By Sister Ana María Siufi – The Conference of the Parties, COP27, was held in November in Egypt to review and move ahead with agreements on climate change. I was part of the Mercy Global Action (MGA) delegation, along with Sister Angela Reed (MGA director), Cecilie Kern (from the MGA office), and Sister Magdalene Musau from Kenya. The experience was challenging and educational.
While each evangelist grappled with the question “Who is Jesus?,” the fourth Gospel did so in a fresh, unique way. John drew upon an independent tradition of Jesus’ actions and teachings that had apparently circulated for years.
Luke wants readers to know he’s a real person who collected written records that he has personally verified. He’s not writing his personal memoir, a fictional adventure novel, gossipy stories about Roman emperors, or transmitting messages from the gods as an oracle or seer. He intends to present an “orderly account” of what the community of faith already knows about Jesus of Nazareth. So the first question I can ask myself is, “Who am I, the reader? Where am I in my own spiritual life?”
I am living proof that the journey and challenges immigrant parents face can well be worth it for them and their future families. It brings me great sadness to see what immigrants face when I remember and reflect that my parents were once also facing the same challenges: not knowing the language, not knowing the process of how to apply for a visa properly, not knowing how to enter the country properly, not knowing their rights or having anyone to help.
The Gospel of Mark is more like a parable than a report: it is pithy and symbolic and challenging. It provokes engagement rather than offering pat conclusions. It begins with a “voice crying out in the wilderness,” and ends with silence fleeing the empty tomb. It is “a finger pointing to the moon” of God’s mystery in Jesus.
Matthew is writing for a Jewish audience. Jesus was born into a Jewish society that had a strong patriarchal nature. Surprisingly he included women in his genealogy. There are five women included in the lineage of Jesus, including Mary, the mother of Jesus. Women are often unnamed in the Scriptures; however, Mathew names three of them: Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. The mother of Solomon, Bathsheba, is not named.
As part of our commemoration of Black Catholic History Month, we share this story of two Sisters of Mercy — Sister Larretta Elizabeth Rivera-Williams and Sister Boreta Singleton.