Sixth Sunday of Easter: If You Love Me

Today's Scripture Reading

John 14:15-21 (NRSV)

Jesus said to his disciples, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

"I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

Blog Reflection

No!  Your eyes are not deceiving you.   I am only using the Gospel reading for this Sunday instead of the entire Lectionary.   I have had a very busy week behind me.   Tomorrow, I leave for the Spring Convocation of the Companions of St. Luke/Order of St. Benedict held at Conception Abbey in Missouri.   I have a full week ahead of me.  So, rather than write a blog on the whole Sunday Lectionary, I felt that using only the Gospel reading was the best way to go.

There are many things written in the Gospel of John that can be difficult to understand, put into action, put into a sermon or blog.  This Sunday's Gospel is not one of them.  Jesus is talking plain talk to those who are following Him with a clear and vital message.

Last Sunday, Jesus told us that the life that He lived is the way, the truth and the life guiding Christians to a meaningful way of living the life and words of Jesus.   They do not make Christianity the only true religion for all of humankind; but, for Christians and those who want to be good examples of Jesus and His holy life, know Him, His words are about our true relationship.    Now, in this Gospel that continues what Jesus began last Sunday, He tells us not just what the way, truth and life is, but how to live into it.  It is simply not enough to know the creeds backwards and forwards, or know every chapter and verse of the Bible by memory for the next hot theological debate.   The life that Jesus points us to, does not make us terribly popular or well liked; but, it is a life that loves very differently than how the world around us shows love.

The so called "love" of the world around us is based on what we can see, know and do.   How wealthy and powerful we can become.  It is a love that has as it's roots commercial and industrial development at the expense of the needs of the human person to the point of deciding whom do we include or exclude.  To love Jesus and to follow His commandments is to love others as He loves each one of us.  Jesus is God's love made to live in the Human Person, by loving God, our neighbor and ourselves inclusively and by seeking justice for all human persons.   It is a love that celebrates all love as being from God, so as to be directed to God through our love of others.   It is a love that is prepared to give of ourselves for the sake of others.   It is love shown by seeking healing and reconciliation where there is oppression, violence and prejudice.

This past week was an amazing week for the LGBT Communities.  The States of Oregon, Pennsylvania and Idaho saw rulings on the freedom to marry that gave same-sex couples the legal right to marry the person they love.   The one that I wish to focus on for a bit as part of this blog reflection on love, is Oregon.  

In his ruling that Oregon's Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, Judge Michael J. McShane wrote what I received was quite the Easter message at the end of his opinion and ruling.   He wrote:  "Where will all this lead?  I know many suggest that we are going down a slippery slope that will have no moral boundaries.  To those who truly harbor such fears, I can only say this: Let us look less to the sky to see what might fall; rather, let us look to each other....and rise."

I think that is what Jesus' message to us in the Gospel today is.  Rather than looking toward a heaven for more storms to come and show us how evil we are for supporting the equal opportunity to marry, let us look at LGBT couples, listen to the stories of their relationships and lives together and rise together with the Risen Christ, and in love, love Christ by loving each other.

Amen.


Prayers

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good
things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such
love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above
all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we
can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.225).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 815).

Fifth Sunday of Easter: Way, Truth and Life for Everyone

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 7:55-60 (NRSV)

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

Psalm 31 (BCP., p.622)


1 Peter 2:2-10 (NRSV)

Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:

"See, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

"The stone that the builders rejected

has become the very head of the corner,"

and

"A stone that makes them stumble,

and a rock that makes them fall."

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people,

but now you are God's people;

once you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

John 14:1-14 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it."

Blog Reflection

There was a time in my life when every time I read these amazing words from St. John's Gospel, I agreed with them without conflict.   Jesus' words "I am the way, the truth and the life" seem so absolute.  How could I or anyone else misunderstand Jesus?

While these same words carry with them a great affirmation of faith, they also contain a few problems.

John's Gospel beginning with the fourteenth chapter, starts what we call the Last Supper Discourse.   In this discourse are many proclamations that Jesus makes about Himself as well as the coming of the Holy Spirit.   It appears from the beginning, that the Disciples still have many unanswered questions about who Jesus is and what He is doing.  It is highly believed that the Apostle John himself is not the author of this Gospel, but a disciple of the Apostle was.    It is also very possible that the Gospel was put together by not only one, but a few different Johannine communities linked to the work of the Apostle and Evangelist.  Those communities were in great conflict with the authorities of the Jewish Faith of the time. The Oxford Annotated Bible suggests that we not interpret Jesus' arguments as being with the Jews, but with those who did not believe in Him.  The subject of using the Jews as Jesus' adversaries is responsible for unspeakable acts of antisemitism.  This text within John's Gospel is not a license to discriminate against Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, Wiccans or Atheists.   It is also not a Gospel reading granting us the green light to say that lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender people must go through so called "ex-gay" or "reparative therapy" because sexual "preference" is not morally neutral.

