Faith, justice and unity still matter. So too do prudence, charity and patience. The latter are not chains upon the former. They are channels that direct them to their source in God.

To see our faith as a calling is to recognize that, whoever we are, we have only just begun to live out our discipleship.

Jesus went to his death trusting in the love of his father. That was the wisdom he preached, both in the words he used and in the witness that he gave.

Our words might seem to offer so little to those whom we love. Yet because they are spoken in Christ, because they are taken up into the sound, clarity and truth of his voice, they have their effect.

How can Christians, any people of good will, put their focus on protecting liberty rather than life?

The Israelites are quite like us. They intend to offer a response that is steadfast but their own humanity, under the siege of sin, fails them.