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the HERALD Page MB- Religion Wednesday December 11 People read morning stock prices the way they once read the gospel Sunday or Advent Luke Baptize an Economic System Not according to Pope John Paul II Not even if that economic system has vanquished com munism Six months ago John Paul issued a social encyclical titled Centesimus Annus The lOOIh Year on the anniversary The New- Things issued by Pope Leo I wrote about this encyclical in a column in July but it bears reconsideration chiefly because of this weeks gospel John the Baptist is approached by different people representing different functions in his culture the taxpayer the tax collector and the soldier They want to be baptized and ask how they should prepare John suggests an ethical change as good preparation He advises If you have two coats give one to the person who has none 2 Dont take off more tax than is permitted 3 Dont intimidate or extort in order to get more pay John Paul gives similar advice Like the Baptist the Pope is concerned in Centesimus Annus with how our worlds cultures and systems measure up ethically Whereas he might not baptize any particular culture the Pope does distinguish a better from a lesser culture He writes Dif ferent cultures are basically dif ferent ways of facing the question of the meaning of personal ex istence At the heart of every Religion and Reality by Jim Ryan culture lies the attitude man takes to the greatest mystery the mystery of God When this question of God and of mans ex istence is eliminated the culture and the moral life of nations are corrupted Systems are less complete than cultures The economic system for example determines how we organize production and con sumption Unfortunately in our culture the economic system has overtaken every other considera tion Men and women read the morning stock prices the way people of another time and place read the gospel John Paul blames con sumerism for blighting the human spirit in our culture He fears that with the failure of the communist system that our system flawed as it is will become universal He writes that the extent to which we are both decadent and alienated We are decadent because we perpetuate ob solete ways of living and reject any exchange or debate with regard to the truth about man We are alienated because we do not recognize in ourself and in others the value and grandeur of the human person It is on this latter point that the Pope really shines He writes It is through the free gift of self that man truly finds himself This gift is made possible by the human persons essential capacity for transcendence Man cannot give himself to a purely human plan for reality to an abstract ideal or to a false Utopia As a person he can give himself to another person or to other per sons and ultimately to God who is the author of his being and who alone can fully accept his gift Note Dont excuse the sexist language He notes the loss of the authentic meaning of life is a reality in Western societies This happens in consumerism when people are ensnared in a web of false and superficial gratification rather than being helped to ex perience their personhood in an authentic and concrete way Thats pretty clear As far as business is concerned Has Robert Scully read this document the purpose of a business firm is not simply to make a profit but is to be found in its very existence as a com munity of persons who in various ways are endeavoring to satisfy their basic needs and who form a particular group at the service of the whole of society Profit is a regulator of the life of a business but it is not the only one other human and moral factors must also be considered God will only offer forgiveness to those who forgive others ByTlMLUIMES Christian Reformed Church There once was a king whom everyone knew who was really quite strict and tight when it came to money One day the king called in one of his loans which he had made to one of the people in the kingdom The loan was for The man came to the king and pleaded with the king Please give me some more time to pay off the loan I know I can do it I just need more time The truth of the matter was that he would never be able to pay it back and the king knew it Then the king did a most amazing thing He said The debt is cancelled You may go The man didnt know what to say so he left On the way home he came across a fnend of his who owed him The man demanded the money back from his friend Another three weeks Ill have it for you in three weeks promised the friends Thats what you said three weeks ago the man said angri ly Get yourself a lawyer bud dy See you in small claims court Word got back to the king and he was furious The king had the man thrown into prison and reinstated the debt of That little story may be quite familiar to some people You may have read a version of it In the Bible Matthew 182135 So what is the point God has given us a way to be forgiven all we have to do is believe that Jesus died for our sins and be willing to turn away from our sins and we will be forgiven God Is the king in the story Hes forgiven us an enormous debt Can we forgive others their debt Have you ever been hurt by somebody So hurt that you felt that there was no way that you could forgive them Maybe it wasnt just one person Maybe youve been hurt by a whole group of people People hurt us more often than we are willing to admit sometimes The world is CLERGY COMMENT full of hurting people Georgetown is full of hurting peo ple people who have been hurt by words and actions Get serious After what theyve done there is no way that I am going to forgive them If we are not willing to forgive then God will not forgive us Have you forgiven those people who have hurt you Have you forgiven them from your heart Really forgiven them God has given us new life It is our respon sibility to live that forgiveness But wouldnt it be a lot easier to forgive those people if they would come up to you and apologize first Of course it would be But how can you tell someone Ex cuse me would you please apologize so that I can forgive you There was a little sign in the Zellers store yesterday which said I am never wrong Once I thought I was but I was mistaken There is an element to that small statement which we tend to laugh at but when we are involved in a conflict we are often all too ready to blame the other person Im right I never hurt anybody with my words I never hurt anybody with my actions Im always doing the right thing Another way of saying Im always right is I am never wrong If we can begin to accept the fact that we ought to forgive other people for the things that have hurt us and if we can begin to understand that we may also have done some hurting of others there is a need for us also to ask for the forgiveness of others We must ask others for- their forgiveness There are basically two things that will keep us from asking so meone else for forgiveness The first thing is pride It is beneath me to ask someone else for forgiveness Isnt that really a failure to recognize your sins against others Have you humiliated anyone Have you ignored certain people Have you hurt anyone Stop reading for a moment and con sider those questions I mean it stop reading It is time to ask that person for forgiveness I said there are two things that can keep us from asking someone else for The first was pride not being willing to admit that you might be wrong The second is shame being so ashamed of the mistake that you cant bring yourself to ask for forgiveness Quite recently I became con vinced of a sin that I had done against a fellow Christian I felt terrible about the sin but I didnt think I could fact the person So I wrote a letter to this person tell ing about how I felt and that I was truly sorry A little white later I received a telephone call from this person to whom I had apologized and asked for forgiveness In the short conver sation that followed this person said that the letter was ap preciated and that all was forgiven There is a speech in Shakespeares Merchant of Venice that is quite well known The quality of mercy is not strained It as a gentle dew from heaven upon the place beneath Tis twice blest It blesseth him that gives and him receive I dont know if the person to whom I wrote the letter was blessed because of the forgiveness which was given me but I do know that I certainly was blessed A weight was lifted off my shoulders I became at peace with myself and- -with- God This is what loud noise does to To find out how you can prevent hearing loss call us tollfree at -800- or contact your local office The Canadian Hearing Society Foundation 9 ANGLICAN SI Acton Service Sundaysatl000am St The Martyr Anglican Church 537 Main St Glen Williams 8778323 Service Times Sunday 800 am 1030 am St Georges Anglican Church Guelph St Georgetown 8778044 Service Times Sunday am 930am Thursday 1000 a m Sunday School 930 am BAPTIST Acton Baptist Church 8 Mill St Acton Worship 11 am 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