In the run-up to elections in both Fiji (17th ) and Aotearoa New Zealand (20th), the General Synod Office offers the following collect/prayer as a resource for this Sunday and following.
A Prayer for the Election
God of love,
You give us minds and hearts with which to make decisions.
Bless these islands as we approach the general election,
help us discern your will for our nation,
give us wisdom and courage to make good decisions.
Grant that all those who are elected may become servants of the common good,
so that all the people of this place may live in justice, freedom and in dignity
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour
who lives and reigns over all nations with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and forever.
Amen.
You give us minds and hearts with which to make decisions.
Bless these islands as we approach the general election,
help us discern your will for our nation,
give us wisdom and courage to make good decisions.
Grant that all those who are elected may become servants of the common good,
so that all the people of this place may live in justice, freedom and in dignity
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour
who lives and reigns over all nations with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and forever.
Amen.
(Source here).
3 comments:
This is a test comment
This is another test comment.
This is a real comment.
Surely, just about everyone knows that the Apostle, Peter, made mistakes in his actual lifetime - some of which were corrected by the 13th Apostle, Paul, whom the resurrected Jesus called to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. The subsequent Roman Catholic claim to infallibility for Peter and his R.C. successors, therefore, seems doubtful from the beginning of the apostolic age of Christendom.
Peter may indeed have been the 'rock' that Jesus spoke of as founder of the apostolic Church. However, it is a known fact that a rock cannot replicate itself. Peter may have been the first of the Apostles, but he was not the only one. Without, for instance the genius and God-given wisdom of Saint Paul, the Church may not have reached the Gentile population. It may have been limited to ethnic Jews.
To my mind at least, the myth of papal infallibility is one of the main drawbacks for the re-unification of the Church as the visible "Body of Christ'.
Encouraging as is the present outreach of Pope Francis to the rest of us Christians; anything more authoritative than the title 'Primus inter pares' for modern day Bishops of Rome would be looked upon with some healthy scepticism by the rest of us who belong to Christ by our Baptism in the Name of the Trinity.
Post a Comment