Persist in Hope
Stephen M. Veazey, president of Community of Christ
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. -1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 26-27
The following words of counsel were presented at the 2019 World Conference. As many members and friends around the world prepare for Communion this Sunday, we offer these words for your reflection and discernment:
Beloved in Christ, for many years you longed for a temple to fulfill the hopes of generations. Now there is a Temple seeking fulfillment through a worldwide community that embodies divine light, generosity, and peace. Being a people of the Temple is a constant calling that finds creative expression through each generation.
Your continuing response to the call to be a people of the Temple is commendable and of eternal importance. When humans esteem themselves, each other, all interactions, and the entire creation as temple, peace prevails. This restoring vision and witness is entrusted to you.
Financial constraints are hindering the church from moving into the future at a pivotal and opportune time in history. These obstacles can be overcome through generosity, cooperation, and discernment about how the assets of the church can be directed to serve budget necessities and mission priorities.
Members, congregations, and church jurisdictions are called to live the stewardship principles and practices already given to you.
Technology presents opportunities for involvement in sacraments by priesthood members and participants in separate locations. The First Presidency will act in its calling as chief interpreters of scripture, revelation, and church policies to provide procedures for offering sacraments in new situations while upholding essential meanings and symbols of the sacraments. As the church explores new opportunities for sharing sacraments, direction will come as needed through inspiration and wisdom.
Additional meaning is waiting to be discovered in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Renewing covenant with Jesus Christ includes the call to live as peaceful human beings who personify Christ’s peace.
Spiritual blessing will be experienced when this call is emphasized as a vital aspect of the sacrament. Cherish opportunities to be spiritually formed by Christ’s sacred meal of remembrance, reconciliation, renewal, and peace.
Then go with conviction into the locations of your discipleship and be the peace of Christ. As you do, you will discover a variety of ways in which spiritual community forms and flows as expressions of the gospel of peace.
Trust what is being born. Have faith in divine purposes. Persist in Hope.
Prayer Phrase
My ordinary life is a sacred place.
Spiritual Practice
Sacramental Living
“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5
How are you invited to live sacramentally today?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
