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Adam Russell Taylor On Maundy Thursday of Holy Week, we remember how Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover meal, transforming it into what we now celebrate as communion. The word “maundy” originates in the Latin mandatum, in reference to the mandate Jesus gives his disciples that night: “A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another” (John 13:34). Just before the meal, Jesus engages in an act of loving service and humility: washing the disciple’s feet. This selfless act contrasts sharply with the shameful spectacle that has dominated recent news: the indictment and arraignment of former President Donald Trump. Trump delivered predictable outrage, but it was alarming to see the degree to which a chorus of Republican politicians and 2024 presidential candidates who immediately lambasted the indictment as a “political witch hunt.” What has filled me with even greater righteous anger is the way many of Trump’s political and religious supporters have hijacked Holy Week, comparing the first criminal indictment of a former president in U.S. history to the passion of Jesus Christ. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), who has proudly proclaimed herself a Christian nationalist, compared Trump’s arrest and arraignment — on charges related to a hush money payment to an adult film star — to both Nelson Mandela and Jesus Christ. In a tweet last Thursday, conservative lawyer Joseph McBride noted: “Donald Trump has been indicted days before Palm Sunday. The same people trying to crucify him want me to stop comparing his suffering to the suffering of Jesus Christ. Not gonna happen. The similarities are glaring. AMERICA’S BEST POTUS. #FREEDONALDTRUMP.” In a nationally televised interview a few days earlier, a Trump supporter read aloud an email she’d sent to district attorney Alvin Bragg, who led the indictment: “[Trump]’s torture brings to mind what Jesus Christ went through to save us. President Trump is our savior in this country. There’s no one else who can make us whole and great again.” The contrast between Jesus and Trump couldn’t be starker.
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From the Magazine ‘I Want to Believe’ (by Natalie Wigg-Stevenson) April reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle A |
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Upcoming Zoom Programs with Rev. John Dear and the Beatitudes Center The Beatitudes Center hosts regular zoom sessions on Jesus, the Gospels, peacemaking and nonviolence, hosted by Rev. John Dear. Upcoming speakers include Dr. Cornel West, Frida Berrigan, Bishop John Stowe, Marisa Guerin, Frank Cordaro, Larry Rasmussen and others. Full-Tuition Faith and Justice Graduate Scholarships Boston College School of Theology and Ministry offers a series of full-tuition scholarships for master's applicants who are committed to working toward a more just and inclusive church and world. Our programs include a dual degree pairing master's in theology and social work. Are you brave enough to talk about money? Faith and Money Network’s study groups meet via video conference to study and discuss faith-driven approaches to daily life’s money choices. New groups forming now! Deep South Investors Tour: June 5-10 Join Faith and Money Network on a six-day tour through Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, to experience how our country’s legacy of racial inequity persists today in major systems from home ownership to education to banking — and how Hope Credit Union and its investors are working for change. Interested in combining your faith and passion for social justice? Apply to Sojourners' yearlong fellowship program. The holistic program offers an entry-level position in our office and shared life in intentional Christian community. The application deadline is April 17, 2023 for the next cohort starting in August 2023. |
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