Faith in the Community

Political barrow-pushing..

The campaigns have begun... I’m reminded of a comment by Karl du Fresne (Stuff 6/7/2018) who wrote Churches turn to political barrow pushing to stay relevant. It’s as if he thought sharing a view on public questions was a new development for the church.

CS Lewis once wrote ...it is Christ himself, not the Bible, who is the true word of God. When Jesus began his ministry, he declared his purpose by quoting a Hebrew prophet, Isaiah, who’d lived 800 years earlier. Isaiah was known to have been particularly sensitive to the political events of his time.

Isaiah claimed to be speaking the very word of God when he said to the people of his day (Isaiah:58:6) Is not true worship to loose the bonds of injustice... ...to let the oppressed go free... ...to share your bread with the hungry and to bring the homeless poor into your house?

So, Jesus was placing himself squarely in a longstanding prophetic tradition of speaking the truth to power. He saw his calling in the further words of Isaiah (61:1)...to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken hearted, and to proclaim liberty to the captives. Relevance is not the issue; the churches are just being true to his word.

Shared Service - St Alban’s + St Ronan’s: Sun 6 August at Wellesley at 10am.

St Ronan’s: Services Sun 9.30am - informal 1st and 3rd, traditional 2nd and 4th. Our 5th Sunday, Pot-Luck Fellowship Lunch is 30 July at 12 noon. Ask if you’d like our monthly printed magazine the Record E:office@stronans.org.

nz W:www.stronans.org.nz

St Alban’s: At Wellesley College Sun 10am communion with guest vicar. Special activities for children during term time. 1st Thurs only, 10.30am communion at St Ronan’s Church with guest vicar (note the time change. E:office@ stalbanschurch.nz

W:www.stalbanschurch.nz

San Antonio: Vigil Mass, Sat 5.30pm.

Sacred Heart, Petone: Mass, Sun 9.30am and 5.30pm. E: holyspiritparish41@gmail.com

W: www.holyspirit.nz