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| Category: Religion:Christianity |
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| About the Book | |
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Long ago and far away an unemployed wandering Jew, inspired by his mother’s womb song, angered by his cousin’s beheading, dared to set out on a mission that would be the death of him. It did not help that he was from Galilee, a hotbed of resentment against the Roman Occupation. His mission was to make Galilee and Judea the kingdom of God. But he seemed to be a dreamer rather than a practical man. There would be no sword-play. His weapon of choice would be daily bread, worthy of God’s name, on every table. The poor rejoiced. The mighty were madder than hell. Everyone else (today’s middle class) asked: How can this be? Do you mean to say that this mission to the least means more than building temples and synagogues, more than satisfying the rituals and laws of God? Tell me, he said, what do you think of a God who claims to be loving father of us all, especially the least, and yet would have more spent on him than on the poor? What kind of God would that be? Tell us, they said, how will you lead us into this kingdom in Galilee? Are you another Moses or David? Well, the Nazarene replied, I can tell you one thing. I will not rely on any proven failures. No army will march on Jerusalem singing “Onward Christian Soldiers.” No trumpet blast will knock down the fortress of Herod. No swords will be wielded in my name. My followers will believe that to live by the sword is to die by the sword. They will know that God does not crave rituals but craves for the day Justice and Peace will kiss. My followers will be a people of the open table. They will revere me as the revelation of the mirth of the Lord. When I die they will tell stories about me as a stumbling human presence. They will not believe stories that predict I will return in an apocalyptic fury that would be the envy of Hitler – where burn all Jews becomes burn all unbelievers. JESUS, MAN ON A MISSION is the story of a man trying to gather followers who would not pray as wretches pleading for amazing graces. They themselves were to be amazing graces. Their coins would be stamped “In us God trusts.” It is the story of the men and women who walked and worked with Jesus, the good times and hard times they shared, and, how they handled the bumps in the road with good humor. After all, they were Jews and none of them more so than Jesus – at least as I tell the story. Moses, Jesus, and Mohamed were three game-changing incarnations of God. Two had armies, one did not. Why has the sword-less incarnation not even come close to the game-changing mission revealed in his prayer to our Father in heaven? That is the most significant question in this cliff-hanging third millennium.
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| About the Author | |
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Ordained 1954 in Rome. Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. Assistant Chancellor seven years, Pastor five years, Harrisburg, PA. Activist in anti-war and anti-poverty movements ten years. Professor of Religious Studies at the College of Notre Dame, Maryland, twenty years. Married twenty-nine years. |