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LONGING FOR HOME
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2 Peter 3:13-14
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But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven
and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you
are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless
and at peace with him.
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Everybody who travels away from home and loved ones experiences a
recurrent thought, ‘I am so looking forward to going home!’ And that
should be every Christian's longing too. This world is not our real
home (1 Peter
1:1). Here, we are travellers on the move, but one day we
will go ‘home’ (heaven) to be with our Father. Those who are true
believers cannot have their eyes glued to this world with its shabby values
and widespread corruption, when the glories of a brand-new heaven and earth
make everything else pale into insignificance.
One of the wonderful 'things' about our eternal home is that it is also the home of righteousness. It is a place in which everything that is right and true and lovely has no competition from the shameful deceits of the world, flesh and devil. It will be an environment where God’s reign is uncontested sees that everything is good, just like His original creation (Genesis 1:31). But what a contrast from this world. The challenge is how to get ready for a perfect lifestyle, and do we really want it? If that is our desire, then we need to start living as we intend to continue for all eternity. The words, 'spotless', 'blameless' and 'at peace with God' are huge absolutes. Until we get to heaven we will not attain perfection; but if that is what motivates the longing of our hearts, then we will put every effort into living that way (Colossians 1:10). This is no place for the half-hearted, the casual, or the careless; such attitudes are not worthy of the Lord at all, nor do they show much evidence of any eagerness to meet the Lord.
So Peter says, "make every effort" ... and
he means just that. If we have eternal life then we must put every bit
of our will, effort, skill and resources into being the sort of people that
God has called us to be (Mark 12:30).
The failures can be confessed and forgiven, but what will He say to those who
are not even bothered to try (Matthew
25:28-30)?
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Perfect God. Help me to understand the importance of putting holy
living right at the top of my personal agenda and apply my heart and mind and
soul and strength to pleasing You. Please forgive me for many failures to do
that. May I see the value of learning to live the life of heaven, even though
I fail and need Your help to recover. May I never treat my eternal destiny
with such casualness that I do not bother to try to live like Jesus. In
Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2020
LONGING FOR HOME
Sunday, July 19, 2020
STEWARDS OF THE NATURAL WORLD
STEWARDS OF THE NATURAL WORLD
“My little son is going to grow up in
this world, and that means I’d better take care of it” said one parent. Right
around five years ago, Pope Francis released his first encyclical letter, Laudato
Si’, and it rocked everybody’s world.
The
encyclical ended up being a real gift to us all. It has been our guiding star,
especially about certain ideas I want our children to learn about their place
in the world. Here are some of the points that really stand out:
The natural world will show you the face of God: In
mankind’s effort to leave behind the pantheism of the pagan world, we tend to
go to the other extreme. We think of God as existing beyond the world, when in
fact, He is to be found right here in the heart of the world. We don’t worship
the Earth anymore, but we shouldn’t forget that nature is still sacred,
because, as Pope Francis writes “The universe unfolds in God, who fills it
completely. Hence, there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a
mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face.” (233) There’s a reason
that Jesus used so many metaphors from nature for his parables. God uses nature
to show himself to us. The sunrise is beautiful because God is beautiful.
We are stewards of the natural world, not masters of
it: Pope Francis writes, “We must forcefully reject the notion that
our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies
absolute domination over other creatures. The biblical texts … tell us to ’till
and keep’ the garden of the world.” (67) Yes, the world was created to be our
home, and yes, even one human life is more valuable than the whole created
universe. But though we are greater than the rest of creation, we still have a
true responsibility toward our common home. We didn’t create the world, so we
do not have absolute rights over it. We want to know not just what nature can
do for us, but also, how to take care of it.
On that
note, we have to remember that the
created world is valuable in itself, not valuable because of its usefulness to
us. Pope Francis reminds us that “It is not enough … to think of
different species merely as potential ‘resources’ to be exploited, while
overlooking the fact that they have value in themselves.” (33) The creatures of
the world “give glory to God by their very existence.”
