大象传媒

Canon Sarah Snyder

Good morning and a very warm welcome to Rose Castle, near the English-Scottish border. Home to the bishops of the North West for 800 years, it has been both a fortress - built to keep enemies out - and a house of prayer, with a beautiful chapel at its heart. It has witnessed countless violent attacks, but is also a place of immense peace and beauty. After falling empty for the first time in centuries, Rose Castle Foundation has re-opened its doors as a sanctuary in which enemies can meet face to face; in which strangers are welcomed, rather than turned away; and a generation of young leaders can learn to reconcile rather than take revenge. 听

听

History has shown the dangers of turning our backs on others 鈥� de-humanising them to the point where we ignore and overlook them, or worse still, express our hatred and contempt in violent words and action.

听

Next Wednesday is Holocaust Memorial Day and today 听in particular we remember the devastating events of the Holocaust, in which millions lost their lives at the hands of fellow human beings.

听

Our first hymn calls for forgiveness, a change of heart and finding God not in the earthquake, wind and fire, but in the still small voice. Dear Lord and Father of mankind.

听

HYMN听 - Dear Lord and Father of Mankind (Repton)听

Performed by The Reading Phoenix Choir

听

Canon Sarah Snyder

Reverend Julia Hedley is Chaplain of Rose Castle Foundation, and joins us now in prayer.

听

Revd. Julia Hedley

Rose Castle Foundation is in partnership with Coventry Cathedral

听

The Community of the Cross of Nails, is a diverse group of people established in the aftermath of the second world war to say 鈥渘ever again鈥� to war. This prayer is prayed听 daily, both in Coventry and around the world. Let us pray:

听

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

听

The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class,

Father forgive.

听

The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own,

Father forgive

听

The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth,

Father forgive

听

Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others,

Father forgive

听

Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee,

Father forgive

听

The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children,

Father forgive

听

The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God,

Father forgive

听

Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Amen.

听

Canon Sarah Snyder

Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker whose family protected many Jewish neighbours during the holocaust. She and her sister, Betsie, were arrested and sent to the concentration camp. Betsie died during this time and Corrie survived to tell her and other鈥檚 story, most famously in her book, The Hiding Place. 听Here she describes the moment she came face to face with her former jailer.

听

Extract from The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom:

MUSIC 鈥� Sinfonia (Kyrie) from Annelies

Composer: James Whitbourn

Westminster Williamson Voices

The Lincoln Trio with Bharat Chandra (clarinet)

Canon Sarah Snyder

Music from Annelies, James Whitbournes setting of the Diary of Anne Frank.

听

Reverend Canon Joseph Bilal has witnessed the horrors of violence in his own country, South Sudan. 听In my own visits to this beautiful country, I have seen the devastating impact on both perpetrators and victims of the hatred and violence they continue to experience.

听

Reverend Canon Joseph Bilal

The incident of Sunday 15 December 2013 was the darkest day in the history of our nation.听 It all began in Juba.听 The supporters of the President Salva Kiir attacked the supporters of his Deputy Dr Riek Machar.听 That led into the full displacement of over 870,000 people from their homes across the country.

听

With several thousand brutally murdered. That included pastors killed because of their ethnicity. Women and girls raped. Ten of thousands of civilians sought safety inside the churches and in the UN Base compound in South Sudan. Others fled to refugee camps in neighbouring countries in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

听

Also, social media was used to divide the nation into tribal lines and small clan social bubbles with a devastating impact on the livelihood of the people, livestock, and property.

听

As Christians, we must use the social media platform to channel acts of love, kindness, and friendship towards each other. Jesus called us to love our enemies rather than demonizing and de-humanizing them.

听

I admit that a call to loving our enemy is so challenging, particularly when we know they tortured and took the lives of those we love. But as Christians, we are called to stand in the gap of our ethnic group championing the cause of forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing.

听

Jesus calls us to forgive one another as God himself has forgiven us. We must 鈥榣et go of鈥� the desire for vengeance and retribution (Mt.18:18).

听

President Nelson Mandela of South Africa visited the United States of America, and President Bill Clinton asked him 鈥楬ow are you able to bring yourself to forgive your jailers?鈥� Nelson replied:

听

听When I walked through the gate I knew that if I continued to hate those people who jailed me, I was still in prison. If you hate, you will give your heart and mind. Don鈥檛 give these two things away.听

听

Nelson Mandela had every reason to seek revenge but instead, he chose the route of forgiveness and reconciliation. The goal of forgiveness is to address the guilt of sin with mercy. It is my appeal that we need to avoid demonizing people of another community.听 Instead, let us seek reconciliation. Let us work to repair and restore our broken relationships and get along with each other, making our nation and world safe and peaceful.

听

MUSIC - There is a Balm in Gilead (Traditional Spiritual)

Performed by The Maesteg Gleemen

听

Canon Sarah Snyder

We hear now from the Biblical book of Ruth. Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi, are widowed and homeless, making the long journey from Ruth鈥檚 homeland, Moab, to Naomi鈥檚 homeland, Israel. As a new and uncertain refugee, Ruth experiences the welcome of Boaz, a distant relative of Naomi. Our reading is by Fady Nassar, a member of the Rose Castle Foundation team.

听

Reading: Ruth chapter 2, verses 8 to 12

听听

Revd. Julia Hedley

Holocaust Memorial Day is a day of challenges. Its primary purpose is, of course, to remember and honour the Jews who were killed in the second world war. That six million people could be murdered by an evil government regime remains the greatest horror of our time, and we are right to recall that history in the hope that humanity has learnt its necessary lessons.

听

It is, however, all too clear that those lessons haven鈥檛 yet been learnt. Anti-Semitism is still thriving in many parts of the world, and genocide, violence and oppression are the reality for many - the Rohingyas in Myanmar, Ya-zi-di in Syria, Uighurs in China. The list can go on.

