Again, a figure from the peripheries of society offers a lesson. She finds her voice and speaks up for herself. She is prepared to say what ‘she wanted whether she got it or not, because saying it was how she remembered who she was. It was how she remembered the shape of her heart…’ (Barbara Brown Taylor ‘Bothering God’ in Home by Another Way).

In Mark’s gospel, Jesus is in a hurry. In John, he seems to be in control.  In Matthew’s gospel, he does parables. In Luke, Jesus is forever crossing borders and finds himself in liminal places – always on the threshold having gone beyond the first step but not yet at the next one, and in the middle of things. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to meet his fate. He is ‘between Samaria and Galilee’ where there is nothing. It is a fancy way of saying that Jesus is at the border. And it is in this space that Jesus meets people. Jesus seems to be all about crossing boundaries, both physical and theoretical and will cross another to heal these men as we will see.

Media Statement – 10 October 2019
Interfaith Service on Asylum Seekers and Refugees

A group of NSW justice and peace organisations today continued their campaign to bring the Tamil family currently being held on Christmas Island back to the Australian mainland. 

To encourage the Government to bring the family back to a community setting while the court process continues, the NSW Ecumenical Council and the Pitt Street Uniting Church, Sydney, are hosting an Interfaith Service on Asylum Seekers and Refugees.  The Service will be held at the Pitt Street Uniting Church in central Sydney on Thursday afternoon, 10 October 2019, 5.15-7.30pm. Click here to download the event flyer.