Life Issues Institute Co-Founder Bradley Mattes and Rev. Johnny Hunter
I am still basking in the afterglow of the International Pro-Life Conference I attended here in Ottawa, October 28-30. One of the speakers whose message keeps ringing in my ears is that of Rev. Johnny Hunter, a Baptist pastor who is president of LEARN Inc. (Life Education and Resource Network) the largest African-American pro-life network in the United States.
Hunter spoke about three kinds of people: those who don't believe in God; those who do believe in God; and those who believe God.
He pointed out that even the devils believe in God; but those who believe God are prepared to obey Him, to act on what He says.
Overall, Hunter's message was a powerful exhortation to repentance, conversion and action on God's Word. I also loved his Kente robes. Kente is a woven silk cloth made in Ghana, where my husband comes from.
It's my prayer that we will be people who believe God, that our shepherds will be men who believe God, not just believe in Him.
Has anyone taken a look at Verbum Domini? It is so beautiful the way Pope Benedict XVI integrates faith and reason. It can be easy to get caught up in scholarship and scientific methods taking a critical look at the linguistic and historical aspects of Scripture and miss the living Word of God who speaks to us today through the holy texts. The document does a wonderful job of talking about how faith, in a community of faith, is necessary to interpret the texts. Yet, faith does not throw out the scientific aspect because the Incarnation is rooted in history.
Penn Clark at the Cathedral of the Annunciation last November
A year ago, my favorite charismatic pastor came to do an ecumenical retreat at our little cathedral. Penn Clark is someone who believes God so fervently that he has gone to some of the poorest and most remote places on the planet to preach the Gospel and to train pastors. He is someone who has "signs following" and who speaks with authority. That authority does not come from multiple divinity school degrees but from literal experience in casting out devils and healing the sick. His ministry is the fruit of a simple man who pores over Scripture, prays a lot, and who obeys what God tells him. It's a ministry of practical experience, of catching and passing on the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit in a way reminiscent of Acts.
We had Catholics, Pentecostals, Evangelicals and our own Anglican Catholics at this event.
It was also St. Mary on Saturday, so that morning, Penn and the young people he brought from New York State, sat in and watched something very foreign to the Anabaptist roots of their charismatic Mennonite background. Sacraments, symbols, vestments, the Sacrifice of the Mass are all foreign to them, as are our repeated prayers that might come across as "religious," to say nothing of the Angelus and the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
But Penn told Bishop Carl Reid afterward how struck he was by how much the bishop seemed to mean every word he prayed. He also recognized that it is a challenge and discipline to enter into those prayers each time and mean them.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet at the CCCB in Dec. 2008
The charism of holy love Penn has reminded me of that which surrounds and animates Cardinal Marc Ouellet, now the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. I am sure that if they ever met, they would immediately recognize Christ in each other and love each other as brothers in the Lord.
Cardinal Ouellet played a leadership role at the Synod on the Word of God in 2008 as Relator General, and as a member of the advisory body for the Holy Father in the development of Verbum Domini. I'm working on the Canadian response to the Pope's latest exhortation and had to dig up some of the stories I had written back in 2008 about the Synod. Here's a little excerpt from one of them, my emphases:
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CORNWALL, Ontario (CNS) — A Canadian cardinal who will serve as recording secretary of the Synod of Bishops on the Bible expressed hope it would shore up ecumenical dialogue and increase appreciation of the Scriptures.
The Oct. 5-26 synod in Rome could provide "a new start for ecumenical relations," said Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec.
The interest shown by other churches and denominations is huge, Cardinal Ouellet said during an interview Sept. 22 while he was in Cornwall for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual meeting.
He said he hoped the reflections at the synod would "give us a new charity and a new impulse and enthusiasm."
The cardinal also expressed hope the synod would help Catholics gain a deepened appreciation for Scripture.
"Sometimes I have the impression we have learned a lot about the Bible, but we have not prayed enough with it," he said. "It is not a dead letter, it is a testimony of the living God, who is still speaking through the word."
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How I hope the Cardinal's wish for Synod and a "new start ecumenical relations" will come true. Let us pray with the Scripture, and let God speak to us. Let us believe God, trust Him and obey Him.
I know that many prominent evangelicals have been drawn to Pope Benedict's Christ-centered teaching. He is the Pope of Christian Unity.
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