been detrimental to the unity willed by God for his people."

Source: Pope John Paul II  -  Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 34

Sleeping in the same bed and ...

I often think about how our marriage might have turned out if we hadn't learned to forgive each other on a daily basis right from the start.  So many couples sleep in the same bed and share the same house but remain miles apart inwardly, because they have built up a wall of resentment between themselves.  The bricks in this wall may be very small - a forgotten anniversary, a misunderstanding, a business meeting that took precedence over a long-awaited family outing.

Source: Johann Christoph Arnold  -  Why Forgive?, pp.122

Fr. Peter H. Davids

As a person I am a devoted Catholic Christian who embraces the richness and wisdom of the roughly 2000 years of the Christian spiritual tradition. In terms of vocation, I enjoyed 34 years as an Episcopal/Anglican priest, building upon previous years as a preacher and chaplain with the Plymouth Brethren, and was and am also happily involved in other Christian traditions as appropriate canonically. I did call myself relatively Anabaptist theologically, but realized that that part of Anabaptism with which I identified came from the Devotio Moderna and the Franciscan Teriaries. I have always been very invested and involved in my local church wherever I was, believing that one cannot be part of the formation of ministers and Christian students without being actively engaged in ministry oneself. I therefore expect that I will eventually be ordained in the Catholic Church.
I am or have been active in several spiritual and renewal movements, including past or present activity in Marriage Encounter, Engaged Encounter, and Cursillo, and also in the International Order of Saint Luke the Physician, in which I was a chaplain. I believe that the best scholarship is generally combined with deep piety and, as appropriate, with community involvement. I also have a deep commitment to my family, which, while grown, still has a high priority in my life.
My basic theological formation took place through encounter with the New Testament, especially the gospels and James, although later I would discover Anabaptist theology, the charismatic renewal and the classic spiritual tradition (all three in a one year period) which would contribute to my ongoing formation. Later I had intensive involve with Catholic theology, building on a foundation that had been laid over the previous 30 plus years, and culminating in my reception into the Catholic Church. In terms of ongoing emotional formation, both Caretakers I and II and the Post-Graduate Seminar in Family Emotional Systems have been very important.
As a teacher I am committed to integrated education and the education of the whole church. By integration I mean the integration of the various theological disciplines and the integration of the whole theological world with praxis, both in ministry and in the world at large. Without such integration learning tends to be compartmentalized and remains unapplied to life and ministry. Furthermore, I believe that the life of the teacher is an integral part of his or her teaching, and that teaching does not end with the end of a course, but that each teacher has certain students that he or she should remain in relationship with long after the course, in some cases for life.

Source: Fr. Peter H. Davids  -  General Interests section of his About page for the St. Paul Center website
https://stpaulcenter.com/fr-peter-h-davids-2/

A Serial Rapist & Murderer

Quoting Michael Ross, a serial rapist and murderer:

I feel a profound sense of guilt: an intense, overwhelming and pervasive guilt that surrounds my soul with dark, tormenting clouds of self-hatred, remorse and sorrow … Reconciliation is what I yearn for most: reconciliation with the spirits of my victims, with their families and friends, and finally with myself and God.

Source: Johann Christoph Arnold  -  Why Forgive?, pp.169-170

Evangelicals promoting aspects of Catholicism

While this way of putting it might make some evangelicals uncomfortable, others have already started using the resources this Pope has made accessible and attractive to the world. It is obvious that Charles Colson and Billy Graham pay more attention to the writings of the Holy Father and take them to heart more readily than do some dissenting Catholic priests and theologians. Pat Robertson for a time was sending copies of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a gift to friends, while some Catholics view the Catechism as oppressive and authoritarian. It could even be argued that Campus Crusade and Prison Fellowship have done more to advance the Church of Mary than entire theology departments of some Catholic universities. These evangelical leaders recognize that Catholics and evangelicals share the same gospel, the same deposit of faith, and especially in recent decades, the same evangelical and apostolic imperative.

Source: Daniel P. Moloney  -  "Evangelicals in the Church of Mary", First Things, December 2000, https://www.firstthings.com/article/2000/12/evangelicals-in-the-church-of-mary

Latasha Morrison

Seeing racial division at conferences and churches really broke my heart and gave me a holy discontent. As I came to the predominantly white church, I saw a blindness. [Most people] thought the issue was diversity—“If I have someone on staff who doesn’t look like me, then there is my racial reconciliation.”

