Chapel Reflection Podcast – Christian Unity Celebration – January 20, 2009
Welcome to the Saint Patrick Catholic School chapel reflections podcast. In celebration of Christian Unity Week, students, parents and staff welcomed and assembled pastors of all denominations to chapel today. Hearing the warm introductions the children gave their pastors, priests and ministers, we were reminded of the important role Christian community plays in our students’ lives. Recognizing the remarkable moment presenting itself in the plight of Haiti and the recent memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Principal Steve Hammond reflects upon the fundamental meaning found in Christian unity.
A transcript of the reflection is found below:
Reflection for the Week of Christian Unity Chapel
Wednesday 20 January 2010
Gospel Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us,
just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Reflection:
There is a confluence of events taking place at this moment in which the Lord is speaking to us about Christian unity. First, this week is the week of prayer for Christian unity in the Catholic Church and perhaps other churches. It is a week where we pray that all Christians will resolve differences over time and that we will come together in a common understanding of Jesus, God, Church and the Christian mission. This great desire for unification is not uncomplicated. Since long before the Reformation, Christians have developed differing understandings of God, Jesus, church and other aspects of religion. It was so with the very early Christians dating back to Saints Peter and Paul. It is so today.
But the fact that men and women of good will can come together and indeed give their light to the sum of light, give their love to the sum of love, offer their peace to the sum of peace means that there is indeed a possibility that humankind can live in balance and harmony and love. It means that there is hope in the world. It means that there is a chance that we can embrace our full humanity, a capacity that Jesus so powerfully revealed by his life, his death and his resurrection.
There is second event ongoing at this moment… so poignant and powerful that it cannot be ignored. It demands the focus and attention not only of us sitting here today, but of the world! That event is the catastrophe resulting from the earthquake in Haiti.
Let me read you a brief excerpt from a pastor Father Bernard of Saint Gabriel Parish in Haiti and his account of the devastation there. You will remember that Father Bernard visited us last year. Pastor Bernard writes:
Dear friends of Sacred Heart,
It is with sadness that I come today to give you news of the parish of Saint Gabriel. Thanks to God the parish is fine and so is Father Jean Serdieu. I am in chock. (shock)
The parish center has not been impacted directly except for the back of the building but the damage is not too serious. However many of the young people from the parish studying in Port-au-Prince are unaccounted for. We continue looking for them but it is difficult to enter the capital at present.
I personally lost 3 cousins and many others are unaccounted for. The situation is serious. Archbishop Mgr. Serge J. Miot and many priests have died. It is not possible to know for sure how many people have lost their lives, perhaps 100,000.
There might be a few victims in the Gros-Moulin area but it is difficult to know for sure since it is an isolated area to get to.
However since our duty is to support the rescue effort in Port-au-Prince we accounted significant expenses.
I do not know what else to say; I feel exhausted in front of this catastrophe. We are all powerless and yet we must do something. Generally, the people in the capital who are still alive are exhausted, without any thing to eat, drink or cloth themselves with.
I do not know what else to say except to ask you to continue praying for us.
May God be with you!
Yours, Fr Bernard
Paroisse Saint Gabriel
Lascahobas, Haiti
In the face of devastation like this, in the wake of a catastrophe of this magnitude our differences pale, our separation seemed to melt into nothingness,. They become inconsequential almost insignificant. If they are kept at all, they are put aside as we might small figurines or novelties on the shelf which merit only an occasional glance.
In the face of such anguish, our response is to join hands, shoulder to shoulder to assist those crying out for help. It is in these times that we experienced what the church speaks of when it attempts to define itself. We are the Body of Christ. We are the heart of Christ. We are the soul of Christ. We are at the hands and the arms of Christ. We are his eyes and his ears. We are his mouth that speaks words of comfort and compassion. We are His mystical body of Christ. If Christ is to get anything done. Anything at all. He will do it through us.
Yes, we learn in these times, on the most pure and fundamental level, that we are all brothers and sisters. One in baptism, one in the Spirit, one in Body of Christ!
God does not send catastrophe to exact retribution upon his children. Jesus by his life, death and resurrection put that old belief to rest 2000 years ago. But I am quite sure that God sends us opportunity, grace and hope inside what we call catastrophe.
In this moment Christians from all denominations and in fact all men and women of good will from all faiths are joining together. In this divine moment where we, together as Christians, kneel down to lift up those who have not the strength to walk, we recognize ourselves inside the heart of Jesus. We recognize that in this moment that we find unity, in this moment, there is conversion, it is in this moment that we can find salvation. The manner in which we respond to such events allows us to experience the best of who we are, helps us to hold Jesus in the Pieta to… taken down from the cross… broken, bleeding, dying and to recognize that in ministering to him through ministering to his brothers and sisters, we claim his resurrection, claim his salvation and claim the fullness of our own humanity
There is a third moment that we have just experienced that brings us together. And that is the celebration and the memorial of Martin Luther King, Jr. This celebration must demand recognition other than simply enjoying a long weekend. Dr. King was a Christian pastor and a preacher, first and foremost. He preached against the hatred and bigotry found in the human condition. Certainly for the African Americans of his day. But also for the victims of injustice and hatred of any day and every day. This man looked death squarely in the face and accepted it as being part of his destiny. Dr. Martin Luther King was speaking for every American and human being on this earth when he denounced bigotry, injustice and hatred. He was speaking for Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Latinos; he was speaking for Israelis, Palestinians, Serbians, Croates. He was speaking for Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. He was speaking for Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites. He was speaking for us all… brothers and sisters in our humanity.
We should not forget that Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke out against violence. He spoke out plainly against the war in Vietnam. He was a proponent in theory and action of nonviolent confrontation. He studied the works of Mahatmas Ghandi. He knew that justice and equality; peace and social harmony would not be won by acts of retribution and violence. He sacrificed and was willing to be sacrificed for that cause. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died preaching and practicing the gospel. If this is for some an inconvenient truth then we all as students of the Truth should be ready to speak and act to the contrary when and where called.
My friends, whether you are five or 105, let us claim this unusual moment when the horrific events of Haiti, the memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. coincide on this week dedicated to Christian unity. Let us remember that Love binds us together. Let us have patience with each other. Let us see that mercy, love and forgiveness are the only things that can break the cycle of violence. That Jesus invites us into his body by asking us as Christians to forgive those who hurt us, to show mercy to those who inflict wounds upon us, to care for the sick and the dying, to take in the widows and orphans, and to see every human being, especially the poor, the sick, the suffering and the dying into our care as we would our Lord.
In doing so, we can experience the exhilaration of our true sisterhood and brotherhood found in today’s Gospel reading by:
bringing glad tidings to the poor (and suffering);
proclaiming liberty to captives (of poverty and ignorance);
recovering the sight of those blind(ed) by indifference)
and allowing those oppressed (by hate and biotry) to go free
and (by our action) proclaiming (from) the rooftops (on this good January day)
that this is a New Year, a New Year…… acceptable to the Lord.
Amen!
