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February 08, 2013

Cambridge, MA. There was an excellent article in the February 7, 2013 New York Times by Sharon Otterman, on the trouble Rev. Rob Morris, a Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor, got himself into by joining in interfaith prayer service (attended by President Obama) in December, right after the December 14 Sandy Hook massacre of the children and their teachers. Ms. Otterman’s account is ample, and well worth reading; she gives very instructive links to several sources, including Rev. Morris’ explanation of his partaking in the service, which many in the Lutheran Synod Church found offensive because he shared in a service where non-Christian religious leaders, for example Muslim and Baha’i, also prayed. By Missouri Lutheran doctrine, both the Muslim and Baha’i belong to false religions. He was criticized even if, as Morris himself notes, at the service he himself spoke about Jesus and read from the Gospel. His letter, worth reading, highlights his strict theological judgments and yet too his recognition that Christian voices must be “on stage” when crises occur. In an open letter in the context of his apology for joining the prayer service for the victims of the massacre, he sums up the situation: “…Some have expressed concern and in some cases public rebuke that my participation in the televised prayer vigil on Sunday night has hindered our ability to speak this Christian truth into a pluralistic culture. The fear is that by sharing the stage with false teachers, I have diminished the proclamation of the truth which is ours by grace through faith in Christ… We do have a God-given responsibility to be on our guard against all kinds of false teaching. Prior to the events of 12/14, I had already spent hours with my own congregation, catechizing them as to the differences between our Lutheran understanding of Scriptural teaching, the various other denominations’ teachings, and the teachings of false religions such as Islam or Baha’i. I had likewise spent time with my fellow clergy in Newtown clarifying the ways I can and cannot engage in events like joint clergy dialogues (which are good to engage in), joint caring efforts (only within limits), and joint worship (not possible). To my fellow brothers who are serving in the office of public ministry, I encourage you to do these same tasks in your churches and communities. It is not comfortable, but it is necessary.” 

Not comfortable, but necessary: It is interesting to view this matter from a Roman Catholic perspective. Despite the many differences between the mainstream of Catholic theology and practice and the very conservative Missouri Synod Lutherans, we Catholics too are often on the spot, wondering about the limits of dialogue, “caring efforts,” and joint worship. We can all remember well the concerns expressed when John Paul II gathered with religious leaders in Assisi in 1986, for a day of peace, even if then to pray separately while there. As the Pope said that day, “For the first time in history, we have come together from every where, Christian Churches and Ecclesial Communities, and World Religions, in this sacred place dedicated to Saint Francis, to witness before the world, each according to his own conviction, about the transcendent quality of peace. The form and content of our prayers are very different, as we have seen, and there can be no question of reducing them to a kind of common denominator. Yes, in this very difference we have perhaps discovered anew that, regarding the problem of peace and its relation to religious commitment, there is something which binds us together.”

Even today: this week was interfaith week at Harvard, including a series of events to celebrate interfaith cooperation on campus, albeit cut short by today’s storm. A climactic event, a panel marking the one hundred fiftieth birth anniversary of the pioneering interfaith figure, Swami Vivekananda, has been postponed until March 8. On Tuesday, the Center for the Study of World Religions, of which I am Director, and Harvard Pluralism Project (directed by Diana Eck) co-sponsored a panel on My Neighbor’s Faith, a recent, very fine collection of 53 brief accounts in which individuals recall how they became involved in interfaith work. There would be something very wrong, I think, in seeking after ways to discredit these testimonies — from so many Catholics and Christians of other denominations and people of other traditions — as if the faith is better off if everyone else’s faith is simply false. Yet likewise there is no great good in making it seem as if religious differences do not matter at all, any more than differences in taste or fashion.

