Jan Hus

January 19, 2019

DAILY READING

Luke 11:14-23
This weekend’s reading: Revelation 2:8-11

FIELD NOTES
I pray that you will be inspired, challenged and given hope by the stories and words of faithful Christians I share throughout the week.  These Christians were ordinary humans just like you and me, loved and cherished by Christ and confronted by everyday real challenges to living faithful lives.
 
In the midst of division, how do we “be with Christ”?
 
Hear this story of Jan Hus (1372-1415):
Jan Hus was born in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic).  He helped launch a vigorous reform of the church in a particularly difficult time in our history known as the Great Schism.  Amid highly politicized divisions of God’s people, Hus pursued a mystical and evangelical approach, insisting that Christ alone is head of the church.  To partisans on both sides, his views seemed idealistic at best, and at worst a dreamy anarchism or heresy.  Hus maintained a creative loyalty to the church while challenging its pathologies.  He was burned at the stake during the Council of Constance in 1415, and his death helped give birth to the Moravian Church, which would highly influence John Wesley and thus the Methodists.
 
Hear the words of Mother Teresa from yesterday in light of this story and Scripture passage today:
 
Mother Teresa said “Our vocation is to belong to Jesus so completely that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.  What you and I must do is nothing less than putting our love for Christ into practice.  The important thing is not how much we accomplish, but how much love we put into our deeds every day.  That is the measure of our love for God.”

QUESTIONS FROM THE FIELD

• How do the story of Jan Hus and words of Mother Teresa challenge you in light of the passage from Luke?
• How do the story of Jan Hus and words of Mother Teresa inspire you in light of the passage from Luke?

PRAYER

Lord, we pray for the unity of spirit in these divided times. There has always been division almost since the beginning of time. May we seek to put Christ first in all things, especially the Church. Amen.