Tag: courage

Collect: Janani Luwum

Archbishop of Uganda, and Martyr, 1977 (Feb 17)

Janani Luwum

Remembering the martyrdom of Janani Luwum—a 20th-century martyr no less—do you hear what we ask of God? “Grant us” we pray “to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again….”

A bold intercession for ourselves and all who follow the Way of Love. May we have the heart to listen to God’s response and the courage to accept God’s grace to live as one “sealed with the cross of Christ” and confident that we, too, shall not be conquered by death but live with Christ who died and rose again.

The Collect for the Commemoration

O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give you thanks for your faithful shepherd Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example, gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Learn more

In 1969 Luwum became Bishop of Northern Uganda, where he was a faithful visitor to his parishes as well as a growing influence at international gatherings of the Anglican Communion. In 1974 he was elected Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire.

Luwum’s new position brought him into direct contact and eventual confrontation with the Ugandan military dictator, Idi Amin, as the Archbishop sought to protect his people from the brutality of Amin’s regime. In August of 1976 Makerere University was sacked by government troops. With Archbishop Luwum as their chair, the Christian leaders of the country drafted a strong memorandum of protest against officially sanctioned rape and murder.

In early February 1977 the Archbishop’s residence was searched for arms by government security forces. On February 16 President Amin summoned Luwum to his palace. He went there, accompanied by the other Anglican bishops and by the Roman Catholic cardinal archbishop and a senior leader of the Muslim community. After being accused of complicity in a plot to murder the President, most of the clerics were allowed to leave. However, Archbishop Luwum was ordered to remain behind. As his companions departed, Luwum said, “They are going to kill me. I am not afraid.” He was never seen alive again. The following day the government announced that he had been killed in an automobile accident while resisting arrest. Only after some weeks had passed was his bullet-riddled body released to his family for burial.

Janani Luwum on Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music website

Be well. Do good. Pay attention. Keep learning.

Networking Hope. Let your light shine.

A candle shining in the darkEarlier I posted a link to an essay by the Rev. Dr. Rachel Marsh about having hope in 2017. Among her “four (hope-giving) things” was this:

Transformational change takes place when individual actions are networked

Often we feel despondent because it feels like our small actions are too small, that they are meaningless. But research shows that although individual changes may not lead to transformational change, networking these individual actions CAN make a difference. This is where social media can be a blessing: a small action on one side of the world can inspire groups of people to take action elsewhere. The effect is multiplied and so my small action gains significance, affirmation and inspires me to do more. —Why I have hope for 2017

Today, via the Christian Science Monitor, I found this sign of hope: From a former sex slave to a climate poet: five unsung heroes of 2016. The article highlights the work of 5 individuals in places most of us will never visit. We know of their work because of the internet/social media.

May those doing similar work, may we who are able to support them by prayer, solidarity, and financial resources, continue to network in hope and courage, and for the common good. ~Fr. Dan

For further reading (keep learning)

Ask yourself …

… do you pray for that brother or sister
who’s in difficulty for confessing their faith?

That is the question Pope Francis asked of the crowd in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, September 25, 2013.

Grieving after a suicide bomb attack in Peshawar, Pakistan

The Pope’s comments came in response to an attack on an Anglican Church in Peshawar, Pakistan that left 78 dead. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, also spoke of the courage, the willingness to forgive, and the ‘cry for justice’ arising from the ashes of the destruction. Listen to his comments on Radio 4’s World at One.

Well, do you pray for brothers and sisters you may never meet, but who are family to you?

Wind Chimes: 16 Feb 2013

Joshua_tree_forrest_in_Arizona-croppedListen. Do you hear it? Mercy. Mercy. Mercy. That’s what it sounds like as the wind blows through the chimes today. What do you hear?

Can you hear God’s tender mercy?

Your words of mercy echo in my spirit:
“I forgive you for what you have done.”
“You can start over. Begin again.”
“I’ll be there as you recover.”
“Trust that there’s a better way.”
“Try your best to not do that again.”
“I know you can change your ways.”

May I also speak your words of mercy
In my response to those who stray,
Fail and fall, and attempt to start over.

Bernadette farrell in  Joyce Rupp. Fragments of Your Ancient Name:
365 Glimpses of the Divine for Daily Meditation. Kindle Edition.