听

By keeping the horrors of the holocaust clearly in view, we have the ability to recognise and condemn more recent genocides. There will never be an equivalence between what happened to the Jews and other atrocities, but then this isn鈥檛 a competition about whose suffering is worse. The point of Holocaust Memorial Day is to hear again the stories of the harm that perverted power can inflict.

听

There are dangers in telling these stories. It鈥檚 not a neutral act to call out evil. People have been targeted and threatened for doing so. But if we don鈥檛 tell the stories we are simply left with statistics. We鈥檙e left with the dehumanising effect of lumping people together - the Jews, the Muslims, gay people, black people; of living by stereotypes that reinforce our prejudices.

听

Human history has been defined by categorising insiders and outsiders. If you鈥檙e a member of my group, then you鈥檙e OK. If you鈥檙e not, then I can ignore you, even brutalise and kill you, and be applauded for it. Fear and mistrust can grow into hatred and destruction.

听

The story of Ruth that we鈥檝e just heard shows us that there is another way. It tells of Ruth鈥檚 love for and commitment to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and how she gives up her homeland to settle in Israel. But it鈥檚 also a story about Israel honouring its covenant relationship with God to provide for the foreigner and widow- the outsider, the one who is 鈥榥ot-like-us鈥�. Boaz hears Ruth鈥檚 story and acts on it to provide for her needs.

听

We fear that the other will destroy what we hold to be ours, be that our way of life, religion, economy, or privilege. In the New Testament John鈥檚 first letter says, 鈥楾here is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love鈥� (1John 4. 18). He points out that whoever says that they love God but hates their brother or sister is a liar- strong words, but ones we need to heed. We cannot come into God鈥檚 company without recognising the absolute right of our fellow human beings to be treated as we are. All of us are made in the image in God.

听

Holocaust Memorial Day always falls in Epiphany, that time of year when Christians explore what it means to say that the fullness of God was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Every day we use words from the book of the prophet Isaiah- 鈥楢rise, shine out for your Lord has come, the glory of the Lord is rising upon you. Though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples; above you the Holy one arises, and above you God鈥檚 glory appears.鈥�

听

As the stories we鈥檝e heard this morning show us, we鈥檙e still in the land of darkness, but only because we allow ourselves to be. We know the direction we need to walk in to get to the

听

MUSIC - Beauty for Brokenness

Composer/Performer: Graham Kendrick

Canon Sarah Snyder

听

Graham Kendrick鈥檚 song, Beauty for Brokenness.

听During this devastating time of pandemic and isolation, many of us have benefitted from digital technology that allows us to continue seeing and speaking with others whilst remaining at home. As new grandparents, my husband and I love chatting 鈥� or more often gurgling and smiling 鈥� with our young grandchildren and seeing their changing expressions.

听

However, this same technology is pushing us all in to tighter social bubbles 鈥� through algorithms that tell us, If you like this鈥�.you鈥檒l also like that鈥︹��they, or we, choose the news and social media feeds we read, introduce us to others like ourselves, and to perspectives that reinforce our own.

听

It is easy to become isolated and removed from those who are different to ourselves. We inadvertently, or consciously, join tribes of like-minded people, in which the outsider becomes a stranger, and even an enemy. We no longer see or hear them regularly.

听

At Rose Castle we bring people together from Deeply Divided Communities. A few years ago, one of our Palestinian visitors, Yusuf, met face to face with member of the Israeli defence force. I remember the sense of fear and trepidation in the air. Halfway through dinner he turned to me and said 鈥淚 never realise they smile鈥�. And why would he. He鈥檇 only met them at check-points which are places of fear and uncertainty for all where nobody was in the mood for smiling. That first encounter at Rose Castle was just the start of a long journey of re-humanising one another, recognising the fear and suffering each had experienced, and dismantling the walls they had built between them.

听

It is more important than ever, in these times of social isolation, to challenge the social walls we build; to re-discover a curiosity about those outside our own circles; to wonder what it鈥檚 like to be somebody different to ourselves. This helps us show hospitality to strangers. It prompts us to welcome in those we do not understand so well, or even better, to walk towards them, to be their guest 鈥撎� to go to their less comfortable spaces instead of expecting them to come to ours.

听

听

MUSIC - Benedictus from The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace

Composer: Karl Jenkins

Cellist: Guy Johnston

The National Youth Choir of Great Britain

The London Philharmonic Orchestra

听

Loving God, we give you thanks that we are all created in your image. We remember before you those whose humanity has been denied and destroyed by the actions of others. We ask your blessing on all who take the risk of telling their stories so that we might learn from them.

听

We pray for Rose Castle Foundation, Coventry Cathedral and all involved in the work of reconciliation. Fill us with passion for your justice and听teach us to be unafraid in pursuing it.听

听

We pray for all those impacted by extreme weather and flooding here in Cumbria and across the country. Keep us safe from fear and from harm as we face storms and struggles.

听

We pray for the new administration in America, praying especially for President Joe Biden in his first days in office. Guided by your goodness and truth. give him the strength and judgement to seek unity over division, and love over hate.

听

And we continue to ask your healing touch on all suffering in the Covid pandemic, in this country and across the world. We pray particularly for our medical and emergency services, giving you thanks for their care and dedication.听 We thank you for all those working to administer vaccines and those who make sacrifices in their daily lives to protect others. Send your spirit as a comforter to us all, bringing the spiritual and psychological help and guidance needed at this time.听听

听

听Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Amen.

听

MUSIC - Better is Peace (God Shall Wipe Away all Tears) from听The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace

Composer: Karl Jenkins

Cellist: Guy Johnston

The National Youth Choir of Great Britain

The London Philharmonic Orchestra