On the Way to Calgary
Devotions and prayers for the 2026 Leadership Gathering
Bishop Ruby-Nell Estrella
Manila Episcopal Area, Philippines
Sunday, October 4, 2026 · Fifth of seven devotions
Seven bishops from across the connection are offering a devotion and a prayer on each of the seven Sundays leading to the Council of Bishops Leadership Gathering in Calgary, Alberta, October 20 to 24, 2026. You are invited to read, to pray, and to share these with your congregation.
Scripture
“She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me?’”
Genesis 16:13, CEB
Reflection
As we gather as leaders of the Church to discern and celebrate God's work in the midst of the challenges of our time, Hagar's testimony invites us to encounter anew the God who sees (El Roi in Hebrew).
Hagar met God in the wilderness. She was wounded, vulnerable, displaced, and alone. Yet the wilderness was not empty. In the very place where she experienced suffering and abandonment, God came near. God saw her. God spoke to her. God gave her hope.
Her confession, “You are the God who sees me,” is a profound reminder that God's presence reaches into the deepest places of human pain.
This is also the calling of the Church.
In a hurting and suffering world, the Church is called to be a sign of God's presence. We are called to embody the truth that no one is forgotten, no suffering is invisible, and no wilderness is beyond the reach of God's grace.
The Church becomes a sign of God's presence when we learn to see as God sees.
We see the hungry not as statistics, but as neighbors. We see the poor not as problems to be solved, but as persons bearing the image of God. We see the displaced, the oppressed, the grieving, and the marginalized not as people at the edge of our ministry, but as people at the heart of God's concern.
But before the Church can become a sign of God's presence in the world, we ourselves must be drawn deeply into that presence.
As leaders, we can easily become occupied with programs, decisions, structures, and strategies. Yet we cannot reveal a presence in which we ourselves do not abide. Christian leadership begins not simply with doing God's work, but with dwelling in God. Before we ask, “What must the Church do?” we must first listen: “Where is God already present, and what is the Holy Spirit doing among God's people?”
The Holy Spirit draws us into this holy attentiveness. The Spirit opens our eyes to see Christ in the suffering. The Spirit unsettles us when we become comfortable with injustice. The Spirit gives us courage to go into places of pain and to remain present where others may turn away.
Perhaps this is one of our most urgent callings today: not merely to bring people into the Church, but to bring the presence of Christ into the places where people are hurting.
Where there is despair, may the Church be a sign of hope.
Where there is injustice, may the Church be a sign of God's righteousness.
Where there is division, may the Church be a sign of reconciliation.
Where people are forgotten, may the Church be a sign that God sees them.
And when we ourselves grow weary, let us remember: the God who sees the suffering also sees us. We do not carry God's mission alone. The Holy Spirit who calls the Church also sustains and leads the Church.
As we discern together, may we not simply ask what we can accomplish. May we ask where the world is hurting, where God is already at work, and how we are being called to become a living sign of God's presence there.
For we serve El Roi—the God who sees.
May we be a Church that sees because we have first been seen; that loves because we have first been loved; and that goes into the world's wildernesses because we know that God is already there.
Prayer
God who sees, draw us deeply into Your presence and awaken us to the movement of Your Holy Spirit. Open our eyes to the pain of Your people and make Your Church a living sign of Your love in a hurting world. Where there is suffering, send us with compassion; where there is injustice, give us courage; where there is despair, make us bearers of hope. Keep us from becoming comfortable or indifferent. Help us to abide in You so that our ministry may reveal Christ's presence. Lead us to join Your work among the forgotten and marginalized. Through Your Spirit, make us faithful servants of Your mission. Amen.
Read the whole series: On the Way to Calgary.
Next: Bishop Mande Muyombo, Sunday, October 11, 2026.