"Somos Pessoas da Paz de Deus"

Existe um hino bonito chamado "Somos Pessoas da Paz de Deus". É o número 407 do hinário ¨Hymnal: A Worship Resource", o hinário Menonita no Canadá. Aqui vai a letra traduzida por mim (sem encaixar na métrica da música) É uma letra que resume bem a motivação Anabatista para a paz.




Somos pessoas da paz de Deus, como nova criação,
O amor nos une e nos fortalece nesta celebração.
Filhos e filhas do Senhor, servindo uns aos outros,
Um novo pacto de paz une a nós todos.

Somos crianças da paz de Deus nessa nova criação,
Espalhando alegria, através da grande salvação de Deus.
Trazemos esperança em um espírito humilde, em nosso viver diário,
Buscamos a paz com todos, fazendo o bem em troca do mal.

Somos servos da paz de Deus, da nova criação,
Escolhendo a paz, servimos fielmente com devoção sincera.
Jesus Cristo, o Príncipe da paz, nos dará confiança.
Cristo, o Senhor, é nossa defesa; Cristo nunca nos deixará.







Texto: Menno Simons, 1552; tr. Esther Bergen, Mennonite World Conference Songbook, 1990   Copyright c da tradução 1990 Mennonite World Conference
 Música: Johann Horn, Ein Gesangbuch der Bruder im Behemen und Merherrn, 1544; revisada em Catholicum Hymnologium Germanicum, 1584

Link para a partitura: http://www.hymnary.org/media/fetch/106650
Link para vídeo curto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOe3BBM_dM8

"We are People of God's Peace"

There is a beautiful hymn called "We are People of God's Peace". It's number 407 in the "Hymnal: A Worship Resource" , the Mennonite hymnal.

We are people of God’s peace as a new creation,
Love unites and strengthens us at this celebration.
Sons and daughters of the Lord, serving one another,
A new covenant of peace binds us all together.

We are children of God’s peace in this new creation,
Spreading joy and happiness, through God’s great salvation.
Hope we bring in spirit meek, in our daily living,
Peace with everyone we seek, good for evil giving.

We are servants of God’s peace, of the new creation,
Choosing peace, we faithfully serve with heart’s devotion.
Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, confidence will give us.
Christ the Lord is our defence; Christ will never leave us.

Text: Menno Simons, 1552; tr. Esther Bergen, Mennonite World Conference Songbook, 1990   Translation copyright c 1990 Mennonite World Conference
 Music: Johann Horn, Ein Gesangbuch der Bruder im Behemen und Merherrn, 1544; revised in Catholicum Hymnologium Germanicum, 1584

Link to score: http://www.hymnary.org/media/fetch/106650
Link to short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOe3BBM_dM8

Write for Human Rights Write-a-thon at the Ottawa Mennonite Church

I organized a write-a-thon for the Write for Human Rights small group at the Ottawa Mennonite Church the other Sunday. I put the announcement 3 weeks before in the bulletin. It was after service, and I scheduled 2 hours for it. Not many people stayed and participated, but the 6 that were there wrote many letters. I prepared documents with case profiles and directions for mailing the petitions. The petitions included peace in South Sudan, peace in Syria, free Rafael Braga Vieira in Brazil, close Guantanamo, and Indigenous peoples' rights & resource exploration. Here are the petitions for download.

National Inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada

  The Native Women's Association  of Canada urging the Canadian government to create a National Inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. They created a petition to the Federal Government with this request. The petition is also promoted by the United Church of Canada.
   Here are the links:

http://www.united-church.ca/getinvolved/takeaction/130612

http://www.nwac.ca/press-release-immediate-release-2013-10-18-en

  Last Sunday and the next Sunday the Adult Formation Class at the Ottawa Mennonite Church explores a "Feminist reading of the nativity story". Knowing about the schedule of the class in advance, I was able to select a petition related to the subject. I collected a good number of signatures on the one copy of the petition that I had and sent it yesterday to the Right Honourable Stephen Harper.

Ricardo Esquivia - Colombia - Write for Human Rights

  We started at the Ottawa Mennonite Church a small group called "Write for Human Rights". We choose a subject and write petitions together. The 1st petition was on behalf of Mr. Ricardo Esquivia from Colombia, who has received threats and false accusations. To know more the case, access this link. Here are the letters that we sent: in PDF and in Word.