Image: Laslovarga on WikimediaCommons

Wind Chimes: 15 Feb 2013

Courage. Courage. Courage. That’s what it sounds like as the wind blows through the chimes. What do you hear?

As we consider the temptation of Jesus (and our many temptations)

We are all asked to do more than we can do. Every hero and heroine of the Bible does more than he or she would have thought it possible to do, from Gideon to Esther to Mary. Jacob, one of my favorite characters, certainly wasn’t qualified. He was a liar and a cheat; and yet he was given the extraordinary vision of angels and archangels ascending and descending a ladder which reached from earth to heaven.

Madeleine l’engle “voice of the day” on 31 Jan. 2013

Image: Stan Sheba on WikimediaCommons

Wind Chimes: 23 Dec 2012

The wind in the chimes creates the sound of a plea: ‘O come, o come, Emmanuel.’ What do you hear?

O Emmanuel

“Pray the O Antiphons” one final day

The “O Antiphons,” one of the oldest liturgical rituals in the church, are prayed around the world during the final days of Advent. For the seven days before Christmas, we recall in these prayers a quality of Christ that must be realized before the presence of Christ can consume the world.

(December 23) O Emmanuel

Jesus Emmanuel has already come. It is not a matter now of Christ’s being where we are; it is a matter of our being in the consciousness of where Christ is in life and where He is not as well. Where is Christ for you? Is there a place in your life that you know down deep is not in the spirit of Christ at all? — Joan D. Chittister, OSB

Prayer: O Emmanuel, leader and desire of all the nations, you set captives free, comfort the lonely; you feed the poor and the hungry. Come be born in us, God of Life.

Pray the O Antiphons with Sister Joan and others
(it’s not too late ~dan)
O Antiphons

Links to online Advent Calendars

Even in tragedy, Advent continues. Perhaps this event will demand that we better incorporate the Advent spirituality into our daily lives. ~dan

Each of these has a different approach. Find one that helps you “prepare the way.” Find one that helps you focus on God as you make your way into the loving arms of God.

Trinity Wall Street Online Advent Calendar

Busted Halo Online Advent Calendar

CREDO Online Advent Calendar

Image: Benetvision

Wind Chimes: 21 Dec 2012

Sometime today, pause, listen, pray.

26 Bells a YouTube TributeClick the image for the video tribute, a response to the request of the Governor of Connecticut to ring “church bells” 26 times today (12/21/12)

Soacer40x20

“Pray the O Antiphons” an invitation from Joan Chittister

The “O Antiphons,” one of the oldest liturgical rituals in the church, are prayed around the world during the final days of Advent. For the seven days before Christmas, we recall in these prayers a quality of Christ that must be realized before the presence of Christ can consume the world.

(December 21) O Radiant Dawn

The celebration of the God of Growth in our lives—those moments of insight in which life comes newly alive in me—helps us to recognize those moments of insight in which life comes newly alive and I begin to see differently, to live differently, to function differently. A new friend, a new work, a new idea are all “radiant dawns” in life that can enable me to become more than I ever dreamed I could. — Joan D. Chittister, OSB

Prayer: O Dayspring, Sun of Justice, bright eternal light, one who shows the way, the one who sets us free even in darkness and death. Come, disperse the gloomy clouds of night.

Pray the O Antiphons with Sister Joan and others
(it’s not too late ~dan)
O Antiphons

Links to online Advent Calendars

Even in tragedy, Advent continues. Perhaps the horrific event of one week ago will demand that we better incorporate the Advent spirituality into our daily lives. ~dan

Each of these has a different approach. Find one that helps you “prepare the way.” Find one that helps you focus on God as you make your way into the loving arms of God.

Trinity Wall Street Online Advent Calendar

Busted Halo Online Advent Calendar

CREDO Online Advent Calendar

Wind Chimes: 20 Dec 2012

If the chimes were an orchestra they might sound like this today. Surely the sounds in the chimes are sounds of loss and grief but also of yearning and hope. What do you hear?

As longs the deer for cooling streams
in parched and barren ways,
so longs my soul, O God, for thee
and thy refreshing grace.

For thee, my God, the living God,
my thirsty soul doth pine:
O when shall I behold thy face,
thou majesty divine?

Why restless, why cast down, my soul?
Hope still, and thou shalt sing
the praise of him who is thy God,
thy health’s eternal spring.

To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
the God whom we adore,
be glory as it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.

