Status Updates From The Gospel According to Jes...

"WHEN JESUS GOES TO FISH WITH THE FISHERMEN, MARY Magdalene waits for him, usually seated on a rock at the water’s edge, or on a nearby hill if there is one, from where she can easily follow the route they sail."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

"MONTHS LATER, ON A COLD AND RAINY WINTER NIGHT, AN angel entered the house of Mary of Nazareth without disturbing anyone."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

"THE SUN HAD JUST SET WHEN JESUS ARRIVED IN NAZARETH, four long years, give or take a week, from the day he left, a mere child driven by desperation to go out into the world in search of someone who might help him understand the unbearable truth about his birth."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

"With the tip of his crook Pastor drew a line on the ground, a furrow deep as a pit, insurmountable as a wall of fire, then told him, You’ve learned nothing, begone with you."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

"He caught up with them at nightfall and, emerging from the shadows into the light of the campfire, announced, I’m here."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

"MUCH HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT LIFE’S COINCIDENCES BUT little or nothing about the everyday encounters that guide the course of life, although one could argue that an encounter, strictly speaking, is a coincidence, which obviously does not mean that all coincidences have to be encounters."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

"God does not forgive the sins He makes us commit."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

"When Joseph returned to work after the midday meal, his sons lent him a hand, a good example of domestic economy and a way to establish a whole dynasty of carpenters for future generations, if God in His wisdom had not decreed otherwise."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

"Any ironic or irreverent disciple of Voltaire will find it difficult to resist making the obvious remark that, things being what they are, purity can be maintained only so long as there are innocent creatures to sacrifice in this world, whether turtledoves, lambs, or others."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

"The son of Joseph and Mary was born, like any other child, covered with his mother’s blood, dripping with mucus, and suffering in silence. He cried because they made him cry, and he will cry for this one and only reason."

-Saramago, Jose. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.