Meeting with the Humanist Association of Ottawa

  The last visit of the 2012-2013 year of the "Getting to Know Our Neighbour's Faith" small group of the Ottawa Mennonite Church was with the Humanist Association of Ottawa. We met at Patty's Pub in June 2013. There were about 5 people from HAO and 6 people from the OMC. I tried to frame the discussion as an interview, trying to get to know their history and how they view religion overall. I was personally a bit afraid of what to expect from the conversation, mostly by people from our group. That is because, speaking generally, Christians are not very used to the idea of 'not defending their ideas' of G*d, and I didn't know how it would go. I don't want to write publicly about some details of their relationship with religion, but I want to say that I wish that, generally speaking, there were more gentle and more respectful relations between religious groups and atheists/humanists. More than that, I think that, in general, these "positions" have an opportunity to move beyond 'tolerance' or 'respect' and walk a path of embrace, arriving at some point at political cooperation. And then after (or in the meantime), to move to push the boundaries of philosophy. I should not have expectations that this should be the path of institutions, but it would be interesting to see local groups in such a process.
I learned that our humanist friends do have lots of assertions about who G*d is and who G*d is not. That looked like theology to me. It was also interesting to see how they use science to oppose ideas of G*d. I see these positions in the context of negative views by religious people of non-religious people. I know regrettable notions that judge non-religious or atheists as morally inferior than religious people. That is really unfortunate. And so, I noticed a certain 'spirit of counter-attack' by our atheist friends as they spoke about science exposing religion. They use science as a good tool to expose religion. There may be other tools too. I just think that there's the risk of "having too much faith in science". I don't think that science will help us in the search for meaning and solidarity in the future. There may be a philosophical debate about the intersection of science and ethics, but regardless of theism or atheism, we may need to carve new languages to talk about meaning and solidarity with the help of the Humanities and Social Sciences (ok, here we go, it's yet another science...). The other interesting thing to note was that "the question" was important to some of them. That is, even though they do not "believe in G*d", the "question of G*d" is still important to some of them. Why would this question follow them? In my mind, I thought of another position: that which would see "religion" as irrelevant. In that view, the "a" in "atheism" would be that of indifference towards "religion". And that's an interesting position that confronts a deeper question.
  I was also pleased to see how humanitarian solidarity moves them to help. They plan concrete and active political actions based on their principles. These are concrete and important actions not only at the city, but in different places of the world. And I admired that.

Visit to the Ottawa Mosque

 

On the  26th of May of 2013 the "Getting to Know Our Neighbour's Faith" small group from the Ottawa Mennonite Church visited the Ottawa Mosque. We were welcomed by Imam Samy Metwally. We heard about the basic beliefs of Islam. And we had a good conversation after. We learned that one of the pillars of Islam is charity. And we learned that our Muslim brothers and sisters are also actively working within the society. We also heard beautiful stories of inter-faith dialogue and action with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Visit to the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa

  I heard the Minister of the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa speak for 2 minutes at an ecumenical meeting last year and I liked what I heard. That's when I read a bit about the history of the Unitarians and Universalists in North America and planed the visit with the small group. This report speaks about the series of visits of our small group from the Ottawa Mennonite Church called  "Getting to Know Our Neighbour's Faith".
   One thing that first caught my attention when I heard Kye speak last year was the fact that they didn't have a statement of faith. Also around the end of 2012 I got to know another person from the congregation that was at the "founding" meeting of the Ottawa Network of Spiritual Progressives. We had a very interesting conversation. She told me that she was an ex-Hindu who went to a Catholic school. And she is a lesbian. She converted to Christianity within the Unitarian Universalists. One of the most important aspects of a faith community for her was the fact that she can count on them with practical help when in need, regardless of the faith they might profess.
  I was anxious to meet he Unitarians to know their history and understand how they relate to the various labels of religion. Their temple has a beautiful architecture with big glassed windows viewing the Ottawa river. Their afternoon service was warm and informal. It was a group of about 40 people. The small sermons were given by three young people. (I liked the way they dressed. Some details in some looked "counter-cultural"... these small details matter!) They seemed knowledgeable, thoughtful and authentic. Each preacher spoke a bit about their 'heroes'. Kye spoke about the "Justice League", a network of amazing women who are activists.
  The conversation after the service was the most interesting part. It so happens that they too were interested in knowing more about Mennonites. I knew that was going to happen! We agreed that each one in the table would say some words about what drew him/her to his/her faith tradition.
  One of the ministers said that she was raised a Methodist but she decided to "clear it all" and "restart". She then did some meditation and Yoga as part of an 'experimentalist phase'.  And today she considers herself an agnostic. That's very interesting! An agnostic pastor!
 We heard from a former Catholic. He was trained for many years in seminary in the United States. I was encouraged to hear his story of political activism in the streets of Washington! He was there in basements being trained (his own words) by Quakers and others. He and others rejected military drafts as conscientious objectors during the Vietnam war. I thought to myself 'this man has more history of active peacemaking than all Mennonites together in this table'! He said that at one point he was at a birthday party and said he was a Unitarian and the other person replied: "I know you guys. You are a bunch of atheists who happen to go to church". He said he wasn't very happy to hear that at first, but then thinking about it he said "yes, you are right"...
  We heard from a retired Unitarian Minister who was a pioneer in Alberta. He was a Minister with the United Church of Canada. But then he came to the conclusion that he could not anymore accept the Basis of Union doctrine statements and maintain his integrity (in his own words). He then wrote a letter to colleagues and was questioned. They told him to "get his act together". And he replied something like "I don't want to and I cannot get my act together". He then left Ministry there and went on to teach English for many years. From what I understood he was also the president of a Canadian Humanist association for some time.
  I learned that the Unitarian Universalists intentionally don't have a faith statement. They leave to the individuals to follow their own paths. They do have some written principles that hold them together.
  I was really glad to learn about the group and their history. And I'll leave my comments at that.
  This is their web site: http://www.firstunitarianottawa.ca/ .
  We sang a nice song at the end of the service called "Woyaya".




