Quick Summary:

The Christ of Bojayá—a mutilated Jesus without arms or legs that hangs on the cross in the village church of Bojayá along Columbia’s Pacific Coast--has become an infamous emblem of the cost of war. A mortar round in 2002 took the lives of 119 people who'd sought refuge in the church in the midst of fighting. On his visit to Columbia last September, Pope Francis prayed before the Christ of Bojayá. Then, during a Vatican meeting with a Lutheran World Federation delegation in December, Francis was presented with a replica of the mutilated crucifix by LWF’s General Secretary Martin Junge, who remarked: “Looking at the wounded Christ, we are drawn into God’s reconciling presence that heals our wounded world and calls the church into unity.”

In today's gospel Jesus tells his disciples and the crowd, if any want to follow, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow. But who wants to follow behind a maimed Jesus?

In the wake of the latest school shooting, this one at a Florida high school, students marched to their capitol. I can imagine the people of Bojayá with their armless/legless Jesus joining that march.

Children across the country are being failed by those charged with their protection. The inaction of lawmakers is unconscionable. Our prayers and thoughts are not enough.

What is our calling as Christians? To be the arms and legs, the hands and feet of the dismembered Jesus, and to participate in actions that change the status quo.