The way you treat creation has real effect on your
soul: “We have only one heart,” Pope Francis says, “and the same
wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not be long in showing
itself in our relationships with other people. Every act of cruelty towards any
creature is contrary to human dignity.” (92). It’s not just for the animal’s
sake–a person who engages in habitually cruel and unnecessary treatment of
animals is acting contrary to his own human dignity.
The
changes we have made in our life, spurred on by Laudato Si’, have
been fairly small, but Pope Francis has been there to remind that small changes
still count: “Saint Therese of Lisieux invites us to practise the little way of
love, not to miss out on a kind word, a smile or any small gesture which sows
peace and friendship. An integral ecology is also made up of simple daily
gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness.”
(230)
Let’s all
try to remember that every little act of love counts, whether that love is
directed towards God, our fellow man, or the Earth itself.
Thursday, July 16, 2020
POPE FRANCIS' "SILENCE" ON CHINA
Pope Francis’ celebrated “silences” have come under scrutiny again in recent days, this time over China’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s freedoms and Turkey’s decision to convert Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque.
For some, the pressure he faces to speak out shows just how much Francis has bolstered the moral authority of the papacy. His geopolitical interventions carry real impact; every word he speaks is carefully parsed, and every silence pored over. Francis must navigate between two poles: his desire to open up new pathways for dialogue, honouring his title as a bridge builder – a pontifex – not bridge burner, and his desire to speak out fearlessly and prophetically in the face of injustice.
On 12 July, after praying the Sunday Angelus, the Pope said he was “very saddened” by the decision of the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque. The Greece-based Orthodox Times website criticised his “sad silence” on the matter. The Pope’s intervention came some days after the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, and the World Council of Churches had spoken out. He chose his words carefully. Speaking slowly and with emotion, Francis used the word addolorato, which can also be translated as “pained”, or “distressed”. The emphasis was not on condemnation but on expressing his feelings of sadness.
The Pope does not want to add fuel to the potential clash of civilisations between a Christian West and a Muslim East which the reconversion is likely to stoke. Francis has made the building of stronger relations with Muslim leaders a priority. The human fraternity document he and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar jointly signed in 2019 is the most important text on Christian-Muslim relations since the Second Vatican Council. Francis is also juggling a delicate relationship between President Erdogan and the embattled Catholic Church in Turkey, which has no legal status (significantly, the Turkish bishops did not take a public position over Hagia Sophia).
In 2015, the Pope knew he would upset Ankara when he used the word “genocide” to describe the killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces a century earlier. Turkey briefly recalled its ambassador to the Holy See. Three years later, however, Erdogan and Francis met in the Vatican, the first meeting between a Pope and a Turkish president in nearly 60 years. At the end of the 50-minute discussion, Francis gave the Turkish leader a bronze medallion showing an angel embracing the world while battling a dragon. “This is the angel of peace who strangles the demon of war,” he told him. Sometimes actions speak louder than words.
Francis eventually broke his silence on Hagia Sophia, but decided not to say anything about a new security law passed in Beijing that threatens the survival of democracy and free speech in Hong Kong. As has been widely reported, on 5 July, as he spoke to the crowd in St Peter’s Square after the Sunday Angelus, he skipped a passage about Hong Kong in the pre-prepared remarks that had been distributed to journalists.
For some, the pressure he faces to speak out shows just how much Francis has bolstered the moral authority of the papacy. His geopolitical interventions carry real impact; every word he speaks is carefully parsed, and every silence pored over. Francis must navigate between two poles: his desire to open up new pathways for dialogue, honouring his title as a bridge builder – a pontifex – not bridge burner, and his desire to speak out fearlessly and prophetically in the face of injustice.
On 12 July, after praying the Sunday Angelus, the Pope said he was “very saddened” by the decision of the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque. The Greece-based Orthodox Times website criticised his “sad silence” on the matter. The Pope’s intervention came some days after the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, and the World Council of Churches had spoken out. He chose his words carefully. Speaking slowly and with emotion, Francis used the word addolorato, which can also be translated as “pained”, or “distressed”. The emphasis was not on condemnation but on expressing his feelings of sadness.
