new church life: november/december 2015
morning star signifies that He will come with new light, which will arise before
His New Church, which is the Holy Jerusalem.”
So what are we to do with this constantly renewing gift of light? How do
we give back?
After giving the Two Great Commandments, Jesus said: “You have not
chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and
bring forth fruit.” (John 15:16)
And in the Sermon on the Mount he gave us the charge – to make tha t
gift of light a beacon in our lives, not just in this happy season but through all
the days of our lives: “You are the light of the world. . . . Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which
is in heaven.” (Matthew 5: 14,16)
(BMH)
the pope and the new church
(Editor’s note: I wrote the following editorial, then headlined “The Pope’s Appeal,”
for the broad audience of a daily newspaper in Pennsylvania on October 3, 1979
when Pope John Paul II visited Philadelphia. In late September of this year – 36
years later – Pope Francis became the second pope to visit Philadelphia (as well
as Washington and New York). Both of these popes have shown how to combine
strong leadership with gracious humility to inspire people throughout the world
– and beyond the Catholic Church – to serve God, love their neighbors, uphold
morality and live their values.
We have many doctrinal differences with the Catholic Church, and this pope,
while enormously popular, is also somewhat controversial for both doctrinal and
political positions. But he won people over during his visit to the United States with
genuine love and compassion. We can all appreciate that he is serving the Lord as a
powerful influence for good in the world. We know from True Christianity 457 that:
“God loves each and every human being; and because He cannot do good to them
directly, but only indirectly by means of other people, He therefore breathes into
people His love.”
We may long for the day when the New Church approaches the vision of
becoming “the crown of all churches that have hitherto existed in the world,” and
one of our own bishops has such worldwide appeal and influence. Meanwhile, we
can be grateful for the way the Lord is using people – including ministers, rabbis
and popes – to breathe His love into others and help to spread His Church on earth.
This editorial took advantage of an opportunity to give a bit of a New Church spin
to a topic that had everyone’s attention, and hopefully still has a message for all of us
as well. – BMH)
556