Episcopal Life Online Newslink October 24, 2007
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's ELO Newslink includes:
* TOP STORY - ERD to help those displaced by Southern California wildfires; Presiding Bishop calls for prayers * TOP STORY - Bishops Working for a Just Society challenge Congress on debt relief, Farm Bill, climate change * TOP STORY - Anglicans, Roman Catholics meet to discuss Mary, ecumenical relations * WORLD REPORT - BRITAIN: Archbishop of Canterbury joins call for re-examination of abortion law * WORLD REPORT - NORTH INDIA: Church Leaders demand end to repression by military in Burma * SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 25) - Year C [RCL]
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TOP STORIES
ERD to help those displaced by Southern California wildfires; Presiding Bishop calls for prayers
[ERD] Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) is standing by to provide emergency assistance to communities affected by wildfires in Southern California. Almost 1 million people have been forced to evacuate their homes, the largest evacuation in California history. Experts fear that the number could increase within the next several days.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori asked for "prayers for our fellow brothers and sisters who are living in San Diego and the Southern California region and are threatened by the fire of this week."
"I have learned families have moved out of their houses and have been staying at various places," she said. "I can't imagine how close they are to disaster. Please pray for their safety and that of their loved ones and neighbors. Pray that the wind ceases and the fire be extinguished soon. Pray for all who have suffered such great losses."
Since Friday, October 19, approximately 20 wildfires have scorched hundreds of thousands of acres over 600 square miles from north of Los Angeles to southeast of San Diego. Santa Ana winds, 90 degree temperatures and record low rainfalls have made the fires extremely difficult to control. There are not enough fire engines and firefighters in the state of California to battle the blazes. The flames have destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged hundreds more.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_91299_ENG_HTM.htm
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Bishops Working for a Just Society challenge Congress on debt relief, Farm Bill, climate change
By staff
[Episcopal News Service, Washington, D.C.] Seven Episcopal bishops -- all members of Bishops Working for a Just World -- traveled to Washington, D.C., October 15-18 to advocate for church policies on debt relief, the Farm Bill, and climate change.
The bishops placed strategic phone calls on climate change legislation and met with Members of Congress and senior staff to present the reasons for Episcopal Church concern on these key public policy issues.
Bishops Laura Ahrens of Connecticut, Barry L. Beisner of Northern California, Charles E. Bennison, Jr. of Pennsylvania, John Bryson Chane of Washington, James Curry of Connecticut, Jean Zache Duracin of Haiti, and William Persell of Chicago worked with the staff of the Office of Government Relations and Bonni McKinney of the Diocese of Connecticut to plan the trip.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_91303_ENG_HTM.htm
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Anglicans, Roman Catholics meet to discuss Mary, ecumenical relations
[ARCUSA] Anglican and Roman Catholic leaders in the United States met October 18-20 in dialogue on the role of the Virgin Mary and the progress in ecumenical relations between the two churches.
The 63rd meeting of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Theological Consultation (ARCUSA) was held at Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Virginia. It was chaired jointly by Episcopal Bishop Edwin F. Gulick, Jr. of Kentucky, and Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Edward W. Clark of Los Angeles.
The meeting completed work on two documents. The first was a response to the 2004 "Seattle Document" of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, titled "Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ." The response, which is both a commentary on the document and a meditation on the meaning of the Blessed Virgin for the faithful of the two churches, is attached below.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_91308_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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WORLD REPORT
BRITAIN: Archbishop of Canterbury joins call for re-examination of abortion law http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_91302_ENG_HTM.htm
NORTH INDIA: Church Leaders demand end to repression by military in Burma http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_91314_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS
Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 25) - Year C [RCL] Joel 2:23-32 or Sirach 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22; Psalm 65 or 84:1-7; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14
By Joseph S. Pagano
[Sermons That Work] Every person who is born into this world, who lives and learns and grows, who works and worships and plays, who grays and grows old and dies, has one fundamental question that underlies his or her whole life: "Do you love me?"
We are created for connection: connection with others, connection with the universe, and connection with God. Being hardwired for relationship, we seek communion and reconciliation with all people, with the cosmos, and with God. This desire is the search for love. All of human life is a quest for love.
Unfortunately, the fundamental question "Do you love me?" is soon transformed by genetics, by socialization, by original sin, by whatever, into a different question, "Am I worthy of being loved?" or even more tragically, "What can I do to be worthy of your love?"
Full reflection: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_91273_ENG_HTM.htm