A Catholic priest, a Lutheran pastor and a rabbi used to have lunch together every Wednesday at a local cafe.
One Wednesday, as they were eating and talking about their work, the subject of mortality and legacies came up: When they died, what did they want the people in their congregations to say about them as they passed the casket at their respective funerals?
The priest said, "At my funeral, as they passed my casket I'd want them to say, 'He was a faithful servant of God who gave his all to the Church and served the people to the best of his ability.'"
The pastor said, "As they passed my casket I'd want them to say, 'She preached the Word rightly; administered the Sacraments rightly; was a good pastor, a good spouse and a good mother.'"
The rabbi said, "As they passed my casket, I'd want them to say, Look! He's moving!'"
[rim shot]
Actually, I learned all about the structure and themes of the Gospel of Mark. And a sort of condensed, triple-espresso review of the history, purpose and structure of the liturgy. My head is spinning. And more to come tomorrow.
4 comments:
I like your joke. And I *love* Mark. One of my favorite seminary classes was a Mark seminar.
LOVE this :)
You are TOO funny!
Our prof (Wally Taylor of Trinity Lutheran Seminary) was talking about the Gospel of Mark as being one of the best expositions of the Theology of the Cross.
Today we did Matthew. Obviously it was written to a different audience at a different time for different reasons; even though I value it for adding another dimension to Jesus -- that's the beauty of having four Gospels -- it doesn't resonate in the same way with me.
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