tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464309008858992954.post5967802990884846262..comments2023-08-10T05:13:10.024-07:00Comments on The Ekklesia Project: Unrealistic Stories and Beginning…AgainZach Kincaidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12893369435666365181noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464309008858992954.post-22581790428027426572010-02-15T17:26:30.110-08:002010-02-15T17:26:30.110-08:00Happy are the poor - Here in Honduras I know peopl...Happy are the poor - Here in Honduras I know people here who are poor (not necessarily living in "misery") who have a deep joy - partly because of their faith, partly because of what they've learned about sharing, partly with their resilience in the face of the evils of impoverishment. They have a deep sense of the meaning of their life - in Christ - and not only realize the solidarity of Jesus with them in their suffering, but also find hope in the resurrection.<br />This is not justifying physical impoverishment - but finding Christ in poverty (as many who have embraced voluntary poverty have also found joy and hope).John (Juancito) Donaghyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12711543214465586727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464309008858992954.post-87889879378520019542010-02-10T08:39:30.273-08:002010-02-10T08:39:30.273-08:00Protestant and Catholics alike sneak up on this Su...Protestant and Catholics alike sneak up on this Sunday by way of last week's reading of Isaiah 6, which means that we already have a pattern for confronting the radiance of Jesus Christ--whether we see that radiance on the mount of transfiguration or in the words of a sermon on the plain. The pattern is to first acknowledge our own failure and sin, a moment of truth-telling, reality acknowledging that opens the space for the communal transformation that Christ intends to work in his church. I found these words from Frederica Mathewes-Green in my morning prayer particularly fitting, both for last week's Isaiah reading and for this focus on the Radiant Christ: "The starting point for the early church was this awareness of the abyss of sin inside each person. God, who is all charity and light, wants to make us perfect as he is perfect, shot through with his radiance. The first step in our healing, then, is not being comforted. It is taking a hard look at the cleansing that needs to be done."Brent Laythamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464309008858992954.post-3391116988201219522010-02-10T08:24:08.573-08:002010-02-10T08:24:08.573-08:00The Church in all of her expressions gets to live ...The Church in all of her expressions gets to live out the wisdom of the Cross (the transforming power of love, grace and peace)as a contrast-society in particular places. Only then will all our neighbors have both the imagination and will to live together as God intended.Michael Bowlingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464309008858992954.post-10980495854320617322010-02-10T08:16:20.010-08:002010-02-10T08:16:20.010-08:00Brian, this was incredibly well-written! The story...Brian, this was incredibly well-written! The story of the transfiguration is an opportunity to catch a quick look behind the veil of this world's reality to see God's reality both present and coming in fullness.I think the President wants to believe in God's kingdom, but in the end he is a "practical" guy like most national, state and local politicians. Enter...the Church.Michael Bowlingnoreply@blogger.com