A God of Incredible Surprises: Jesus of Galilee (Celebrating Faith: Explorations in Latino Spirituality and Theology) - Hardcover

Elizondo, Virgilio

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0742533883 ISBN 13: 9780742533882

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003

Synopsis

Why was Jesus, Son of God, from an obscure village in Galilee? What does it mean to our spirituality that he chose not to seek favor from the powerful, but identified with the marginalized, the powerless and those in need of healing? In this remarkable rereading of the life of Jesus, theologian Virgilio Elizondo, cited by TIME Magazine as one of the spiritual innovators of our time, focuses on the humanity of Jesus and the healing his life offers to ourselves and our world today. Readers of this book will see Jesus in a new and powerful way. This is a thought-changing and life-changing book.

About this title

About the Author

Virgilio Elizondo is one of the leading Latino theologians in the U.S. today. Founder of the Mexican-American Cultural Center in San Antonio, TX and past Rector of the San Fernando Cathedral there, he is currently on the faculty of theology at the University of Notre Dame. His twelve books include Galilean Journey, Guadalupe: Mother of the New Creation, and The Way of the Cross: The Passion of Christ in the Americas. In 2007 Rev. Elizondo was the recipient of the Catholic Theological Society of America's John Courtney Murray Award, for distinguished achievement in the study of theology.

Reviews

What would happen if Jesus came to San Antonio? Would Jesus feel at home in this Texas city? In a series of reflections about Jesus' humanity, Elizondo concludes that Jesus' Galilee was indeed much like modern-day San Antonio. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, like the Jews of Jesus' time, are marginalized by the dominant powers. San Antonio, like Galilee, is a melting pot where people from all nations and ethnic groups come to live. Like many of these dispossessed people, Jesus grew up in an environment where he would have assimilated many of the traits of these peoples. He would have empathized with the marginalized and would have appeared to them as their hope in the midst of a broken world. According to Elizondo, this Jesus of Galilee brings the same measure of hope to the dispossessed of San Antonio as he brought to the marginalized of Galilee. Although the religious authorities in Galilee also rejected Jesus, he sought to reconcile all peoples, uniting them in love. Elizondo passionately proclaims the human Jesus as the living "Mestizo Messiah" who offers hope and liberation to the oppressed. Although Elizondo writes with the ardor and enthusiasm of an evangelist, his reflections on Jesus offer little that is truly new or compelling, and the book's main point that Jesus would have identified with the marginalized Mexicans and Mexican-Americans of modern-day San Antonio is repeated again and again.
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Catholic theologian Elizondo eloquently explains why he believes it is no accident that Jesus was conceived of an unmarried woman, born in the rough-and-tumble multinational community of Galilee, had no scholarly credentials, and dined regularly with society's riffraff yet managed to change the world. God could easily have arranged for the Savior to be high born. Jesus followed the chosen course, however, as a reality check for a culture that judged people inferior because of their ethnicity, circumstances of birth, social stature, and education. Jesus' message, retold here in a series of events and activities, was one of forgiveness and joyful fellowship with anyone and everyone. Elizondo speaks directly to the Latino American community by paralleling Jesus' social status with that of many Latinos and persons of mixed ethnicity. The parallel offers all disenfranchised populations, however, opportunity to gain new self-respect by identifying with Jesus and taking pride in themselves and their heritage instead of drawing their values from America's dominant culture. Elizondo honors Jesus' message with his gentle, encouraging voice. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0742533883
• ISBN 13: 9780742533882
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160