Sr Laurie Brinks OP visited Aotearoa New Zealand during October. Laurie is a well-respected Professor of New Testament Studies at Catholic Theological Union – Chicago and came well-armed with current theological thinking.
Her topic “What would Jesus do? Mission for our Fractured World” provided much to reflect on. She spoke of the extremes we are seeing in our climate, the challenges that we face such as terrorism, immigration and poverty, the disappointment that we might have with some leaders in our church. She invited us to consider “What did Jesus say?” and “What does that mean for us?”
We took a stroll through scripture starting with the Beatitudes. Laurie invited us to reflect on what it really means to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. One of her phrases that really spoke to me was “receiving a blessing requires doing the actions and holding the attitudes that warrant that blessing. … It’s not enough to go to church. We must be church.
Laurie has generously shared the notes of her talk with us. You can download these by clicking on the link below. Beware the document is 29 pages long.