Hymn based on Psalm 42 | Source: Hymn 658 in Hymnal 1982 (Episcopal) on Hymnary.org

“Pray the O Antiphons” an invitation from Joan Chittister

The “O Antiphons,” one of the oldest liturgical rituals in the church, are prayed around the world during the final days of Advent. For the seven days before Christmas, we recall in these prayers a quality of Christ that must be realized before the presence of Christ can consume the world.

(December 20) O Key of David

We are called to the kind of Christian commitment that opens doors and breaks down barriers between people, that brings unity to a divided world. Try to unlock one door that is keeping someone locked out of your heart. — Joan D. Chittister, OSB

Prayer: O Key of David, rod and staff of the house of Israel, one who opens and no one closes, the one who closes and no one opens. Come lead prisoners caught in darkness

Pray the O Antiphons with Sister Joan and others
(it’s not too late ~dan)
O Antiphons

Links to online Advent Calendars

Even in tragedy, Advent continues. Perhaps this event will demand that we better incorporate the Advent spirituality into our daily lives. ~dan

Each of these has a different approach. Find one that helps you “prepare the way.” Find one that helps you focus on God as you make your way into the loving arms of God.

Trinity Wall Street Online Advent Calendar

Busted Halo Online Advent Calendar

CREDO Online Advent Calendar

 

Wind Chimes: 18 Dec 2012

O AdonaiThe gale winds have subsided. The wind is as gentle as a baby’s breath. The sound in the chimes is softer. What do you hear?

“Pray the O Antiphons” an invitation from Joan Chittister

The “O Antiphons,” one of the oldest liturgical rituals in the church, are prayed around the world during the final days of Advent. For the seven days before Christmas, we recall in these prayers a quality of Christ that must be realized before the presence of Christ can consume the world.

(December 18) O Adonai

When we build a vision of life it is necessary to realize that Jesus must be the center of it—not our institutions, good as they may be; not our plans or personal talents, necessary as they are. — Joan D. Chittister, OSB

Prayer: O Adonai, leader of the ancient Israel, giving Moses, while in the burning bush, the law on Sinai. Come with outstretched arms and teach us.

Pray the O Antiphons with Sister Joan and others
(it’s not too late ~dan)
O Antiphons

Links to online Advent Calendars

Even in tragedy, Advent continues. Perhaps this event will demand that we better incorporate the Advent spirituality into our daily lives. ~dan

Each of these has a different approach. Find one that helps you “prepare the way.” Find one that helps you focus on God as you make your way into the loving arms of God.

Trinity Wall Street Online Advent Calendar

Busted Halo Online Advent Calendar

CREDO Online Advent Calendar

Image: Benetvision

Wind Chimes: 17 Dec 2012

Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.

Those little Advent candles sure have a lot of darkness to overcome this year.  —Rachel Held Evans

Even in the darkness the wind swirls and blows and the chimes sound. In the dark, what do you hear?

God can’t be kept out – the Good News we hear in the darkness

Rachel Held Evans begins her post this way:

Those little Advent candles sure have a lot of darkness to overcome this year. I see them glowing from church windows and on TV, in homes and at midnight vigils, here in Dayton and in Sandy Hook. Their stubborn flames represent the divine promise that even the smallest light can chase away the shadows lurking in this world, that even in the darkest places, God can’t be kept out.

Later she moves to the ‘rumor’ she ‘calls out’ in the rest of her post:

We all grieve in different ways, and we must be patient with one another as we do, but there is a rumor floating around among the people of God that is so vile, so dangerous and untrue, it simply must be called out. It’s a rumor that began long before the shots rang out at Sandy Hook and long before this Advent season.

It’s the rumor that God can be chased out.

I will say my “AMEN” to her proclamation now and encourage you to read her post, God can’t be kept out. She indeed states, eloquently, what I believe and what I try to proclaim in my own stumbling way.

“God with us.” Amen: may it be as we say and even more than we imagine. ~dan

More about Rachel Held Evans

Links to online Advent Calendars

Even in tragedy, Advent continues. Perhaps this event will demand that we better incorporate the Advent spirituality into our daily lives. ~dan

Each of these has a different approach. Find one that helps you “prepare the way.” Find one that helps you focus on God as you make your way into the loving arms of God.

Trinity Wall Street Online Advent Calendar

Busted Halo Online Advent Calendar

CREDO Online Advent Calendar

Image: Armin Vogel on Flickr

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