I wish I could be present at the celebration of America Magazine’s 100th Anniversary tomorrow in New York.  It was about two years ago that I was invited to participate in the blog “The Good Word,” and I have enjoyed the opportunity that I was given by Tim Reidy and the magazine as a whole. I had wished to be a part of the celebration, but I am teaching this weekend for the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis. My wife would have preferred New York.  I have only a little history in the Catholic Church, 9 years to be exact, but I know that the Jesuits can cause consternation among some, mostly of my ilk, who would be described as “conservative” on many issues, though I prefer simply to be described as a “Christian.” This designation indicates to me the many ways in which those of us who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ continue to attempt to live out the Gospel by applying it to our daily lives and our culture. It is a part of a great mystery of being a follower of Jesus Christ.

In a different way, the Catholic Church was simply a mystery to me when I attended St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, as I soon became aware of groups, orders, and cultural and political divisions within the Church that made it even more, not less, mysterious to me.  When I became a student at McMaster University, I began to study with Ben F. Meyer, who was no longer a Jesuit, but who made me aware of the order, particularly through his faith, erudition and personal grace. It would be hard to find a better representative. So, when years later my wife and I entered the Church in Winnipeg, we did so at St. Ignatius Church, happily located two blocks from our home. It was a delight to walk to RCIA on Tuesday nights and be taught by Fr. Eric Jensen, S.J. I have only fondness for my personal encounters with the Jesuits.

I have even more now since I have been a contributor to the blog. Some of my friends avoid my entries at America because, well, because, it’s America Magazine. Yet, no one at America Magazine has said a word to me about a particular stance I should take on any issue or any passage. What has marked my time here has been trust, respect and kindness. There was no test of my religious or political bona fides, even though when I read political commentary at America Magazine my face sometimes blanches – I am so not on the Obama wagon (but I write for the “Good Word” so I will say nothing else) – yet what I like about this magazine is its genuine attempt to breach cultural and political divides with the Gospel truth. This attitude strikes me as Christian and as Catholic. I appreciate having an opportunity to participate in this ongoing conversation about making the faith of the Church real and present for readers. I appreciate America Magazine for walking the walk of reaching out to people of all sorts by giving me a voice in their online magazine. It has been a blast for me, and I hope I will continue to participate for many more years. Congratulations to America Magazine and all those associated with it on the first 100 years of making the Gospel known and loved. As for the next 100 years (and beyond), the First Reading for April 18, 2009, Saturday in the Octave of Easter, states,

So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:18-20)

I know America Magazine will continue to make known the Gospel, “for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard”.

John W. Martens

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at  www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.