Source: Latasha Morrison  -  As quoted in Christianity Today, "Latasha Morrison: The Church Is the ‘Only Place Equipped to Do Racial Reconciliation Well’", interview by Morgan Lee, January 2017, http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2017/january/latasha-morrison-church-is-only-place-equipped-to-do.html

The Catholic Church - Suspicious!!

But no one reads the Bible as an extraterrestrial or an angel; our church community provides the colored glasses through which we read, and the framework, or horizon, or limits within which we understand. My "glasses" were of Dutch Reformed Calvinist construction, and my limiting framework stopped very far short of anything "Catholic!' The Catholic Church was regarded with utmost suspicion. In the world of the forties and fifties in which I grew up, that suspicion may have been equally reciprocated by most Catholics. Each group believed that most of the other group were probably on the road to hell. Christian ecumenism and understanding has made astonishing strides since then.

Source: Peter Kreeft  -  Hauled aboard the Ark, http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm

Cardinal Timothy Dolan on the Bruderhof

Reflecting upon the Acts of the Apostles during paschaltide is an examination of conscience to see if we are loyal to the characteristics of our first-generation Christian ancestors.

If we’re lucky, we have attractive models today who base their daily lives on the gospel and the paradigm of the Acts of the Apostles.

We here in the archdiocese are indeed so fortunate, as we enjoy friendship with such a remarkable community, the Bruderhof.

And, these Easter days, we are particularly united with them as they commend their Senior Elder, Pastor Johann Christoph Arnold, to eternity.

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

"The very definition of 'unity' itself has disunity!"

One of the issues with unity is that people have different ideas of what it means. The very definition of "unity" itself has disunity!

If you ask someone who is an Orthodox Christian, they may not want to talk about Christian unity unless you are committed to working against the religious persecution and genocide in the Middle East that is currently devastating their churches.

If talk to someone who is African-American, they may not have a lot of patience for discussions about Christian unity unless it involves healing the ongoing sins of racism that continues to fracture our churches and our society and leaves black bodies dead in the streets, rotting in prisons or suffering in near-perpetual poverty.

The desperately poor people immigrating to the U.S. from Latin America are almost all Evangelical, Pentecostal or Roman Catholic Christians. If an asylum seeker is denied entry and is doomed to die on the other side of the border, then some statement resolving theological differences may not mean a whole lot to them—they aren't going to feel any warm fuzzies over church unity as they will only feel cold exclusion from (most likely) their fellow Christians. The group that steers this page is comprised of Evangelicals, Protestants and Catholics. Therefore, these are our sisters and brothers in the faith whose lives are at stake at the border. That means something.


Source: The Traveling Ecumenist  -  "Why would a group dedicated to Christian unity talk about justice?", Traveling Ecumenist blog post on 29 April 2019
https://travelingecumenist.blogspot.com/2019/04/why-would-group-dedicated-to-christian.html

Hope for the youth

Young Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic Christians, by these days lived in real fraternity you manifest your desire to be protagonists of history and not let others decide your future. The Pope encourages you to stand firm in hope by letting the Lord live in your hearts and your daily lives. With Jesus, the faithful friend who never disappoints, you will be able to walk along the path toward the future with joy and devote your talents and abilities for the good of all.

Source: Pope Francis  -  As quoted in "Pope sends message to Taizé youth gathering" by Vatican Radio, 27 Dec 2016, http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/12/27/pope_sends_message_to_taize_youth_gathering/1281913

Churches Together During COVID

Parishes in the Austin Diocese, which includes Central Texas, may resume public celebration of Mass Tuesday, but a another group of area churches doesn’t plan to reopen until June.

Included in the group are Highland Baptist Church, Maranatha Church, Harris Creek Baptist Church, Antioch Community Church, Greater Zion Baptist, Crossroads Fellowship, Renew Church, Columbus Ave. Baptist Church, Brazos Meadows Baptist, Christ the King, Greater New Light Baptist, Grace Church, Waco, Grace Church, Hewitt, Ministerios Bethania, Central Christian Church, Park Lake Drive Baptist, Western Heights Baptist, New Life Christian Fellowship, Meadowbrook Baptist, New Faith Christian, Faith Bible Church and St. Stephen’s AME.

The pastors of the churches say they were encouraged to show unity, after watching their followers come together.

"Crisis always brought people together and I think the crisis has brought churches together," said John Durham, the lead pastor of Highland Baptist church.

"I have been so proud of the Waco community, where people have stayed active with their faith in the middle of this crisis," said Jimmy Seibert the Senior Pastor of Antioch.

Source: KWTX Waco  -  As quoted by Phil Brown on FB, 16 May 2020

What Was The Point?

