They Call Us Dead Men

To become and be a mature human being, to be alive, in the midst of such a drama in which all people do in truth live, describes a radical participation. To be alive means, as Father Berrigan puts it, enduring ""the crisis of grace."" The fruit of the gift of Christ to this world is an unequivocal and utterly vulnerable immersion in the world as it is. . . . It means living in such a way that life is welcomed as the extraordinary gift which life is and, then, honoring that gift by extravagance: by giving one's own life away. ""They call us dead men, and we live,"" wrote St. Paul. Berrigan's immersion into Pauline theology has allowed him to present his deepest concerns for the Church's role in the world. Knowing that the Church can not live in retreat from life, he illuminates the implications of the ""Triple Revolution""-race, peace, and technology- for committed Christians who wish to see true renewal within ecclesial life. --From the Introduction by William Stringfellow