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“Forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others.”

 

On Sunday  January 1, I titled my sermon, 'What’s In A Name.'

Part of the content was to remind us of the various names we have given to Jesus over the generations--names which describe Jesus’ incredible love for all people.         

Love is an interesting word.

The Brother’s at SSJE 'word for January 1st, 2023' was just that: LOVE.

It is the word you will have received in today's "Thursday communication'".

I repeat it here:

Love: We must know the mind of Jesus, the heart of Jesus, the words of Jesus to speak in his name. The only reason for invoking Jesus’ name is for the sake of love: so that we may love Jesus, and be loved by Jesus, and then love others in Jesus’ name - that is, as Jesus loves them. Br. Curtis Almquist, SSJE  

In The Lord’s Prayer, we petition our Lord as follows:

“Forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others.”

For myself, I find this petition genuine love. 

At the same time, we live in a world which is very troubled. We do not need to look far to see instances of anger, resentment, rage, abuse of power, to name a few examples of a troubled world.

Another type of trouble in the world is simple abuse, in a variety of circumstances and conditions.  One circumstance was highlighted in the January 1st edition of The Times Columnist from Victoria.

In BOLD print, the headline of Section C was:  THE NEW TOOLS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE.
The opening sentence reads, "A phone, a smart home, a digitally connected car – these are the tools of digital domestic abuse that, anti-violence experts say, is on the rise.            

My first reaction was, WHAT?            

Further into the article, the following information from Statistics Canada heightened even greater anxiety within me:
"On average, every 6 days, a woman is killed by an intimate partner."

Another: WHAT?            

Of recent, the news of young women in some cultures being refused the right to education, employment, or other broadly accepted, cultural practices (particularly in the Western world) being denied.            

Then, I recall an article of 30+ years ago, in another Canadian newspaper, giving a similar statistic-- as to the number of women experiencing abuse, with a similar average of every 6 days.            

In this first week of a new year, we are reminded of the gift of love. We are reminded of the steadfastness of our Lord. Additionally, we are reminded by Scripture, of our commitment to be steadfast in our Lord.

John 6. 37-40 is a reflection of how we might live into Christ’s love:

"All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” 

Blessings in this time of Epiphany,
Archdeacon Brian