Interesting article about lowering stats re belief in God and church attendance, based on research making a link with living longer. But my bishop, Bishop Victoria Matthews has a robust response, as reported here:
"But the Anglican bishop of Christchurch, Victoria Matthews, is not convinced our longer life expectancy is to blame for the diminished role of religion in our society.
"The reason for a demise in church attendance is due to what else goes on every weekend and also the lure of power and financial advancement over the call to serve the living God and our neighbour," Matthews said.
She believes faith has as much to do with learning how to live in the here and now as it does with preparing for the afterlife: "Indeed, Jesus spent most of his teaching on our relationship with our neighbours.
"So after we come to faith, we learn how to express our faith in daily living." "
3 Cheers for our Bishop Victoria. If our faith is not about learning to live with our neighbour in the here and now, what's it all about/
ReplyDeleteIn Today's Gospel reading, Jesus teaches his disciles one of the basic lessons: that, unless we forgive, as He forgives, those from whom we withhold forgiveness msay never know God's gift of 'being forgiven'.
Today's lesson was not so much about preparing his disciples for their apostleship, as preparing all of us who are Believers, for ours basic calling as fellow human beings. The call to apostleship came later - at Pentecost.
"As the Father sent me, so I am sending you" - to reconcile and to forgive.