Quick Summary:

Who matters? Who is allowed inside the circle and who is excluded? How wide is God’s embrace? And to what degree are we expected to follow? Our readings from James and Mark wrestle with these questions; which remain every bit as germane in the 21st century as they were in the 1st century.

The image of the lifeless body of a 3-year-old boy on the beach stunned the world this past week, and focused attention on the growing refugee crisis. As long as war, racism and disaster have featured in the human story—and they always have—there have been refugees in crisis. Often we succeed in pushing them to the edge of our consciousness.

Last week, little Aylan changed that.

Christ is present in tortured landscapes where people, fleeing for refuge, find their children washed up on foreign shores. And looking at us he says: Where are your voices? Where are your shelters? Have you no room?