“Jesus was always unequivocally supportive of those without voice or place in their communities — lepers, tax collectors, beggars, people who were unwhole. He healed the broken, never making them feel as if they had no dignity. He restored outcasts to their communities. He invited new understanding of what it means to be a neighbor to everyone, no matter what their differences.”
“Jesus knew what it was like being in the desert with no provisions. Remember, he spent forty days there, by himself, except for the tempter who waits for all of us. I may walk through an emotional or spiritual desert, but Jesus will walk with me, showing me where to go and how to survive.”
“Their understanding of the Slavic language was exactly what the Byzantine emperor, Michael III, and Constantinople’s patriarch, Photius, needed to evangelize and build a relationship in Slavic territory, so the two brothers were sent as missionaries. They ran into a hurdle almost immediately… If the Slavs were to understand the Good News in Christ, it would have to be in Slavonic…so Cyril set about creating an alphabet with Methodius’ help, so the liturgy and the Bible could be translated into the vernacular of the people. His alphabet, the Glagolitic alphabet, would evolve into what we now know as the Cyrillic alphabet. (Yes, he’s *THAT* Cyril!)”
“The consensus eventually was that you can overcome having high academic aptitude by hard work, but there was no shortcut to kindness.”
“In our best moments, moments when we’re really creating it all, that’s pretty much what can happen. People running towards the light to become a part of it all. We were made for that light. You know, a city built on a hill. Designed to glorify God and be that transformation.”
“…there are those who know all the words of worship by heart
and those who fumble with the bulletins and books
some sit quietly while others squirm and wiggle
some of the youngest delight in running up and down the aisles
and their parents simply want a space to rest…”
“Jesus goes from the outside, the hidden place, to the inside, now the place of danger. In secret. And he can hear the muttering about him, pro and con, but all overshadowed by fear of the authorities.”
“I get angry, gossip and manipulate until I catch myself at it and stop. It is with struggle that I give up my grudges and ask God to forgive the grudges God could carry against me. I am only now, at age 68, beginning to see that noticing beauty, joy, and gratitude is seeing Christ present in the world.”
“Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek, but not to be a total doormat either. We are to treat others as our neighbors, whether they are residents or aliens in our land. We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoners, care for the ill, children, and elderly, and to follow God’s laws. If we encounter evildoing, we are to do our best to counter it and remove it, returning ourselves and the land to righteousness under God.”
“These are two extremes, between which lie all the ways that God is revealed in our lives. At work, with friends, doing various kinds of labor, in nature, in the deep sorrows and joys of our lives—in each one God reveals himself to us. We have only to stop for a moment and raise our heads, to open our hearts to this moment, to see his revelation.”
All Content © 2017 Episcopal Café
