Loading...Dear Friends in Christ,
Have you been watching the Pope’s visit to our country? I guess you have if you have watched any television the last couple of weeks. No other spiritual leader has ever gotten the coverage that Pope Francis has. Political leaders have for sure. Coverage of prime ministers from around the world get lots of press speaking to the President, a joint meeting of Congress, or the UN. Prince William and Duchess Kate got a lot of coverage, too. Even they were political leaders. Pope Francis is a political leader, too. As Pope he is the political head of the city state of Vatican City. The Vatican is in the middle of Rome, but is an independent state.
As Christians we are part of the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Catholics are the largest religious sect in the United States. We are part of the Anglican Communion which is made up of Churches where the British Empire and the Church of England were in control. As Episcopalians we are descended from the Church of England which broke from the Roman Church; thus, we are descendants of the Roman Catholic Church, too.
We feel an attachment to the Pope, but especially to Pope Francis. He takes seriously his Christianity. You have heard me say many times to be a Christian, to have the right to bear the name of Christ, we have to be like Christ. Christ was the only sinless man to ever walk this earth. Are we perfect? No. Then how can we call ourselves Christians. God knows that we will fall short of being Christ-like. He forgives us when we do, and we do fall short a lot. So all He expects of us is to strive with all our being to be like Christ. We will fail time and again, but God forgives us and loves us for trying.
Being like Christ means we follow His example and His words. He said the greatest commandment is to love God with all our being. The second is to love one another, not only as we love ourselves, but as He loves us. How does He love us? Unconditionally. Even though we will sin, He loves us. Jesus also said that we are to forgive, not seven times seven, but seventy time seventy. In other words, always. He says we are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, care for the sick, and visit those who can’t get out.
One of the worst ways we fail in being like Christ is in our judging others. Jesus said that we are to leave the judging to God. He said we will be judged by how we judge others.
We are too pray for one another. Always. We all need prayers. One of the things I am so impressed with Pope Francis is that everyone he talks to says he asks them to pray for him. He is humble. His humbleness, need for prayer, and love is an example for us.
I thank all of you who have prayed for Debbie this summer. She is doing very well. We are blessed. God has given doctors the ability to work miracles. I ask always for your prayers for us. Know that you are in my prayers always. Every morning I pray for the world, the Church, the Tazewell Cluster and for you.
May God bless you and keep you.
In Christ’s Love,
Father Russ
