A Message from Bishop Olmsted from Diocese of Phoenix on Vimeo.
LEIF ERIKSON DAY
John, Chapter 14,
Verse 21-24
21 Whoever has my
commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves
me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal
myself to him.” 22
Judas,
not the Iscariot, said to him,
“Master, [then] what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to
the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves
me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to
him and make our dwelling with him. 24 Whoever does not
love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that
of the Father who sent me.
·
To
feed the hungry;
·
To
give drink to the thirsty;
·
To
clothe the naked;
·
To
harbor the harborless;
·
To
visit the sick;
·
To
ransom the captive;
·
To
bury the dead.
The spiritual works of
mercy are:
·
To
instruct the ignorant;
·
To
counsel the doubtful;
·
To
admonish sinners;
·
To
bear wrongs patiently;
·
To
forgive offences willingly;
·
To
comfort the afflicted;
In
a sense when we have the indwelling we are like Mary the great mother of God
and are compelled to acts of mercy; they are not just a list but a way of
being.
Paul’s list ends with four phrases containing the words “all
things”. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things. Here we see clearly the countercultural power of a love that is able to face whatever
might threaten it. This is about more than simply putting up with evil; it has
to do with the use of the tongue. The holding one’s peace” about what
may be wrong with another person. Limiting judgment, checking the impulse to
issue a firm and ruthless condemnation: “Judge not and you will not be
judged.” Although it runs contrary to
the way we normally use our tongues, God’s word tells us: “Do not speak evil
against one another, brothers and sisters” (Jas 4:11). Being willing to
speak ill of another person is a way of asserting ourselves, venting resentment
and envy without concern for the harm we may do. We often forget that slander
can be quite sinful; it is a grave offense against God when it seriously harms
another person’s good name and causes damage that is hard to repair. Hence
God’s word forthrightly states that the tongue “is a world of iniquity” that
“stains the whole body” (Jas 3:6); it is a “restless evil, full of
deadly poison” (3:8). Whereas the tongue can be used to “curse those who are
made in the likeness of God,” love cherishes the good name of others, even
one’s enemies.
Married couples joined by love speak well of each other; they try
to show their spouse’s good side, not their weakness and faults. In any event,
they keep silent rather than speak ill of them. This is not merely a way of
acting in front of others; it springs from an interior attitude. Far from
ingenuously claiming not to see the problems and weaknesses of others, it sees
those weaknesses and faults in a wider context. It recognizes that these
failings are a part of a bigger picture. We have to realize that all of us are
a complex mixture of light and shadows. The other person is much more than the
sum of the little things that annoy me. Love does not have to be perfect for us
to value it. The other person loves me as best they can, with all their limits,
but the fact that love is imperfect does not mean that it is untrue or unreal.
It is real, albeit limited and earthly. If I expect too much, the other person
will let me know, for he or she can neither play God nor serve all my needs. Love
coexists with imperfection. It “bears all things” and can hold its peace before
the limitations of the loved one.
Leif Erikson Day serves to
honor Viking Explorer Leif Erikson and celebrate Nordic-American Heritage.
Erikson is believed to have been the first European to set foot on the
North American continent, having done so nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus.
He established a settlement called Vinland and although its exact
location is not known, it is believed that it is near L'anse aux Meadows, in
Newfoundland, Canada, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1925, Leif Erikson
was officially recognized by President Calvin Coolidge as the first explorer to
discover the continent. It took another four decades for the day to become
official when, in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared October 9th as
Leif Erikson Day. In 2015, President Barack Obama reproclaimed the day and
called upon Americans to celebrate the day appropriately in honor of
Nordic-American heritage and the explorers that embarked on the expeditions
that led to the creation of the United States.
Leif Erikson Day Facts & Quotes
·
Leif
Erikson was actually born in Iceland, but his family was Norwegian. He died in
Greenland in the year 1020.
·
On
October 9, 1825, the first wave of Norwegian immigrants arrived on US soil in
New York City. Between 1825 and 1925, nearly one-third of Norway's population
immigrated to the US.
·
Erikson
named his settlement Vinland or Wineland due to the many grape vines that he
discovered there.
·
There
are more than 4.5 million Americans with Norwegian ancestry living in the US
today, of which 55% live in the Upper Midwest states.
·
Histories
have been written and more will be written of the Norwegians in America, but no
man can tell adequately of the tearing asunder of tender ties, the hardships
and dangers crossing the deep, the work and worry, the hopes and fears, the
laughter and tears, of men and women who with bare hands carved out of a
wilderness a new kingdom. - Rønning, N. N., from the book Fifty Years in
America
Leif Erikson Day Top Events and
Things to Do
·
Purchase
a Leif Ericson Millennium Commemorative Coin from the US Mint. The coins were
released at the beginning of the century however you can purchase some from
collectors online or even try to find them in public circulation.
·
Visit
one of the many Leif Erikson statues in the United States. There are statues in
Boston, Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, Virginia, Seattle, Minnesota and North
Dakota.
·
Take
a trip to Iceland, Norway or Greenland and visit the homelands of Leif Erikson.
·
Take
a trip to UNESCO site of L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada. This is
believed to be the site of Erikson's first New World settlement.
·
Watch
a movie about Vikings and Leif Erikson. Some movies include: Leif Ericson
(2000) and The Vikings (1958), The Viking Sagas (1995) and The 13th
Warrior (1999).
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
99. Engrave in your memory
those words which struck you while praying and repeat them slowly many times
throughout the day.
Daily Devotions
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