Making a Crucial Difference
“...If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 NRSV We gather today as ministers of the liturgy of the Church, a liturgy that presents us with the whole ministry of God in Christ Jesus; a ministry which makes the crucial difference in the world. Every time we approach the sacred mysteries, we pledge ourselves to make a difference in the world; a crucial difference. In that regard, I’m thinking of the events of the last week in Texas and Georgia, where two men were executed by the state. One was most certainly guilty of a heinous crime committed against James Byrd Jr. Lawrence Brewer went to his execution for that crime. The other man’s guilt as to the death of Mark McPhail was in serious doubt, but Troy Davis went to his execution anyway. One man went to his death unmourned and scorned. His crime is so brutal that it is hard to feel anything but loathing toward him. When Troy Davis went to his death, a crowd g...