When the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church (TEC), Katherine Jefferts-Schori, gave the homily at the closing Eucharist of TEC’s General Convention in 2006, she said [Paul’s letter to the] Colossians calls Jesus the firstborn of all creation, the firstborn from the dead. That sweaty, bloody, tear-stained labor of the cross bears new life. Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation