Mary Magdalene Gerry OShea After the crucifixion the fledgling movement of Christians commemorated the life and death of a man who had deeply impacted their lives and who they firmly believed had come back from the dead for reasons they didn’t understand but which included his love for them. The records we have of those times reveal that his early followers met in small groups to support each other in prayer and community as they tried to come to terms with the monumental events that they had witnessed, and this process continued into the generations that followed. The four gospels were mostly written late in the first century, probably completed in the early years of the following one. There is evidence of women playing leadership roles in the deliberations and ceremonial practices in those early centuries. However, as time went on the leadership structure reflected more and more the male-dominated culture that consigned women to minor ecclesial roles
Democracy in Peril Gerry OShea Athenian democracy lasted about 250 years from the early seventh century B.C.E. It was a magnificently successful experiment, involving military domination over the belligerent Persians while Athens grew in stature and wealth. And, famously, their educated class produced treasures of architecture, philosophy and art that continue on a high admiration pedestal to this day. The second experiment in democracy arose 2000 years later with the American constitution, guaranteeing representative local rule after George Washington and his colleagues ended British political control over the continent. The United States has dominated much of world history - economically, culturally and militarily - since that revolution in 1775. Like Athens, it too can claim major achievements as it approaches the 250-year marker. Unfortunately, the main message from the Greek experiment indicates that success does not breed success. Democracy has to be nurtur