Sixth Sunday of Easter, cycle C

John 14:23- 29
I know of a man and woman who adopted a son.  They had already had two children, but they had room for another and took in the orphan.  They showed no favoritism and in fact the older children helped welcome the younger one into the family.  But the child kept getting into trouble.  As he grew older, he got in more serious trouble.  He dropped out of high school; married, had a child, and divorced.  He couldn't hold a job.  Every time he would fail at something, he'd come home where the family would welcome him and help him get on his feet again.  Eventually the young man left that part of the country and no one has heard from him in a couple of years.  But I suspect he knows that there will always be a place for him in that loving family, even though he's never done anything to deserve that kind of love. 
Jesus talks about peace today.  He's not talking about peace as opposed to war, because if he is, it's been 2000 years and we still don't have peace.  He's talking about personal peace.  And if we wonder what that is, I think the answer is that we have peace when we have desired something and we finally get it.  And the world can give us that kind of peace.  If I'm hungry, I desire food, and if the world gives me food, I'm at peace, for a while. If I'm bored, I can turn on the television, and I have peace for a little while.  If I've worked hard to advance in my career, and my boss promotes me and gives me a raise, I'm at peace for a while.  In fact, I think that's what moves most of us along in life; we are unsettled about something; we try to settle it, and we are at peace – for a while.  So the world can give us peace – an anemic peace, a short-lived peace, a peace that is partial and constricted.  And that's not the peace that Jesus offers. 
Imagine that you are one of the apostles.  You are sitting there at the supper table after the meal, and Jesus has been going on and on, sometimes talking to you, sometimes talking to the Father, and everyone knows that something is in the air; Jesus has been predicting his passion, and when he told you that he was going to Jerusalem, Thomas said “Let us go down with him and die with him.”  But one thing Jesus has been saying, over and over again, in different ways, is that God loves you – enough to wash your feet, enough to feed you with his very flesh; enough to make his dwelling in you.  There is no limit to God's love for you, for you personally.  And what do you have to do in return for this love?  Jesus has made it clear, you can't do anything to deserve this love and you can't do anything to make God stop loving you.  And Jesus keeps saying “believe”.  Because it's hard to believe; it's not our experience to be loved unconditionally, like the young man who was adopted.  Even with the best parents in the world, something in us is always worried that I could do something to lose the love of my mother or father, even though those of us who are parents know that that couldn't happen.  The fear of losing love is a great motivator to become civilized, but it's not the way God works. 
And what would happen if I really believed in God's unconditional love for me, whether I am the holiest monk in the world or the worst sinner? If I really believed it, I would love him back.
And that's the peace that Jesus offers; it's the same kind of peace he enjoys even as he prepares for his death.  It's the peace of knowing that he is so loved that nothing about him will be lost, everything that makes Jesus Jesus is forever with the Father.  And he tells you, “don't let your heart be troubled because I am going away, for I will come back for you.”  And he tells you, “I am sending you another advocate who will provide you with everything you need to know.”  Even if I slip away into Alzheimer's disease, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will not abandon me. 
If I really believed what Jesus promises, that assurance of perfect peace given out of God's love for me, I would love him back. 
And how do we love him back?  We obey his teaching.  Sometimes we think his teaching involves the ten commandments and the other rules and regulations which usually start out with “thou shalt not”.  While these are important for our spiritual health, I think the teachings of Jesus have a different character.  Here are some of the teachings of Jesus. “Come to me all you who labor and I will give you rest.”  “Love one another as I have loved you.”  “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.”  Jesus further teaches us in his parables; in the story of the good Samaritan we learn how to identify our neighbor, whom we have been commanded to love.  Jesus' teachings are not “thou shalt not”.  Jesus' teachings are mostly about a way of life that can always be made better, more perfect, more like Jesus demonstrated in his life.  And unlike “thou shalt not” commandments, his teachings always invite us to move towards greater joy, because they ultimately lead to union with him.  Even when he says “If anyone wishes to be my disciple he must take up his cross and follow me” or when he says “whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it” and “whoever humbles himself will be exalted”  he is simply inviting us to imitate his own life, and of course that life includes resurrection and eternal life in union with the father. 
The story I told you at the beginning is a little like the story of the prodigal son, except without the happy ending, at least so far.  But I think you can appreciate that we are all like that son; we are all loved with unconditional love, love that will never close the door, will always welcome us, will offer us eternal life, not as a reward for good behavior but because that's what the Father has planned for us from the beginning because we are his sons and daughters; and all we have to do is love him back.  Believe this, because that is the peace that Jesus gives, that is the peace that he has.

Fifth Sunday of Easter, cycle C

John 13:31-33a, 34-35

When I was very young, about three years old, my mother and father, without asking me, had another child, my sister. At first I was intrigued although I would probably have preferred a brother, or at least a puppy. But as time went on I began to notice things had changed. My attempts to get attention were not being answered, especially when she was awake. And sometimes I was being told to be quiet, so that she could sleep. Needless to say, as the two of us got older, there were many times when we got into conflicts. And my parents would tell me to quit teasing her or annoying her because, get this, she was my sister. And the reverse was true. Many disagreements were nipped in the bud because of the reminder that we were brother and sister. My sister and I are not at all alike. If we weren't related, we probably wouldn't have any sort of relationship.

I don't fight with my sister anymore. Sadly, we live on opposite sides of the country and are so involved in our own lives that we don't have much to communicate about. But in my daily prayers I always remember her.

