What sparked my interest in Church of the Saviour was a 1963 article by Elizabeth O’Connor in Faith at Work magazine titled “What We Need is More Saints!” I had never thought of ordinary people as saints. Far from it. All the people I knew were sinners of one magnitude or another. But saints, she said, were not necessarily good or even very nice people. Instead, saints were dedicated people, committed to Jesus’ way of justice and mercy in the world, and that was something I had seen.
The article gave me eyes to see saints among us then and now. They challenge prejudice. Speak truth and step toward impossible odds. Courage and commitment often mark their path. I heard it on a flickering black and white TV screen when Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech, and I saw it in the life of Janelle Goetcheus, the doctor who founded Christ House after she and her husband, Alan, met Mary Cosby at a Faith At Work conference in Indiana. I see it in the quiet dedication of poll workers in the upcoming election and hear it in the kindness of strangers helping others navigate the Metro system.
I also hear a spark of sainthood in the complaints made by Martha and Mary in today’s gospel.* They dare to challenge Jesus, who was clearly an authority figure in their eyes. “If you’d been here, my brother would not have died,” says Mary, and Martha states the obvious when they stand before the tomb of Lazarus: “His body will stink with death.” But both of them stay present, stay engaged, willing to grow in a new direction.
Jesus returns their trust in when he says to the gathered crowd, “Unbind him.” Maybe that’s the work of this world’s saints: unraveling constrictions, undoing old and outworn beliefs, releasing new life into the world.
--Marjory Zoet Bankson, InwardOutward Editor
For More...
- Where do you see impossible odds – and notice a saint at work?
- Where do you see signs of new life that need your attention?
- Are there ways you can invite others to the work of unbinding?
