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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:purple'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%'><b><span
style='font-size:15.0pt;line-height:150%'>Archbishop Thabo Makgoba<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'>
<h1><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:15.0pt;line-height:150%'>To the People of
God– To the <i>Laos</i><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:15.0pt;line-height:150%'>November 2009<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>Dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='color:windowtext'>
At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed his followers ‘may all be one, so that the
world may believe that you have sent me’ (Jn 17:21). Division among Christians
can only be considered a scandal, especially when differences turn into painful
divisions, or when we take pride in not being like others. This is a
tragedy, over which I am sure our Lord weeps. Therefore, though it is
often not easy to work with those who have other perspectives on faith, at
Provincial Standing Committee we reaffirmed our commitment to pursuing closer
ties with our sisters and brothers in Christ, especially our partners in the
Church Unity Commission. If you have good stories of local co-operation,
in anything from worship to joint projects, do let the Provincial Office know (</span><a
href="mailto:peoadmin@anglicanchurchsa.org.za">peoadmin@anglicanchurchsa.org.za</a><span
lang=EN-GB style='color:windowtext'>) as sharing these can be a great source of
encouragement. Our ultimate objective is, as Jesus prayed, that people
will come to believe in him as Lord and Saviour, through seeing how Christians
love one another (see also Jn 13:35).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='color:windowtext'>
You may have seen reports that Pope Benedict XVI has agreed that Anglicans who
so choose may be received in some manner into the Roman Catholic Church.
However until details of the decision have been made public, it is hard
to judge what precisely is intended by this move, at whom it is directed, or
what the implications are likely to be for our own Province and people.
When we know more, I will certainly write and share my response with you,
though at present it seems there will be no major effect on us in Southern
Africa.. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in'><span
lang=EN-GB style='color:windowtext'>One area where churches can particularly
work together – often in partnership with other faiths – is in joining our
voices together on public and political questions. Last month I wrote of
the importance of lending our combined weight, globally, to press political
leaders to take bold decisions at the Climate Change Conference in
December. Later in October, I had direct opportunities for engaging in
the political arena, first when President Jacob Zuma came to Bishopscourt for a
meeting of religious leaders of the Western Cape, and then when I went to
Swaziland to participate in a national ecumenical-interfaith gathering and was
also granted an audience with King Mswati III.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>
As I said to President Zuma, all faith communities consider truth to be one of
the highest virtues, and therefore he should always expect us to express with
honesty and independence whatever is on our hearts and minds, on every matter
that concerns us – for there is no aspect of human life beyond God’s
concern. The President in turn recalled how Scripture exhorts Christians
to pray for those in government, and asked us not only to do this, but to
engage political leaders with advice, and, where appropriate, with clear,
though constructive, criticism. Because of a funeral, he had to leave
before there was time for proper discussion, but I am determined that we should
not be slow to respond to his invitation, whenever issues prompting dialogue
present themselves! <span lang=EN-GB><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>
In the Mountain Kingdom, I met political leaders and civil society
organisations, shared a homily at the ecumenical-interfaith gathering, and
prayed with the King. I also spent time with our own clergy and people,
learning about the difficult social and economic conditions they face.
One priest, reflecting on the poor, even oppressive, treatment often faced by
women, said ‘When I am at the altar, I sometimes feel I just want to jump up
and kick the insensitive polygamists in my parish!’ Please do keep Bishop
Meshack and his flock in your prayers, as they share God’s good news as best
they can. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>
Sometimes the challenges our nations face seem so many and complex, it is hard
to know where to begin to engage with political leaders. Yet Anglicanism
has a long history of doing so confidently – often grounding this in another
distinctive of Anglicanism, our focus on Jesus and his incarnation. In
his life and teaching Jesus shows us what it is to be fully human. He
came, he said, to offer life in abundance (Jn 10:10). It seems to me that
the scope of this abundant human life is encapsulated in the Two Great
Commandments in which he summed up the Old Testament’s teaching (Mk
12:29-31). We are created, first, to live in love with God, with all our
heart, soul, mind and strength; and, second, to live in love with our
neighbours. Therefore, our goal must be to spread abundant life, in all
of these dimensions – heart, soul, mind and strength – and tackle whatever in
contemporary life impoverishes, diminishes or oppresses our spiritual,
emotional, mental or physical well-being, as God created it to be. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>
And because we are also made to live in love with our neighbours, our vocation
is to pursue this human well-being not only among individuals, but also in the
shared life of families, communities, towns, cities, and nations – and the whole
global village in which we increasingly find ourselves as neighbours (which is
why we must not neglect the well-being of the planet that is our home). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in'>Taking these
together gives us a broad and comprehensive matrix that describes the essential
elements of what it is to be human – to be possessed of spiritual, emotional,
mental and physical capacities and needs, as both individuals and members of
communities – and to flourish. Applied to our own varied contexts, it
helps put the focus on issues and priorities that we need to address. We
can also use it for constructive engagement with politicians – who, even if our
starting points differ, nonetheless are surely also committed to the same
goals. It therefore provides both us and them with a tool to measure how
well they are succeeding in their responsibilities to deliver the well-being of
the citizens and societies at every level of our countries.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in'>Advent will soon
be upon us, as we prepare to celebrate again how the Word became Flesh and
dwelt among us. I pray that this reflection on Jesus’ promise of good
news for the poor, sight for the blind and liberty to all who suffer any form
of oppression, and of what it means to be human and to flourish, may bring you
fresh insights, and draw you closer to the one who came to be Emmanuel, God
with us, in this life and the life to come.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>Yours in the service of Christ<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>+Thabo Cape Town<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:purple'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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