On previous Sundays, the lectionary readings taken from Luke’s narrative centered on amazing stories of conversion and faith, stories about people not ordinarily considered to be worthy of such a close relationship with God. Through these stories Luke has confronted his readers with the legalistic and materialistic nature of their day, pointing out that their ways, from the leaders to the general population, provide severe hindrances to a loving relationship to God.

Dear Friends at New Covenant, I want to share a few things with you: PLEASE PRAY Fr. Christopher, Sheryl, and I leave for Rwanda Friday and return July 6 and 7. Christopher and I will be ministering in Gisenyi, Rwanda, on the Congolese border, with 5 bishops and their leaders. Sheryl is on the team going to the Kibondo Diocese in Tanzania. Please pray for us.

The Kindergartners in our class were taking turns walking on the water, and pulling their friends, (a parade of Simon Peter stand-ins) to safety and smiles inside the boat. Vacation Bible School has been a beautiful week of busy volunteers preparing early each morning, children arriving with their parents or grandparents just before 9 and then a whirlwind.

The Peddler of Choices is one of the more provocative and lesser-known appellations ascribed to our Lord. As in the gospel reading for this Sunday, the story of the widow of Nain, Jesus reveals God's mercy and the oppression of people. And when our eyes are opened and we can see more clearly we realize the choices before us.

What can we do in 100 days? If we ask Satan he'll remind us that it's doable to slaughter, kill, murder 10,000 men, women, and children every day for 100 days. Just look at Rwanda's spring of '94. Let's not ask or look.

What is Infinity + 1? I remember sitting in my eighth-grade math class, half-excited that it was nearly over and half-annoyed that we were listening to a classmate argue with the math teacher about the definition of infinity, in math used to symbolize the largest number imagined. She wasn't really arguing. She was trying to understand how infinity could be the largest number possible. Every time the teacher tried to explain that the term was not really a number but a rather a symbol, she would exclaim, "Well then, what is (Infinity+1)?"