The Season of
Pentecost
To be a disciple means to put one’s feet in the
footsteps of Jesus and, in the power of his Spirit, to
continue in one’s own historical time and place his
mission of announcing and signing the coming of the
reign of God.
Together as church, the community of disciples is in
a unique way called to be the instrument of the reign of
God in history. Since peace and justice are among the
most powerful signs of the reign God present in this
world, it belongs to the essential mission of the church
to make these realities more visible in our time, so
marked by oppression, violence, injustice and threat of
total destruction. Following Jesus on this way may will
cost disciples their lives–the
servants are not greater than the master. But the
community of disciples must go on witnessing throughout
the conflicts of history, drawing courage from their
memory of Jesus, from their experience of his continuing
presence in the Spirit, and for hope in the final
victory of the coming reign of God.
—
Elizabeth A. Johnson in
CONSIDER JESUS: WAVES OF RENEWAL IN CHRISTOLOGY.
(New York: Crossroad, 1990), ISBN
0-8245-0990-0; 0-8245-1161-1 (pbk), page 77.