Jesus’ Ministry of Liberation: A Companion after the Year of Mercy
Fr. Aaron Agorsor
(With a Foreword written by Rev. Fr. Dr. Michael Kodzo Mensah)
This book offers hope both to those in ministry and to those being ministered to. In the image depicting Jesus’ encounter with the Blind Man Bartimaeus, we find a story set within the wider context of Jesus’ final journey from Jericho to Jerusalem where death awaited him. Perhaps, that was the moment in which he should have been preoccupied with misery and anguish given that his death was imminent. Bartimaeus was too insignificant to be noticed by anyone with such a greater commitment and pre-occupation like Jesus had. It may seem absurd at first to think that Jesus would waste his time on someone like Bartimaeus when death awaited him, but it is in this bizarre situation that Jesus bore authentic witness to mercy. Jesus’ encounter with the blind man Bartimaeus is exactly God’s vision for humankind, namely, that ministers of God should not forget the vulnerable in the exercise of ministry because it is one of the greatest opportunities of witnessing to God’s love.
We who are in ministry can easily forget ourselves in ministering to people often at the margins of society. But this is what Jesus will not ignore as these moments unquestionably demonstrate God’s unfailing compassion for all even in obscure circumstances. Like Bishop Barron once intimated, the Divine Mercy is a demanding summons to mission. The 21st century society is characterized by self-centeredness, selfishness, egoism and individualism. There is always the tendency to focus on the powerful and rich at the expense of the poor and vulnerable. Bartimaeus experienced rejection from his own people, but he always remained hopeful that someday his story would change. Indeed, his story did change. We may not be physically blind, but our blindness may be of a different shade or brand. Whatever our circumstances, our story is about to change now. Come to Jesus now.
Paperback $25.00 | Kindle $9.99
TESTIMONIALS
“Fr. Aaron Agorsor has a tremendous and practical way of unpacking the Gospel and growing the spiritual life. His lively writing [and speaking] style is particularly effective with new Christians. This book is a must read.” — Very Rev. Fr. Rob Clements, Director, All Saints Catholic NEWMAN Centre, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
“Please don’t simply read this book but breathe it in deeply, absorb it, and put it into action! Ours is a world that seems to be increasingly divided, contentious, leery of “the other,” and more often than not filled with fear and discouragement. Is there any reason for hope? Fr. Agorsor reminds us that the Gospel offers to this question a resounding, “Yes!” Hope is found in the faithful, extraordinary love and mercy of the God who not only made all that is, but who out of His unfathomable love became flesh to rescue His creation from the powers of sin, division and death. In these rich reflections, Fr. Agorsor pleads with those who have been rescued to go and rescue others with the same love and mercy that we have so graciously received from God.” — Fr. John Riccardo, Executive Director, ACTS XXIX, www.actsxxix.org
“What is mercy? For many contemporary Christians, mercy is a very thin concept, connected perhaps to ideas of God lowering his standards or indulging our selfishness. But as Fr. Agorsor shows in this book, Biblical mercy is an endlessly rich concept and reality: in a sense, it is the very Gospel itself. Quoting generously from the Word of God, the successors of Peter, and contemporary Christian writers, Fr. Agorsor explores all the dimensions of divine mercy from the theoretical to the practical, showing how the practice of mercy can be life-transforming for the disciple of Christ. A rich treatment of an unfathomable topic!” — Dr. John Bergsma, Professor of Theology at Franciscan University, in Steubenville, Ohio
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rev. Fr. Aaron Agbeshie Agorsor is a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, Ghana, West Africa. He is currently a Ph.D. student of English Literature at the Arizona State University.
As a Graduate Assistant, he teaches First Year Writing or composition and assists at ASU affiliated All Saints Catholic Newman Centre where he ministers to students from diverse backgrounds.
Aaron is passionate about his ministry as a priest. His experience of God’s tremendous mercy overwhelms him and he wishes to let the whole world know that God’s mercy endures forever. He is also the author of Mary’s Magnificat: A Perfect Model of Faith Expression.
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