“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
II Corinthians 5:18-19
Brazil
has been in the news a great deal the last few weeks, as public health
officials struggle to contain the Zika virus.
It is the latest in a series of challenges surrounding the country’s
first opportunity to host the Olympic games, which will be held in Rio in
July. There’s still quite a bit of work
to be done—mosquitoes to control, bays to clean up, stadiums to be completed. And time is running short.
It
was recently announced that the Olympic torch will be lit on the 21st
of April at the ancient city in Greece where the games were first held
millennia ago. And though the games
themselves are still very much a work in progress, the plan for moving the
torch across the country, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest, are pretty
astounding. The torch will go on a 95
day tour around Brazil, visiting all 26 state capitals, as well as 500 other
towns. 12,000 runners will carry it,
passing the torch from hand to hand, covering a total distance of 20,000 km by
road,[1]
until it reaches its final destination and was used to light the great flame in
the Olympic Stadium at the opening of the games.
What
we call the apostolicity of the Church is that way in which the Church is so
much like that torch that will be passed from hand to hand across Brazil.
