Inspiring sermon of personal testimony - thank you Father Michael for sharing. If I may, though, as to John 14:6 it is important that it not be used - as it has been - to undermine religious pluralism and engage in proselytization. Faith traditions should, in fact, receive the wisdom of others as a means of self-understanding. When each faith is freed to find God's purpose in the other, the way will be open to a liberating pluralism, siblings sharing a universal role as God's witnesses, the builders of God's Kingdom on Earth. No one faith can do this world-redemptive work alone. Further, at a time of growing antisemitism it is important to remember that the Vatican II Council of 1965 signaled a new era in the relationship of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Determined to free the Church of the anti-Jewish polemic which led to such widespread suffering of the innocent, Catholic authorities completely revised their conceptions of Jews and Judaism. Soon, the Anglican and Episcopal Churches along with other mainstream Protestant churches also issued a series of official statements that affirm the eternal nature of God's ancient covenant with Israel. This is particularly relevant to All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, as Beverly Hills has a large Jewish community.
Inspiring sermon of personal testimony - thank you Father Michael for sharing. If I may, though, as to John 14:6 it is important that it not be used - as it has been - to undermine religious pluralism and engage in proselytization. Faith traditions should, in fact, receive the wisdom of others as a means of self-understanding. When each faith is freed to find God's purpose in the other, the way will be open to a liberating pluralism, siblings sharing a universal role as God's witnesses, the builders of God's Kingdom on Earth. No one faith can do this world-redemptive work alone. Further, at a time of growing antisemitism it is important to remember that the Vatican II Council of 1965 signaled a new era in the relationship of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Determined to free the Church of the anti-Jewish polemic which led to such widespread suffering of the innocent, Catholic authorities completely revised their conceptions of Jews and Judaism. Soon, the Anglican and Episcopal Churches along with other mainstream Protestant churches also issued a series of official statements that affirm the eternal nature of God's ancient covenant with Israel. This is particularly relevant to All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, as Beverly Hills has a large Jewish community.