Rev. Morris clearly finds himself in a difficult situation, since his pastoral instinct about where he needed to be present in a time of grief was not in harmony with his church’s, and his own, strict doctrine; John Paul II's thirst for peace outran the theology of many in our own church; and I am sure that many would say that in my role at Harvard I go too far, as I speak too many good words and offer too many warm welcomes for people of every faith. Yet, as the Otterman article observes, not all agreed that Morris should have apologized, as he did. If our practice needs to disciplined and moderated by our faith and doctrine, sometimes it is practice, recognizing where God is at this moment — after Sandy Hook, praying for peace in Assisi, on Harvard’s campus — that purifies our faith and frees us from too narrow, stingy gestures toward our neighbor. Practice that ignores doctrine will in the long run be bad practice; doctrine that prevents compassion, prayer, respect is surely defective doctrine.

Not comfortable, but necessary: In our times, we are always going to live a bit ambiguously, as believers, pure believers, who find ourselves in a world where other faiths flourish and only the blind — those with a log in their own eye (Matthew 7.5) — can fail to see God’s presence among those other children of God. Rev. Morris is now reconciled with his church, it seems, and we can still be grateful that he went a little too far, and thus revealed God’s love, just beyond the neat boundary between the true and the false.

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michael iwanowicz
11 years 1 month ago
Fr. Clooney, I am reading a relatively new biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer written by Eric Metaxas. Bonhoeffer seemed to work diligently at the task of being faithful to his experience in faith and being a christian while living in a multi-dimensional world that is not easily understood. Bonhoeffer offered up the choice of ‘costly grace’ or cheap grace’. But, here is my personal experience. …… I live a simple life that allows me to engage in the local community both as a religious leader and ‘ an ordinary resident’ of a local suburban town. …. When having supper at a local pub, it is frequent that people stop by my table and enter into all manner of dialogue - religious or otherwise. In that arena, I can ask why the national occasion of ‘watching’ the superbowl might be an example our society’s love of violence. This topic is so enticing. There is much to offer. Thank you.
Jim McCrea
11 years 1 month ago
Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If that is true with God Incarnate, then why is it not true with God the Father?
Sara Damewood
11 years 1 month ago
Thanks for these good thoughts. I'm watching Fr. Barron's video series on Catholicism with a group, and this week we were learning about the Church "universal." I was so encouraged by Fr. Barron's affirmation of other faiths as connected to us... having a piece of truth.
Sara Damewood
11 years 1 month ago
Thanks for these good thoughts. I'm watching Fr. Barron's video series on Catholicism with a group, and this week we were learning about the Church "universal." I was so encouraged by Fr. Barron's affirmation of other faiths as connected to us... having a piece of truth.
Bruce Snowden
11 years 1 month ago
A simple comment respectful of Fr. Clooney’s “Daring to pray together …” Christianity I believe, is God’s PREFERRED way to salvation, precisely in its more authentic expression as in Catholicism and Orthodoxy, but is not the ONLY way, although ultimately all salvation is linked to Christ. This means as far as I can see, there is nothing wrong for Believers, Un-believers and Non-Believers to come together in respectful converse honoring that which is assumed by some to be “Holy” even when incorrectly understood, or even when its validity is respectfully questioned, even denied. Let me add even if irrationality often noted in the projections of the so-called “new atheism” may not fail to irrevocably exclude! It is true, however, there are none so blind as they who refuse to see. Thus as explained, this seems to me to acknowledge in one way or the other no matter how nebulously, the human universal call to holiness which excludes absolutely no one including even proponents of the “new atheism.” Is not God Father of all, even those “not of our company” quoting the Apostles who fretted when they saw a “stranger” doing what they were doing?” Jesus’ response was in effect, “Let it be!” Is not Father God revealed in Jesus Christ an “Equal Opportunity Provider” so to speak, but of course with human cooperation at all levels, a necessary prerequisite. Demonstrating Divine Omipotence, whatever God says is is "done," is DONE and we have his spokenand written Word for it having said, "My mercy is above all my works!" No "apology" needed. At least so it seems to me.

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