The Rev. Dr. Jean McCurdy Meade is a retired priest of the Diocese of Louisiana and formerly the rector of Mount Olivet Church in New Orleans. She lives now in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas, as well as Santa Fe, New Mexico, and New Orleans.
Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) and the broader tradition of Carnival ("goodbye to meat") are reminders of the joy of Christ prior to the season of Lent. Let's explore some traditions.
If we think we are not very fit for the work of evangelism, just remember that this lone woman at a well with her interesting history with men didn’t seem like a very promising evangelist either.
There is no evidence that Gamaliel eventually becomes a follower of Jesus, but his counsel to refrain from condemning Jesus’s first disciples is courageous and significant. We often long to take sides and commit to the rightness of our cause. But sometimes we might want to follow his example and advise patience until it becomes clearer whether God is doing something new, as he often proclaims in Scripture he is doing.
