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Lutherans and Catholics Prayerfully Commemorate 500th Anniversary of the Reformation January 26th, 2017
This article is republished from OMIUSA.org. (Click here to read a news report of the event with highlights from Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s homily)
By Harry E. Winter, OMI
Fr. Harry E. Winter, OMI
Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN hosted Archbishop Bernard Hebda, RC Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota; Bishop Patricia Lull, St. Paul Area Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and Bishop Ann Svennungsen, Minneapolis Area Synod, Evangelical Church in America, on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017 for Evening Prayer to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. Over 600 people attended, making this one of the largest ecumenical services ever held in the Twin Cities.
The Fifth Imperative from the Lutheran-RC statement “From Conflict to Communion,” was read jointly by Tim Marx, President of Catholic Charities, and Jodi Harpstead, CEO of Lutheran Social Services: “Catholics and Lutherans should witness together to the mercy of God in proclamation and service to the world.” The collection taken up during the service was pledged for homeless ministry, to be divided equally between the two organizations. (For the four other Imperatives, see the website Mission-Unity-Dialogue: www.harrywinter.org).
Archbishop Hebda
Archbishop Hebda preached the homily, beginning by confessing to “sanctuary jealousy,” as we all admired the beauty of the large and impressive Lutheran church (click here for his humorous and profound homily). He invited all to attend the service a year from now at the Catholic Cathedral of St. Paul, to bring the joint 500th anniversary of the Reformation observance to a close.
Partly because of the participation of the 100 member plus Minnesota Boys choir (many teenagers among them), the congregation included young people and families as well as seniors. At the beginning of the service, water was blessed and we were sprinkled, to remind Lutherans and Catholics of our shared baptism. During the service, candles were lighted from the large Evening Prayer Candle for each of the Five Imperatives, and then each of us lighted our small candle from it. We then listened to an adaptation of the Easter Exultet. Incense was used for one of the sung psalms, so we experienced worship both physical and spiritual.
Each of us felt the deep blending of spirituality, ecumenism and justice.
Letter of the Superior General for the Closing of the Oblate Triennium January 25th, 2017
Dear Brother Oblates,
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Mazenodian Family,
Greetings of peace in this New Year of Our Lord, 2017!
With praise and thanksgiving to God for grace upon grace we have received in celebrating our 200th anniversary as a missionary society founded on January 25, 1816, I officially declare the closing of our Oblate Triennium on January 25, 2017. These three years have been an intense pilgrimage of grace in response to the 2010 General Chapter call to a profound personal and community conversion to Jesus Christ. In the years to come we will continue to reap the fruits of this communal journey of conversion. I am grateful to all the Units that made this a special event through so many meaningful initiatives. Many thanks go also to the whole Mazenodian Family and Oblate Youth for your involvement, spirit of celebration and prayer throughout the Oblate Triennium!
Read the full letter here…
Anniversary of OMI Congregation’s Founding – January 25 January 23rd, 2017
“…The dynamic of conversion continues in our Oblate life and mission as long as we are alive! Our missionary journey is not an easy one. Jesus’ faithfulness will sustain us. The smile of Mary Immaculate, her loving gaze, is upon us and we dedicate our missionary lives to her once again so that we will be true to the Oblate charism.”
Rev. Fr. Louis Lougen, OMI
Letter of the Superior General for closing of the Oblate Triennium
Introduction
The OMI JPIC Office would like to wish blessings to all the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate on the anniversary of the order’s founding. During the Oblate Triennium, the Missionary Oblates approved the new OMI JPIC Companion in Mission. Read excerpts from the Superior General’s introduction in the document.
Superior General Message – OMI JPIC Companion in Mission
We, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, are committed to the ministry of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation as an integral part of the mission to bring the good news to the poor. This ministry is an essential dimension of our missionary lives. The concern for justice, the commitment to be peacemakers and the care for the gift of God’s creation are signs that the Kin
gdom announced by Jesus is among us. This is especially valued by Oblates and is expressed in the Biblical motto of our Congregation: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim deliverance to the captives and reco
very of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
It is fundamental that this OMI JPIC Companion In Mission, become a basic text for all Oblates to read, study, share and use for discerning concrete actions on behalf of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. I ask that all our Major Superiors and local Superiors familiarize themselves with this resource and use it in fostering continuing formation for the members of our communities and with the lay people associated with us. This OMI JPIC Companion in Mission, is also a document to be used in first formation so that from the beginning of their missionary journey, young Oblates will have a unified vision of JPIC within our missionary vocation to evangelize the poor and most abandoned.
Conclusion
“….We will reflect the understanding, patience and compassion of the Savior. We will always be close to the people with whom we work, taking into account their values and aspirations.”
OMI Constitution & Rules 7,8
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month January 18th, 2017
President Barack Obama has proclaimed January 2017 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the United States, calling upon businesses, national and community organizations, families, and all Americans to recognize the vital role we must play in ending all forms of human trafficking. Many with groups are bringing attention to this issue through prayer and educational resources. Below are links to some of these resources.
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (USCCB):
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month & Day of Prayer Tookit:
“Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. We must unite our efforts to free victims and stop this crime that’s become ever more aggressive, that threatens not just individuals, but the foundational values of society.” Pope Francis
- U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking provides several resources on its website including prayer services and an interfaith toolkit produced and distributed by the Washington Inter-Religious Staff Community Working Group on Human Trafficking (WISC).
- The Catholic Health Association is sponsoring a Twitter Chat on Human Trafficking, Feb. 2nd, 1-2:00 PM Eastern. Contact Jody Wise for details: wisejo@trinity-health.org.
Fr. Seamus Finn among Presenters at the Rome Roundtable 2017 January 18th, 2017
The Global Foundation gathered for its Rome Roundtable 2017 on January 14th and 15th
and convened participants from the business and investment community, religious leaders, civic institutions, academia and civil society to evaluate responses and measure progress on United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The fifty invited participants were asked to report on progress since the last roundtable and to discuss additional commitments and actions that they would undertake during the coming year.
Visit this website to read the Vatican Radio report on the event and Pope Francis’s address to participants.
My comments were focused on the numerous challenges and debates that have taken place over the last century about development. The UN sponsored decades of development that focused on different dimensions of the topic and how they might be appropriately addressed and then the encyclical letter, “Populorum Progressio” (On the Development of Peoples), of Pope Paul VI, in 1967 built on the teaching of the Catholics tradition and the Second Vatican Council on the issues. This encyclical remains as a foundational point of reference for the Church’s understanding of development especially with the introduction and definition of the concept of “integral human development”. More recently through a United Nations process in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals were adopted as a benchmark and guide for action in countries and communities across the world.
The adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by the General Assembly in 2015 has set a clear agenda for the work of development until 2030. In our panel presentation my colleagues, Mark Cutefani, CEO, Anglo American and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape town reported on the collaborative multistakeholder project that has been organized by the Mining and Faiths Reflection Initiative to address development issues in mine site communities at local and regional levels.