We are going
Heaven knows where we are going
We will know we're there
We will get there
Heaven knows how we will get there
We know we will
It will be hard we know
And the road will be muddy and rough
But we'll get there
Heaven knows how we will get there
We know we will
We are going
Heaven knows where we are going
We will know we're there

Visit to St. Joseph's Parish in Ottawa

  The second visit of our "Getting to Know Our Neighbour's Faith" small group of the Ottawa Mennonite Church was to the St. Joseph's Parish downtown.We scheduled to go to the Saturday Mass in December.
  It was a nice mass. I'm not "trained" in the sacramental liturgy, so it's interesting to note how easy it is for others to respond as if it's automatic. The friend who came with me knew a lot about liturgy, and commented how many details show how 'progressive' is the parish. I couldn't notice these subtleties. I did notice that the sermon was delivered by a lay person. And it was very good. His words spoke to me when talking about joy in the midst of troubles. I liked his literary style.
  I tried to organize some kind of conversation about the Catholic faith by emailing Fr. Boyer in advance. He replying saying he would be available after the service for conversation. We ended up not talking to him after the service, but talking mostly within our group.
  I told my friend that I get mixed messages when I enter a Catholic church. In the back of my mind there are accusations of carrying on the Inquisition and burning many at the stake, of supporting the massacre of natives in Latin America, of symbiosis with power in Europe, of its dogmatic positions, of its undemocratic hierarchy, of idolatry and indulgences, of plain and simply stealing gold from Latin America taking it to Europe, of exclusion of women and LGBTs, and of systematically undermining Liberation Theology in Latin America. On the other hand, it is a religion of Bartolomé de las Casas, Oscar Romero, Leonardo Boff and Dorothy Day. And by the way, Oscar Romero and Dorothy Day were mentioned by Father Andy Boyer during the Eucharist.
 But is the Catholic church any different from other big institutions?
  If I think of it, it's not healthy for me to be 'eaten from the inside' by caustic feelings against the Catholic Church. In one sense, I'm not directly involved with it. All I can do is wish it luck. Good luck, Catholic Church! And let many more Dorothy Day's and Oscar Romero's arise.

Visit to St George & St Anthony Coptic Orthodox Church

   We just started the "Getting to Know our Neighbour's Faith" small group at the Ottawa Mennonite Church. Today was our first visit. We went to St. George & St. Anthony Coptic Orthodox Church. Their website is http://www.orthodoxy.ca/ . It was a beautiful liturgy. We were welcomed by Fr. Mikhail Fam and Fr. George Mikhail, who invited us to stay after the service and talk, and connect during the week if we wanted.
   Some personal impressions:
- I didn't quite know what to expect when I arrived. The uncertainty of the unknown at times invites a bit of 'fear' ( of 'acceptance', or 'faux pas'). I forgot to ask in advance, for instance, if there were instructions for the dressing costumes, particularly for visiting women of the group. Luckily they had scarfs that served as veil.
- The liturgy is filled with visuals. From the images to the symbols to gestures, it was beautiful to see how rich they were. (In contrast with the Reformed branches of Christianity, many of which removed the symbols as they collided with the alleged 'idolatry' of Roman Catholicism).
- Historically, Reformed churches tried to remove the 'special status' of clergy and laity. In the service at St. George & St. Anthony the Fathers and Deacons were at the front, but looking at the liturgy, the participation of 'clergy' in Reformed churches is not much different in general than what I witnessed.
- Clergy and Deacons at the altar were all male. There might have been about 80 people in the congregation, with a good mix of all ages. A large room with glass allows parents with small children to follow the service.
- I didn't quite know what to expect during the service. I did notice that there was lots of reading of Scripture ( Hebrew Bible and New Testament ). Readings of the liturgy were documented in a book available at the pews and also projected on screens. These readings had the text in Greek, Arabic and English. Readings of Scripture were in Arabic and English.
- The sermon spoke about the Parable of the Sower, which was the reading of the Gospels. To me it sounded clear. I liked it. (It seemed easier to understand and accept what I was hearing, as if I didn't have much 'filters' in my ears for being of a Christian background... ) The Father spoke, among other things, that there were conversations about what it meant for a church to be 'of Jesus Christ'. And that he thinks a church must be 'evangelical' and 'missionary' (in the context of the Parable). Very nice.
- The Father gave us a book and a few booklets about their tradition. The booklets are addressed to youth.