The reading from the Acts of the Apostles this Sunday describes the long process by which God brought Israel its great prophet, John the Baptist, and its savior, Jesus. Myanmar’s long-imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who last week accepted the Nobel Peace Prize awarded her 21 years ago, on Tuesday also picked up an honorary doctorate at Oxford University, 24 years after she left England.

Suu Kyi spent nearly two decades in Oxford with her English husband, Michael Aris, and their two sons. When she left for her homeland to care for her dying mother in 1988, she could not have imagined it would be nearly a quarter of a century before she would return.

"The road ahead is not going to be easy, but Oxford, I know, expects the best of its own," Suu Kyi said in her speech. "And today, because they have recognized me as one of their own, I have been strengthened to go forward to give my very best in meeting the many challenges that lie ahead." Receiving the honorary doctorate on her 67th birthday was one of the highlights of her week-long trip to Britain. She also met with fellow Nobel laureate the Dalai Lama.

Suu Kyi said that receiving the Nobel Peace Prize helped to shatter her isolation while under house arrest and ensured that the world would demand democracy in her homeland. On Thursday she will address both houses of the British parliament—a rare honor bestowed on only four foreign dignitaries since World War II.

Source: An article by Jill Lawless for the Associated Press