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13/10/2017
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Canon Steve Williams, Bishop of Manchester's interfaith adviser.
Last on
Fri 13 Oct 201705:43
BBC Radio 4
Script
Good morning.
Two anniversaries catch my eye this morning. Today marks the centenary of the so-called Miracle of the Sun. Many thousands of people gathered in the small Portuguese town of Fatima. They gave varying descriptions of extraordinary events in the sky that lasted for about ten minutes. It looked as though the sun were dancing or zig-zagging, perhaps heading towards the earth in a swift and uncontrolled way, or else giving out a an unusual range of colour.
The people were there in response to the report of visions of the Virgin Mary shared by three shepherd children. Many believed they'd seen a miracle and that it was given to confirm the message the children were delivering - of turning to God and praying for peace as the Great War ground on remorselessly.
From the heavens above to the earth beneath, the other event is much more recent. On this day seven years ago, the world saw emerge from the San Jose Copper-Gold Mine near the Chilean town of Copiapo the last of thirty three miners, who'd been trapped two thousand three hundred feet below the ground for sixty nine days after a rock-fall.
The rescue caught the world's attention. The rescue was remarkable. So, too, was the collective spirit of the miners how they organised themselves below ground. One said later, "We knew that if society broke down, we'd all be doomed." Another said, "As a group we had to keep faith." Their hope was strikingly similar to that of the pilgrims looking up at the sky in Fatima a hundred years ago longing for peace... the prayer of this ancient Hebrew poet: "O Lord, if I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there."
Two anniversaries catch my eye this morning. Today marks the centenary of the so-called Miracle of the Sun. Many thousands of people gathered in the small Portuguese town of Fatima. They gave varying descriptions of extraordinary events in the sky that lasted for about ten minutes. It looked as though the sun were dancing or zig-zagging, perhaps heading towards the earth in a swift and uncontrolled way, or else giving out a an unusual range of colour.
The people were there in response to the report of visions of the Virgin Mary shared by three shepherd children. Many believed they'd seen a miracle and that it was given to confirm the message the children were delivering - of turning to God and praying for peace as the Great War ground on remorselessly.
From the heavens above to the earth beneath, the other event is much more recent. On this day seven years ago, the world saw emerge from the San Jose Copper-Gold Mine near the Chilean town of Copiapo the last of thirty three miners, who'd been trapped two thousand three hundred feet below the ground for sixty nine days after a rock-fall.
The rescue caught the world's attention. The rescue was remarkable. So, too, was the collective spirit of the miners how they organised themselves below ground. One said later, "We knew that if society broke down, we'd all be doomed." Another said, "As a group we had to keep faith." Their hope was strikingly similar to that of the pilgrims looking up at the sky in Fatima a hundred years ago longing for peace... the prayer of this ancient Hebrew poet: "O Lord, if I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there."
Broadcast
- Fri 13 Oct 201705:43BBC Radio 4
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