On-the-road nominees

* Rev. James Wiseman, OSB, from the Department of Theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.: "Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem, which is perhaps most movingly narrated in Luke's Gospel in the section beginning with the words: 'When the days for His being taken up were fulfilled, He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.' All along the way, Jesus gave instructions to His disciples about the things that matter most. Luke's phrase -- 'being taken up' -- is rich in its connotations: taken up in suffering, death, resurrection, ascension. In one way or another, that journey is one that we are all called to make in Jesus' footsteps."

* Maureen A. Tilley, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton in Ohio: "The most significant journey, and this may be stretching the word, is the Incarnation. Not only does the Son of God become a human being (journeying in a mythic sense from 'up there in heaven' to 'down here on earth'), but through the second Person of the Trinity we know that God is here with us in our life-long journey. The God of all majesty has become human like us and travels our road with us. Knowing we have a companion on our journey is an incredible source of hope for believers."

* Rev. Conrad Harkins, associate professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio: "Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish rabbi renowned for His insightful and incisive teaching concerning God and humankind, His courageous challenging of the establishment, and His compassionate exercise of a healing ministry, made the final journey of His life from rural Galilee to the capital at Jerusalem. Ahead of Him lay, as He well knew, a confrontation with political and religious forces that would culminate in His death. Jesus' obedience to the Father, loyalty to truth, fidelity to mission and compassion for all (even His persecutors throughout the debasement and atrocious torture of His public execution) led the Greco-Roman world to see in His death, the ultimate triumph of good over evil. All mankind cried out with a Roman centurion, 'Clearly this was the Son of God.' In the light of the subsequent resurrection, the Christian religion would present itself to the world not only as an altruistic code of conduct challenging to the comfortable and affluent, but as a religion with meaning for the poor, the oppressed, the suffering, the victims of violence, the dying, the bereaved -- a religion, in short, for all humanity. Had Jesus of Nazareth not gone up to Jerusalem but died in old age as a pious preacher in the hills of Galilee, multitudes of believers for two millennia would hardly have found in Him the answer to the problem of human suffering. Clearly, the last journey of Jesus up to Jerusalem is the most significant journey in Christian history."

* Dr. Jeffrey Marlett, assistant professor of religious studies at The College of Saint Rose in Albany: "Catholic immigration to the United States has created a uniquely American moment in the history of Roman Catholicism. Each stage added its own characteristics to the clergy, the liturgy, popular devotions and Catholic education. As a new stage of immigration replaced an older one, the American Catholic Church was forced to be ever mindful of its immigrant roots, even as the representatives of the earlier stages went off and 'made it' in America." (JB)

(07-15-99) [[In-content Ad]]