Thursday, December 20, 2007

A New Generation of Hope

Jasper Goldberg, a senior at Tam High School and a faithful member of the parish where I serve, has penned a wonderful and bold essay, which was posted over at Bishop Marc's blog.
An excerpt:

We see in the stories of Jesus’ ministries to the prisoners, the lepers and the outcasts of society in his day a message that no one is below the love of God. We are all God’s children, and we know that what we do unto the least of the people of God, we do unto God. Every time that we allow an injustice to be perpetrated against a gay man or a lesbian woman, the marginalized of today’s world, we allow the attacker to harm our beloved God, and in our negligence we are guilty. It is not enough to stand on the sidelines, and hope that someday things will be better. We must make our stand for those that society considers “outcasts” if we are to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The future of the Church is in good hands.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

How do I stop envying you, Richard, for having such a magnificently outspoken young person in your parish?

Could it be that his comments also reflect very positively on his rector? (For whom my prayers do not falter...)

June Butler said...

Jasper is a young man wise beyond his years. May God bless him and raise up many more like him.

Mike in Texas said...

john-julian ...

I suspect you're absolutely right.

R said...

j-j,

Your prayers are a great blessing. I credit them in part for my good fortune!

As for Mr. Goldberg, I assure you he knew his own mind and how to articulate it long before I arrived!

Mary Sue said...

The future of the Church is in good hands.

Durn tootin' it is.

Now, all we have to do is wrest the present out of the hands of the old farty folks...

Jake said...

Richard,

Someone just sent me to Bp. Andrus' blog to read this. Simply magnificent.

Do you think Jasper would mind if I post his words over at Jake's?

R said...

Jake,

Jasper said he would be honored!