August 21, 2014 In the reading from the letter to the Romans, which we will hear this Sunday, Paul wrote, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect. During these dozen days, since the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, we have witnessed again the painful reality that our nation is torn by violence, racism, poverty and injustice. These realities represent a world that is far from the perfect will of God for all human beings. The ongoing tensions we witness night after night in Ferguson, tensions which are repeated again and again in more subtle ways in cities and towns across our nation, grieve the heart of God. They grieve the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ who, after he suffered the brutal violence of crucifixion, was raised to new life to demonstrate once and for all that the way of love is more powerful than the way of hatred, that the way of life is stronger than the way of death. The roots of the sinful distrust and violence we are seeing in Ferguson are deeply entangled in every aspect of our political, social, judicial and religious systems. They are so entangled that it is hard for us to know where to begin in response. We, the Bishops of the Diocese of Virginia, invite the people of our Diocese to respond with the powerful voice of prayer this Sunday, August 24, 2014. We invite us all to lift our pain, our anger, our confusion, our frustration to God who will transform us and who will show us how to be partners with God in the transformation of our nation. Our Book of Common Prayer includes collects that speak directly to our needs today. They are included below. Also below is a link to a statement about how the Episcopal Church is responding to this conflict. May God bless our prayers and show us the way. For the Human Family 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. For Social Justice Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In Times of Conflict O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Learn about the Episcopal Churchs response and involvement in Ferguson in this letter from the Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls, chief operating officer of the Episcopal Church. Faithfully, The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, Bishop The Rt. Rev. Susan E. Goff, Bishop Suffragan The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick Jr., Assistant Bishop
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 16:43:21 +0000
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