Ecumenical celebration in Notre Dame de Paris - 3.Dec.15

The cathedral of Notre Dame was half full. A choir of monks, another choir of young women and men from Madagascar colored the evening with their chants. Clergy of various Christian churches led the celebration. These are the most touching moments.

 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything…

“You are the light of the world… No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket… Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven”.

Offertory:

Theme: “Natural resources are not inexhaustible, … we must learn to share them and protect our environment that sustains life on Earth.”

1. A piece of cotton: from a tropical region, is a means of dressing our bodies. A call to overcome all forms of slavery in today’s world.
2. A piece of linen: a gracious herb that makes a blue flower. Beauty and softness adorn should adorn the lives of each and every human being.
3. A metal ewer: through human labor and creativity minerals are transformed into useful, beautiful objects, from tools to works of art, to coins. They should serve to satisfy human needs, we should not convert them into our masters.
4. A pottery: we are life embodied in earthen vessels. We are part of God’s adventure in Matter.
5. A bottle of olive oil: an ointment that soothes and relaxes, a bearer of fragrance that embalms, an ingredient that nourishes. Let us offer our life as a multiple service to others and to our own good living and happiness.
6. A musical instrument: through art, music and culture, humans can express what they are in the deepest sense: a being connected to all forms of life on Earth and in the Cosmos. Gratitude for our capacity to co-create ourselves and the world through all forms of art!
7. A boat: modern means of communication abolish distances and make us aware that our world is unique and that we are interdependent. We need to deepen our awareness to choose communion with one another, to rebuild humankind as one single family, wherein sisters and brothers love and care for one another and for all forms of life. A special place should be granted to women, youth and native peoples, who are prominent caretakers of Earth Mother.
8. The globe, represented by a Chinese lamp shade with the continents made of modeling clay. Creation is a gift entrusted to us, humans. We are responsible to the current and future generations for the whole inhabited Earth.

A message from the Council of Christian Churches of France for the COP21 was read. Its final paragraph says:

“Our hope as Christians rests in our belief that our world is not destined to disappear but to be transformed, and that human beings capable of self-destruction are also able to unite and to choose that which is good”… that which creates good living and happiness in harmony with Nature.