Expect The Unexpected

In the day’s of the Roman persecution, one of the worst things that could happen to a Christian was to be sent to the mines of New Midea in Africa. There the prisoners were brutally whipped, marched through rocky valleys, burned by the sun, branded on their brow with a hot iron, chained so that they were unable to stand erect, sent into the dark mines to work interminable hours and endure indescribable suffering. When the mines were eventually opened up to visitors, it was discovered that those Christians had etched little words and slogans on the walls of the caves in which they were working — astonishingly they were little words of hope! Of all the many words that were discovered, two appear more than any others. One is the word “Christ” (Christos); the other is the word “life.” In that environment of terrible suffering, the two things they thought of most were faith in Christ, and preserving life.

In today’s Gospel Lesson, it…