The Pope does not want to add fuel to the potential clash of civilisations between a Christian West and a Muslim East which the reconversion is likely to stoke. Francis has made the building of stronger relations with Muslim leaders a priority. The human fraternity document he and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar jointly signed in 2019 is the most important text on Christian-Muslim relations since the Second Vatican Council. Francis is also juggling a delicate relationship between President Erdogan and the embattled Catholic Church in Turkey, which has no legal status (significantly, the Turkish bishops did not take a public position over Hagia Sophia).
In 2015, the Pope knew he would upset Ankara when he used the word “genocide” to describe the killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces a century earlier. Turkey briefly recalled its ambassador to the Holy See. Three years later, however, Erdogan and Francis met in the Vatican, the first meeting between a Pope and a Turkish president in nearly 60 years. At the end of the 50-minute discussion, Francis gave the Turkish leader a bronze medallion showing an angel embracing the world while battling a dragon. “This is the angel of peace who strangles the demon of war,” he told him. Sometimes actions speak louder than words.
Francis eventually broke his silence on Hagia Sophia, but decided not to say anything about a new security law passed in Beijing that threatens the survival of democracy and free speech in Hong Kong. As has been widely reported, on 5 July, as he spoke to the crowd in St Peter’s Square after the Sunday Angelus, he skipped a passage about Hong Kong in the pre-prepared remarks that had been distributed to journalists.
It wasn’t entirely surprising to experienced Vatican-watchers. From the start of his pontificate, Francis has made establishing a relationship with China a key priority, and he has been careful not to publicly criticise Beijing. His obvious affection for China and the Chinese people has seen him face repeated criticism, particularly from those who fear the geopolitical consequences of China’s growing economic power and are alarmed by its increasingly authoritarian communist leadership.
The persecution of Uighur Muslims and the tightening restrictions on Christian worship have increased the pressure on the Pope to speak out. Inside the Vatican, some officials are ready to be more critical of China; the inclusion of a passage on Hong Kong and Francis’ decision to pass over it in silence might reflect that internal tension.
For the Holy See, Beijing’s clampdown on religious freedoms makes maintaining some sort of dialogue with China more urgent. Explaining the provisional 2018 agreement between Beijing and Rome on the appointment of bishops – which expires in September and is currently under discussion – Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, said it would help “to advance religious freedom in the sense of finding [some] normalisation for the Catholic community”. Last week, Paul Ma Cunguo, 49, underground bishop of Shuozhou diocese in the northern Shanxi province since 2004, was recognised by the Chinese state.
It would be easy to make speeches condemning the Chinese government. The Pope prefers to face down criticism from the commentariat and expend some of his moral capital, if he can help the forgotten Catholic Church of China start to grow.
The persecution of Uighur Muslims and the tightening restrictions on Christian worship have increased the pressure on the Pope to speak out. Inside the Vatican, some officials are ready to be more critical of China; the inclusion of a passage on Hong Kong and Francis’ decision to pass over it in silence might reflect that internal tension.
For the Holy See, Beijing’s clampdown on religious freedoms makes maintaining some sort of dialogue with China more urgent. Explaining the provisional 2018 agreement between Beijing and Rome on the appointment of bishops – which expires in September and is currently under discussion – Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, said it would help “to advance religious freedom in the sense of finding [some] normalisation for the Catholic community”. Last week, Paul Ma Cunguo, 49, underground bishop of Shuozhou diocese in the northern Shanxi province since 2004, was recognised by the Chinese state.
It would be easy to make speeches condemning the Chinese government. The Pope prefers to face down criticism from the commentariat and expend some of his moral capital, if he can help the forgotten Catholic Church of China start to grow.
Mario Draghi declared in 2012 that he would do “whatever it takes” to preserve the euro. Now the former head of the European Central Bank has been invited by the Pope to join the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences. Bringing in the 72-year-old is a sign that Francis will do “whatever it takes” to influence a serious rethink of the global financial system in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thursday, July 2, 2020
PIVOTAL EVIDENCE
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