Here in rural Georgia, it's hard to miss a monk in saffron robes walking through Wal-Mart. But we don't know what to think about him, so we don't.
Easter | Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year A)
Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14
In Jean Thompson’s novel The Year We Left Home, Anita extends an impulsive invitation to a mere acquaintance, Rhonda. Their lives have turned out very differently. Anita enjoys a contented home life with her husband and children, while Rhonda has endured an abusive boyfriend for far too long. So Anita invites Rhonda to her home, and says she can stay as long as she likes. Driving home, Anita contemplates the implications of her sudden act of hospitality.
The recipients of 1 Peter lived far off the grid of Roman power. A people with no social standing, they were deemed unworthy of defending. And yet it is to these people that the letter proclaims lofty praise.
Who is this leader who issues this warning? Do we even begin to believe that he's the Christ?
For my money, John’s is the only Gospel in which Jesus seems really lonely.
Gangs excel at finding the lost, adopting them and sending them out. Therefore, gang youth can be recruited for apostolic ministry.