The Gospel Doctrine lesson #24 manual objective is “to help class members recognize the importance of honoring their foreordained roles, callings, and priesthood responsibilities and to help them understand that following the counsel of prophets helps us enter into the rest of the Lord.”

Mary Ann Evans’ novel, Romola, tells the story of a young woman in an unhappy marriage. On the eve of her wedding, she visits her estranged brother, who receives her coldly and gives her a message, a warning vision couched in frightening symbols and full of dark premonitions of danger relating to her upcoming marriage.

Lesson #24 continues Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples in John 16, followed by what the manual calls the great intercessory prayer of John 17. This is also called the Farewell Prayer or High Priestly Prayer. In Chapter 16, Jesus explains the need for his imminent departure. Think–did he really have to leave?

A couple weeks ago the Maxwell Institute at BYU hosted a Forgiveness and Reconciliation symposium bringing together speakers from Rwanda, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. Speaking of the aftermath of apartheid in South Africa, Mpho Tutu van Furth—Anglican theologian and daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, spoke about the steps required for forgiveness and reconciliation.