Rumours of Grace: The Pope's Easter prayer for the world
I am not a member of the Catholic Church.
Half a millennium ago when the Catholic
Church was at a low point, the people of
many countries broke with Catholicism to
live their faith without the supervision of the
Pope and Catholic hierarchy. This is why today
there are Anglican churches wherever we
find the English; Lutheran churches where
we find German, Danish and Swedish; Presbyterian
where we find Scottish; Reformed
where we find Dutch and many other branches
of the Christian tree. I am somewhere in
those branches.
Yet I find myself often in strong agreement with some of what comes from the Catholic community.
Take for example the Pope’s Easter address given this past Easter on March 27.
Pope Francis began with a declaration. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this declaration. It is a statement about the event without which there would be no church, no Christian tradition and no movement of the people of Jesus Christ. It is the declaration that a Jewish prophet and teacher was raised from the dead.
Without the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, he would have disappeared into the river of history as one more failed young Jewish leader who for a time had an enormous following, but came to the same sorry end that all such leaders in his time and place could expect. He was crucified, executed by torture, by the Roman government of the day. Crucifixion was a “public service” that resulted in the deaths of literally thousands of young Jewish “offenders”.
But with his resurrection from death, Jesus’ teachings were vindicated, and the movement he began soon spread throughout southern Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa.
The message of Christ, though at times distorted, sometimes tragically so, is ultimately a message of great hope.
This is why the majority of Pope Francis’ Easter address was a prayer for the world. I will touch on a few of the petitions in that prayer.
The first petition, “Help us to seek you and to find you, to realize that we have a Father and are not orphans; that we can love and adore you.”
The message here is that no matter who we are, we have a Creator who has made us all. Even in the depths of great unhappiness or disorientation, there is a God who has given us purpose, dignity and meaning. When we reach out for him, we will be found.
A second petition, “Help us to overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible.” What if the leaders in food production and distribution, the managers of war and us, the consumers, reflected daily on this petition? Could it not have a great impact on our businesses, our support for wars and our habits of consuming food and other resources?
And a third petition, “Comfort those who have left their own lands to migrate to places offering hope for a better future and the possibility of living their lives in dignity and, not infrequently, of freely professing their faith.”
Here the Pope must surely have had in mind the 60 million refugees who now inhabit our planet. He must have had in mind the reduction to second-class citizens of non-Muslim people in the Arab world (and the persecution they face). He must have had in mind the need to encourage the Western world to continue to help refugees. And he must have had in mind and the need for the Middle East to help, rather than create and expel, refugees.
Francis ended his Easter address with these words, “Lord, we pray to you for all the peoples of the Earth: you who have conquered death, grant us your life, grant us your peace.” A closing petition for the life of God and for the peace of God for all persons, a prayer each of us could repeat each day, one that could profoundly change us and our world for good.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Yet I find myself often in strong agreement with some of what comes from the Catholic community.
Take for example the Pope’s Easter address given this past Easter on March 27.
Pope Francis began with a declaration. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this declaration. It is a statement about the event without which there would be no church, no Christian tradition and no movement of the people of Jesus Christ. It is the declaration that a Jewish prophet and teacher was raised from the dead.
Without the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, he would have disappeared into the river of history as one more failed young Jewish leader who for a time had an enormous following, but came to the same sorry end that all such leaders in his time and place could expect. He was crucified, executed by torture, by the Roman government of the day. Crucifixion was a “public service” that resulted in the deaths of literally thousands of young Jewish “offenders”.
But with his resurrection from death, Jesus’ teachings were vindicated, and the movement he began soon spread throughout southern Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa.
The message of Christ, though at times distorted, sometimes tragically so, is ultimately a message of great hope.
This is why the majority of Pope Francis’ Easter address was a prayer for the world. I will touch on a few of the petitions in that prayer.
The first petition, “Help us to seek you and to find you, to realize that we have a Father and are not orphans; that we can love and adore you.”
The message here is that no matter who we are, we have a Creator who has made us all. Even in the depths of great unhappiness or disorientation, there is a God who has given us purpose, dignity and meaning. When we reach out for him, we will be found.
A second petition, “Help us to overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible.” What if the leaders in food production and distribution, the managers of war and us, the consumers, reflected daily on this petition? Could it not have a great impact on our businesses, our support for wars and our habits of consuming food and other resources?
And a third petition, “Comfort those who have left their own lands to migrate to places offering hope for a better future and the possibility of living their lives in dignity and, not infrequently, of freely professing their faith.”
Here the Pope must surely have had in mind the 60 million refugees who now inhabit our planet. He must have had in mind the reduction to second-class citizens of non-Muslim people in the Arab world (and the persecution they face). He must have had in mind the need to encourage the Western world to continue to help refugees. And he must have had in mind and the need for the Middle East to help, rather than create and expel, refugees.
Francis ended his Easter address with these words, “Lord, we pray to you for all the peoples of the Earth: you who have conquered death, grant us your life, grant us your peace.” A closing petition for the life of God and for the peace of God for all persons, a prayer each of us could repeat each day, one that could profoundly change us and our world for good.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
