wfn.org | [ENS] An Epiphany message from the Presiding Bishop

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@mail.epicom.org>]

Thursday, January 13, 2005

An Epiphany message from the Presiding Bishop

ENS 011305-2

Dear brothers and sisters:

I am writing in the season of Epiphany during which we contemplate the
revelation of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ who assumed our
humanity in its fullness. Every human face, therefore, bears the stamp
of
Jesus and is deeply valued in God's sight.

I am exceedingly mindful of this as our global community continues to
deal
with the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunamis of December 26 that
affected 11 countries in South Asia. Individuals and nations have
rallied in
support, giving witness to generosity and a deep sense of
interconnectedness
and solidarity. Episcopal Relief and Development reports to me an
outpouring
of care and compassion, and as of this date has received more than two
million dollars, with additional gifts continuing to come in every day.

As we reckon with this devastation, we need to keep in mind that
disease,
poverty, hunger and civil strife are constant realities in our world.
For
example, we know that 165,000 people, mostly children, die every month
from
malaria, 240,000 from AIDS and 140,000 from diarrhea. Practically all of
these deaths are preventable. It is my hope and prayer that the tragedy
of
the tsunamis will open our eyes and our hearts to what occurs day by day
on
a less dramatic but far greater scale.

We live with delusions of safety and permanence. Then suddenly a natural
disaster of overwhelming proportions, such as the tsunamis and the
hurricanes that wrecked havoc on our own shores last year, brings into
sharp
relief the uncertain nature of our mortal life. In the face of tragedy,
as
fragile humans of uncertain future, we are driven to ask the question:
where
is God in all of this?

We ask this question in all manner of circumstances. Where is God in the
death of a child? Where is God in the auto accident on a snowy night?
Where
is God as we experience someone we love slipping irrevocably into the
haze
of Alzheimer's disease? Where is God when wars tear apart nations and
consume our resources and energies?

Where is God in all of this? Ours is a God who is no stranger to
suffering,
a God who is revealed through the mystery of the Cross, a God who shares
our
burdens and companions us in suffering.

At the same time, God's presence is made known through us as we are in
active solidarity with those who suffer. Our care and our concern is a
manifestation of God's own care and concern. In us and through us Christ
continues his work of reconciling and healing. It is therefore an act of
faithlessness to stand passively asking where God is in all of this
without
asking as well how God's presence and compassion and care are seeking to
make themselves known in deeds of generosity and service.

Here I am put in mind of St. Paul's notion of the fellowship of Christ's
sufferings. When our humanity is laid bare, when we have lost control
and
can no longer hide behind our affluence and apparent self-sufficiency,
we
are obliged to stand naked with others in the truth of where we find
ourselves. At such moments the communion of the Holy Spirit is realized
in a
shared vulnerability and our hearts are opened to the deep compassion of
God
which roots and grounds the universe.

How essential it is for us in our church to approach one another,
particularly those with whom we differ, not as enemies or adversaries
but as
vulnerable brothers and sisters who, in spite of seeming strength and
security, have their own anxieties, fears and burdens to bear. Is not
the
present strain within the Anglican Communion an opportunity given us by
God
to reframe and order the ways in which we relate ourselves to one
another?
Are we not being invited to live the mystery of communion in the Holy
Spirit
at a deeper level and to come together in unity to serve those who have
lost
so much and stand in such desperate need?

I have written to the primates of churches in the areas affected by the
tsunamis to share with them our love and concern and our commitment to
assist them in these times. Communion, as has often been said, is made
up of
many webs of relationship. One of the most fundamental aspects of
communion
is a willingness to reach beyond oneself for the sake of others in the
power
of God's reconciling love.

A special meeting of the House of Bishops called to address the Report
of
the Lambeth Commission on Communion, the Windsor Report, has just
concluded.
I commend to you the word from the bishops addressed to the church
following
the meeting. Your bishops recognized that the Windsor Report at its
heart is
an invitation to strengthen the bonds of mutual affection between the
churches of the Anglican Communion in the service of mission. It is my
sense
that the present disaster in South Asia, along with the reminder it
brings
of our ongoing need to be in solidarity with brothers and sisters around
the
world in their suffering, is the way in which we are being called at
this
moment to live a costly and self-sacrificing life of communion for the
sake
of the world God deeply loves and cherishes.

As your Presiding Bishop I am profoundly grateful to all of you who have
so
generously responded to the present situation in South Asia. At the same
time I pray that we as a church will continue to reach out beyond
ourselves
in communion and loving service to those in many places who daily bear
burdens of poverty and disease and live with little hope that their
cries
will be heard. The Lord hears the cry of the poor and so must we as
well.

Yours in Christ,

Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate

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