What was the point of this tour? It was not just an informative trip for history buffs; the idea was for today’s Christians to identify with those who have gone before us; for us as Austrians to identify with the guilt and sin of our forefathers in the manner they treated these believers whose only crime was that they believed in God in a manner not authorized by the state and the church. Like Daniel and others in the Bible we wanted to bring these sins before God and say, „We and our people have sinned.“ While we realize that no-one can repent of sins for another, the effects of sinful acts excert an influence for many generations, especially if the original sin and the attitudes that led to it have not been dealt with, and our burden was to bring these effects to God and, so to speak, lift the curse that still lies over parts of our country because of this history.
In the process we truly became brothers and sisters in Christ: Lutherans seeing Catholics expressing sorrow over their Church’s past misdeeds; Catholics and Lutherans being accepted by Free Church Christians who normally feel that they are the only real game in town; both Lutherans and Catholics expressing regret for the treatment of the Anabaptists whom Free Church Christians consider their spiritual ancestors: it was a beautiful work of reconciliation wrought by the Holy Spirit.

Source: Austrian Round Table  -  Report on the Reformation Commemoration Tour of Austria, August 16-26, 2016, http://versoehnung.net/Story/Gedenkfahrtblog/

Grief in 2 Corinthians

Paul's description of the restored Corinthian congregation as "chaste", "holy", and "pure" (agnous) evokes her preparation for a renewed relationship with Israel's God modeled on Isaiah's description of Judah's renewed relationship with YHWH after the Exile (2 Cor 7:11; see also 11:2).  Ultimately, the Corinthian congregation's marital purity signifies their reconciliation with God and presages the abundance of grace to which that relationship will give birth.

Source: Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan  -  "Comfort, O Comfort, Corinth: Grief and Comfort in 2 Corinthians 7:5-13a", Harvard Theological Review, 104:4 (2011), p. 443-444

Jesus' wisdom and warning

(23) Jesus told the people this parable (story): “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who told his servants to pay back the money they owed him. (24) As he began to settle his accounts, a servant who owed the king about 20 years’ wages was brought to him. (25) Because the servant was not able to pay, the king ordered that he and his family and all that he owned be sold to repay his debt. (26) Hearing this the servant fell on his knees, begging, ‘Please be patient with me, and I will pay you back everything I owe you.’ (27) The king showed mercy toward the servant and forgave him his entire debt and let him go. (28) But when that servant left, he found a fellow servant who owed him about one day’s wages. He grabbed him and began to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay me back all that you owe me!’ (29) His fellow servant fell to his knees, begging him, ‘Please be patient with me, and I will pay you back everything I owe you.’ (30) But he refused to forgive him his debt. Instead, he had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his entire debt. (31) When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very angry and went and told the king everything. (32) Then the king had the servant he had forgiven brought to him and he said, ‘You are a wicked servant! I forgave you of all your debt because you begged me. (33) You should have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you.’ (34) In his anger the king gave him to the jailers to be punished, until he paid back all he owed. (35) This is how my Father in heaven will treat you unless you forgive your fellow believers from your heart.”

Source: Bible (IEB)  -  Matthew 18:23-35

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/

Southern Acknowledgments

LaGrange's event is a rare official acknowledgment of a dark period in the history of the South.
The Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, has documented 4,075 racial terror lynchings in Southern states between 1877 and 1950, few of which have been publicly acknowledged.
CNN found four instances of apologies for lynchings, including one in 2005 in Abbeville, South Carolina -- site of the 1916 lynching of a black farmer named Anthony Crawford at the hands of neighbors. White ministers apologized for racism, church burnings and lynchings, including Crawford's murder.

Source: Emanuella Grinberg, CNN  -  "'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

Ann Cogdell's Report

I want to end this overview of the June Gathering by telling you some of the things that were brought home to me.  I realized that I can’t enter well into what I'll call "identificational repentance" when really I’m indifferent; and I'm indifferent when things are distant from me -- distant in history or distant in the present, geographically or emotionally.   Particularly, in being among those who were definitely not indifferent, (and Europeans seem to have so much a better sense of history than many of us Americans, they're more connected) I felt the pain of not being able to respond as fully as I’d have liked.  The process of praying prayers of identificational repentance is both humbling and necessarily cleansing—looking at the sin of another or a grievous event of history, I felt that my eyes needed to be purified  so that I could look with care rather than point the finger.

I would commend the story of a German Lutheran pastor's experience of entering into identificational repentance during his time in a previous gathering held in Rome.


Source: Ann Cogdell  -  Report to Christ Church Anglican in Waco, 4 Sept. 2016