Of all Gospel texts that gets used without restraint to suggest that Christianity is a religion of supersessionism, this reading is the worst.   If there was a text that has the greatest power to unite Christians with compassion and acceptance of diversity, this is the text.  However, there is also no text in all of Christendom that gives our Christian Faith as bad of a name as this one does.

The words of this Gospel reading suggest that Jesus is responding to a lack of faith that does not perceive a reality beyond appearances and mere logic.  The Apostles Thomas and Philip want answers to the questions they ask.  Their questions are very much like our own.  Full of a quest for a certainty that is not temporary.  Or they suggest a certainty based on what is on the surface.   Jesus answers their questions that opens their eyes of faith to see past who Jesus is to what His life is about.

The "way" of Jesus is to seek out the marginalized and to set free those oppressed by bias, violence and being swept to the sides by the cracks in the system.   The "truth" of Jesus is that God's love in unconditional and all-inclusive.  The "life" that comes from Jesus is one that embraces all people and loves them without distinction or exception.   Jesus' way, truth and life that draws people to His Father by God's initiative, because every person is created in the image and likeness of God, and redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Not even a religion that does not believe in Jesus as Christians do, can keep God from loving every person.   Not even our disobedience to God to love God, our neighbor and ourselves keeps Christ from redeeming us through His death and resurrection.   The Jesus' way, truth and life no one who comes to God will be rejected because of who they are, what they believe, what color her/his skin is, or immigration status, or sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression.  

The Easter Mystery is about how Jesus Christ by God's power broke through the chains of death, despair and doubt and found victory over those things that separate us from God and one another.   Our celebration of the Easter event challenges all of us to seek union with God in prayer to find healing and reconciliation among all God's people.  

By the grace of God, let us all love one another as Jesus Christ loves each one of us.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant
us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way,
the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his
steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ
your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.225).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.815).

Gracious Father, we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it
with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt,
purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is
amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in
want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake
of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.816).

Fourth Sunday of Easter: Jesus our Mother, Shepherd Us

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 2:42-47 (NRSV)

Those who had been baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Psalm 23 (BCP., p.612).


1 Peter 2:19-25 (NRSV)

It is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

"He committed no sin,

and no deceit was found in his mouth."

When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

John 10:1-10 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

Blog Reflection

In Enriching Our Worship 1: Morning and Evening Prayer, The Great Litany, The Holy Eucharist, there are two canticles that strike me on this Good Shepherd Sunday and Mother's Day.

One is Canticle Q : A Song of Christ's Goodness by St. Anselm of Canterbury on page 39.

Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you;
  you are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Often you weep over our sins and our pride,
  tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement.
You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds,
  in sickness you nurse us, and with pure milk you feed us.
Jesus, by your dying, we are born to new life;
  by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy.
Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness;
  through your gentleness, we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead,
  your touch makes sinners righteous.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy, heal us;
  in your love and tenderness, remake us.
In your compassion, bring grace and forgiveness,
  for the beauty of heaven, may your love prepare us.

The second is Canticle R: A Song of True Motherhood by St. Julian of Norwich on page 40.

God chose to be our mother in all things
  and so made the foundation of his work,
  most humbly and most pure, in the Virgin's womb.
God, the perfect wisdom of all,
  arrayed himself in this humble place.
Christ came in our poor flesh
  to share a mother's care.
Our mothers bear us for pain and for death;
  Our mother, Jesus, bears us for joy and endless life.
Christ carried us within him in love and travail,
  until the full time of his passion.
And when all was completed and he carried us so for joy,
  still all this could not satisfy the power of his wonderful love.
All that we owe is redeemed in truly loving God,
  for the love of Christ works in us;
  Christ is the one whom we love.

I think this is one of those Sundays, where I need to let the Holy Spirit use the message contained in the Scriptures and the Canticles do Her own talking.

All I will add is my own prayer that we will all look to Jesus as our Mother and our Shepherd to lead us into a deeper relationship of love for God, our neighbor and ourselves.  May Jesus lead us away from violence, brutality, oppression, injustice and prejudice so that we may safely graze on the pastures where Jesus our Mother and Shepherd may feed us well.

May Jesus our Mother and Shepherd bring back the 200 girls abducted in Nigeria. 

