Actions of Righteousness
This week our articles take us on a journey through time with an inspiring figure of the past, climate change-oriented legislations of the present, and an encouraging future should we choose to be doers, not just hearers, or the Word.
The feast of St. Rosa of Viterbo, Italy is celebrated this coming week. She was exiled with her family as a teenager for speaking out against the corruption of the ruling monarchy in the 1200s. With exile being on the minds of anyone paying attention to what is going on in Afghanistan right now, Rosa's story certainly seems currently applicable.
Our second article presents the dilemma of electronic waste facing our world today. There is undoubtedly a culture of replacing broken items with new ones, as opposed to repairing them within most first-world countries. The "repairman" of the 1950s has been replaced with the concept of - It's not worth fixing if a new one can be purchased for almost the same amount. The question that begs to be asked is, - Is the monetary worth of replacement the only worth to consider?
Lastly, we have the notes from the SALT lectionary. We are challenged to reflect on our spiritual practices, ensuring that we do not fall into the role of hypocrisy and judgmentalism. We are encouraged to, "...open our minds to the ways Jesus’ prophetic words challenge us personally and directly today, pointing out the ways we, too, focus on minor things while neglecting (or actively circumventing) major ones? As in the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah, the prophet speaks a demanding word — to us!"
Time Travel
The Past
by Franciscan Media | September 4, 2020
September 4 is the feast day of Saint Rose of Viterbo, of Italy. In 1234 at the age of 8 she had a vision of Mary calling her to take up the Franciscan habit, but to live at home. By the age of 12 she was a renowned preacher — but because she often preached against emperor Frederick II, she and her family were exiled. Because of her name, she is sometimes associated with flowers in central Italy, and she is the patron saint of people in exile.
The Present
by David Gilchrist | July 20, 2021
This alarming image of e-waste represents articles destined for a landfill. Canada, the US, and England have recently made efforts to promote fixing, or replacing parts of broken electronic devices and appliances. Hopefully, we are on track with going back to a time when repairing an appliance or device was attempted before merely replacing it. In our time of climate change we also need a mindset change that, "Not everything new is good, and not everything old is bad."
The Future
by SALT | August 23, 2021
The prophets and Jesus, "declare the consoling, encouraging promises of God, including the promise that God will soften our hearts, transform our hearts, unmask our hearts, and in the end write a new covenant on our hearts. For God loves us fiercely and deeply, and has promised to give us new hearts for a new day, so that we might increasingly become not only hearers but also doers of the Word!"
Living Our Faith Day-to-Day
Rev. Andrea Irwin
Rev. Andrea Irwin was one of the keynote speakers at an online workshop the TUCC council hosted in May which Jill McPherson found insightful.