Hopewit

St. Julian Ukrainian Catholic Church Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest and teacher. I can’t claim to understand in depth his view of the world or all the essentials of his faith; our understanding is bound somewhat—always—by our growing-up experiences and education.  I have, however, been reading his daily meditations for some time and gaining access to some insights that experience so far failed to provide. I’m not alone—I’d venture to say—in having struggled always with the quarreling in my own mind and in my Christian home, the church; an unease over a myriad of doctrines and “right ways of doing things,” and wondered how that could ever have grown out of the Sermon on the Mount, the prospect of personal, familial joy and peace that is—according to Christ’s witness—the nature of the Kingdom. I posted this excerpt from the January 26 th meditation on Facebook, so some of you have seen it there. The meditations can be emailed to you daily by going to the Ce...

The Big Muddy - Southern Saskatchewan Matthew 7: 1-5 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. I remember being a guest-presenter at a men’s breakfast some years ago. It happened to be during the lead-up to a provincial election and comments like, “what’s the point of voting; politicians are all corrupt and on the take,” were common. I decided to base my talk on the passage beginning with “ Do not judge, or you too will be judged” in Matthew 7. If I recall correctly, my main point was th...

Swift Current Creek - good Pacific Ocean - good Unidentified Panamanian 3 inch bug - good Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:20-21 NIV) Franciscan Richard Rohr’s daily meditations ( https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/ ) have focused recently on a bottom-up way of interpreting scripture; instead of visualizing God “up there” and his creative power coming down to earth, he proposes that we more accurately visualize God as the base of creation, the bottom, the foundation. As opposed to the ruler, king, possibly. The upshot being that what we understand scripture to mean always rests upon our understanding of the nature of God; any misconception at the basis of our faith necessarily leads to misco...

1893 Google Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned. (James 5:12) Imagine this. In a country far away, the language is such that every utterance includes a syllable at the end that signals whether it’s true or not true. In that country, if the judge asks the accused, “Did you steal Jacob’s cow-truth?” The answer might be, “No, I did not-lie.” “Since you have lied and said you did not steal the cow, then the truth must me that you did steal Jacob’s cow-truth. Next case-truth.” Every observant parent knows that we have a rudimentary system like this; when we suspect that a child is fibbing, we order the child to repeat it while looking directly at us, and there in their eyes is the signal that what’s claimed is true . . . or not.” The guilty/honest look. (The principal is the same as that behind lie-detectors; lying may...

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the Lord returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52: 7-10) The window this morning opens on a green, climbing vista rising to the bare peak that is Volcan Baru, the highest point in Panama and the only place on earth from which one can see both the Atlantic (Caribbean) and Pacific Oceans at the same time. If the Lord were to “lay bare his holy arm” at the apex of Volcan Baru, nations from Colombia to Mexico, from Cuba to Venezuela might be able to...

When peace like a river attendeth my way. Mission: (n) a specific task with which a person or a group is charged. We chatted about Christian mission yesterday morning in an adult study group. About how some churches see themselves as a mission, as in Evangelical Mennonite Mission Church or that Anglican church in Northern Saskatchewan that gives the settlement of Stanley Mission its name. It’s the oldest church structure in Northern Saskatchewan, serves as a reminder to us that some European Christians of earlier centuries saw themselves on a mission; “charged with the specific task” of converting Indigenous people of North America to the Christian faith. But the New Testament charges us with a variety of “specific tasks,” including “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15) Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and prisoners, inviting strangers into our homes are also pretty specific tasks. (See Matthew...

Between the crosses, row on row . . . I’ve decided to wear a poppy this year. In the past, the November 11 th commemoration of Canadians who died in past wars has generally been conflicting for me—as it has long been for many who were raised in pacifist faith communities. Some have worn a pin coloured similarly to a poppy with the motto, “To remember is to work for peace.” Others have worn both the pin and the poppy. Still others have chosen (and this has been me in the past) to basically ignore the day and its ceremonial marches, displays of medals and laying of wreaths at cenotaphs. But it never felt right. Was I dishonouring the grief of families whose loved ones died in war, who believed unequivocally in the righteousness, the nobility of the cause that cost them their lives? It felt less like I was protesting the madness that killed them and more like I was refusing to acknowledge the pain war had exacted from so many Canadians. From now until Nove...