May Jesus our Mother and Shepherd lead us to care for the poor, the sick, the marginalized and those who's name and face are known to God alone.

May Jesus our Mother and Shepherd, guide us in our journey of faith and life.

Amen.

Prayer

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people;
Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who
calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with
you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p. 225).

Third Sunday of Easter: The Risen Christ and the Breaking of the Bread

 

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 2:14a, 36-41 (NRSV)

 

Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the multitude, "Let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Psalm 118 (BCP., p.759)


1 Peter 1:17-23 (NRSV)

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

Luke 24:13-35 (NRSV)

On the first day of the week, two of Jesus' followers were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Blog Reflection

When I was in college, I took two classes in cultural anthropology.   At one point in the course, the professor told us a story.  He went on a journey to the rainforests. While he was there, he got to know one of the members of the tribe. My professor spent quite a few days following him, eating with him, seeing his family, seeing how he worked.  The man was dressed in a loin cloth, with paint markings all over his body, and a bone through his nose.  My professor followed the man one day,  to help him carry some logs from the forest back to his home.  My professor was amazed because while my professor could barely pick up a single log to carry it; the man who was part of the tribe hurled three full sized logs and carried them on his shoulder.  Not only that, but the man knew every elected official in America and what they stood for.  The man in the rainforest knew more about America and what goes on here, than my professor could even discuss.   It was at that point, that my professor was forced to confront his own ethnocentricity.  The white, American, Christian culture was no superior in any way than the man he was learning about.  

Those first Disciples walking the road to Emmaus must have felt somewhat like that when this man came along, asked them about why they were so sad. They did not know it was Jesus.  After Jesus asked them, and they responded, suddenly the man who was a stranger to them knew more about what had happened than they did.  It was not until they Jesus entered the place where they were staying and broke bread with them, that their eyes were opened and they knew it was Jesus.

Sometimes, it takes a stranger to point out to us just how good we have things.  Other times, it takes someone who does not know us, to show us a better way to go.  Yet, there is one way we know for sure that we are united in welcoming and spending time with each other.  It is when we break the Bread that is the Body of Christ, and share the Cup that is the Blood of Christ that strangers become friends.  Those who are estranged suddenly find a sense of community, a place of belonging with the Risen Christ and the Church.

Whatever we are facing in our lives, the Risen Christ shares the road we walk on.  Whether that be working through an addiction, a relationship that is separating, injustice, oppression, grieving the loss of someone we love; Jesus Christ Crucified and Risen from the dead walks, talks and breaks the Bread of His Body with us.  We are never alone.   No label that an unjust society or the Church may place on us, separates us from our relationship with God through Jesus Christ and one another.   St. Paul writes:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38, 39 NRSV).   

In today's reading from 1 Peter 1:23 we read:

You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

It remains a deep sadness to the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ that the Eucharist is so often used as a weapon to control another persons belief and/or behaviors according to a particular interpretation of Scripture.   In this reading from Luke today, it is clear that the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not an excuse to stigmatize or divide people.  It is the reason for love and understanding, healing and reconciliation.  The Paschal Mystery has the power to end divisions and destroy prejudice and cruelty.  It is Christians who have badly interpreted Scripture who continue to make the Eucharist into nothing more than another family dinner, with all the relatives arguing and leaving angry with each other.  No wonder people look at Christians and turn away.   Is it any wonder why people do not believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead?

I am a Christian who does believe in the Resurrection and how good Jesus Christ is to every person.  I do not believe that God sent God's Son to judge people to hell because of their race, sexual orientation, political party, gender, gender identity/expression, language, immigration status, wealth, health or any other reason. I do not believe that the Bible is God's sexual penal code.  I believe that the Scriptures are very clear that God's love is unconditional and all-inclusive.  I believe that in the heart of God, there are no rejects, losers or those who are hopeless.  The Paschal Mystery including the Eucharist is the source of my belief.  Among my many reasons for writing this blog week after week, year after year is I want readers to know, that God discriminates against no one.  Our Baptismal Covenant as Episcopalians tells us to respect the dignity of every human person.  Without exception.

May Christians and many others who are still wondering how real Jesus Christ is, find anew that living hope of God's love and tender mercy.  May we all know that God is closer to us than we have any real understanding about.  Let there be hospitality, healing and reconciliation because as the hymn words by A.H. Acklel read:

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives? 
He lives within my heart.

Prayers

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his
disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith,
that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives
and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.224).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.815).

O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior,
the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the
great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away
all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us
from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body
and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith,
one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all
of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth
and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and
one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.818).