A man of the city...
In today’s gospel, Jesus is doing what we experience from him so many times. He is crossing boundaries. The first line of our reading makes this clear because it tells us that, “Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes…” To make certain we have no doubt that he has crossed a boundary, the second line is added, “…which is opposite Galilee.” He is among the Gentiles. People who he and his disciples would have been taught are unclean. There is no specific
Radical Welcome
All four Gospels contain a story about a woman anointing Jesus. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus is at the home of Simon the Leper. In John’s Gospel the woman is Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus at their home after Lazarus has been raised from the dead by Jesus. Luke’s story happens early in Jesus’ Ministry, but the other three occur toward the end, as Jesus is moving toward Jerusalem and crucifixion. These three seem to be a foretaste of the importance of Jesus’ death. But Lu
...gave him to his mother.
Recently I was observing a group of people who had been together in the past, and were becoming reacquainted. One woman said to another, “Didn’t you have a son who was in a coma?” To which the other woman said, “Yes, that was eight years ago. The doctors kept telling me to pull the plug, but I never gave up hope.” “What happened?” replied the first woman. The second woman pointed to a man standing near her and said, “There he is!” I felt as though I had been witnessing one of