I think it's interesting that Jesus tells his disciples that he is giving them a new commandment. You can look up all kinds of speculation as to why this is a new commandment; after all, way back in Deuteronomy the Jews were commanded to love your neighbor as yourself. And you can find authorities from other religions who say similar things. One idea is that Jesus urges his disciples to love each other as he loves them – in other words, the new commandment means to be willing to sacrifice oneself for the other. But Jesus died for all humanity and I can't do that, so maybe that isn't the reason. Another idea is that Jesus is commanding his disciples to love beyond the bounds of family or tribe or race, and that seems to be strengthened by his parable about the Good Samaritan. But even though there are people around who claim to love humanity, I don't think those words mean anything. Love isn't anything unless it leads to action. So how did Jesus love his disciples? In practical terms, he invited them into his family. When we meet Jesus' disciples in the scriptures, there's a lot there not to like. Peter is always speaking before he thinks, and in the end his boast that even if the others rejected Jesus, he never would, proved to be hollow. James and John asked Jesus if they should call down lightning on people who did not accept his message. They picked up the nickname “Sons of Thunder” And we will never forget Judas. We don't think about it too much, but over the years of Jesus' ministry, he never gave up on them, even though they often failed to understand him. And in the end he proclaims that they are no longer servants, but friends.

Notice that Jesus tells his disciples to love one another. I have loved, in the sense of having deep friendship with, people of other faiths and of no faith at all. This is all well and good. But we believe that even though God loves every human being as much as God can love, we become brothers and sisters of Jesus through baptism; we become members of his family. And while I can love someone not in the family, he commands me to love those who are in the family just as he loved them. And in the original Greek, Jesus uses the word “philos” which is the love between brothers and sisters, not “agape” which is the love that sacrifices oneself. Higb And that may be where we could all use some work, myself no exception. Because you and I are a family. We are a family by baptism, and by intention, since we come together around the family supper table to share the Lord's supper. But for many of us, that's where it ends. We see the same faces every Sunday because we usually sit in the same pews; we exchange a sign of peace – a handshake or a wave or maybe we wiggle our fingers; but does the relationship ever get any deeper? Do we do anything to invite that brother or sister into a deeper relationship in which love begins to be possible? My efforts could definitely use work, and probably yours could as well.

Jesus is saying that the way we should love each other is the way he loves us – and yet, we are mostly indifferent to each other.

So how do we change things? As usual, little by little. First, there has to be a little courage, to take the first step. Today as you leave Church why not go up to someone you don't know and introduce yourself? Exchange a little information. Now you have a new brother or sister, and it will be easier to talk with that person next Sunday. And it will feel good as well, because we are after all social creatures. And the next time you have some time on your hands and feel the urge to get involved in something, look to your parish community first, before you get involved in some other activity. We brothers and sisters have to stick together, we have to support each other. And the next time you are talking with a friend and some third party begins to get dissected, if that third party is your brother or sister, you have no business letting that kind of thing go on. This is a good parish; we are lucky to have so much going on, we are fortunate to be a fairly wealthy parish. But I think we could all do better following Jesus new commandment.

Because Jesus doesn't give us his new commandment, to love one another as he loves us, just to make everyone feel good. He does it because that is what he wants for the whole human race, and it starts with us. If we love one another as brothers and sisters, as members of the same family, making the relationships between us a priority, not in the abstract but in concrete ways, people will notice. And if people see something good they will be attracted; and some of those who are attracted will join us and become part of the movement Jesus came to start. He said, “I came to cast fire upon the earth and I wish it were already burning!” And if people are to see that we are his disciples, then we have to love each other. We don't love each other because it feels good. In our love for each other, is there the possibility that someone observing us would say, “those must be disciples of Jesus!” That's the yardstick to measure our love.

Fourth Sunday of Easter, cycle C

John 10:27 - 30

When I grew up in Montana, we didn't have television until I was about fourteen, and we could only get two radio stations. There was a movie running at the local theater, but most of the time we sought out live entertainment. In addition to watching high school sports, we had rodeos, where cowboys would compete for prizes by riding bulls and horses trained to buck, and roping calves. And now and then shepherds would have contests as well. In fact, if you have the time and the money, the national “trail of the sheep” event takes place in October in Idaho.

Sheep that are raised for food are often raised like cattle, in pens, fed grain, and slaughtered as soon as they reach a certain weight. But sheep raised for wool need to hang around a long time to get a reasonable yield. And those are the sheep that are still looked after by a shepherd, when I was growing up and it's still true today, sheep ranchers would often hire shepherds from other countries – because they would work for food and shelter and a very small wage. And in the mountains around my home town these were Basques from Spain. I worked in a grocery store and they would come down every month or so to stock up on supplies and then go back to their sheep. When it came time to harvest wool, they relied on expert shearers – you can still see them at the Big E – so they would bring their sheep to a common area where the wool would be collected and baled and sent away to be turned into cloth. In addition to seeing which shearer could denude a sheep the fastest, another contest, still with the same rules today as then, required that a shepherd call his sheep to himself, walk the sheep over a predetermined course, and separate the sheep into two groups. He did this with his sheepdog. I'm sure glad they invented Netflix.

But the point is that the shepherd has to form a relationship with his sheep, and vice versa. If you are driving cattle to market, cowboys use dogs and whips and lots of yelling. This works for cows, because they have a very strong instinct to stay together. But sheep don't. If you beat a sheep or yell at it, it will probably leave the first chance it gets. We human beings are like that in a way. We don't like physical or mental abuse either. And in circumstances where this is what the voice is doing, we can be sure that it's not the voice of our shepherd. If I am being ordered or threatened or condemned, that's not my shepherd's voice.

Sheep have been hanging around with humans for 5000 years, and as a result are not very smart. They can't see very well, and rely on hearing, taste and smell. Left to their own devices, they tend to spend all their time eating or sleeping. We human beings are a little like this, especially some of my grandchildren, if you add in video games. It's hard to defer gratification. Politicians know this, because their approach to getting elected is to promise things that won't require sacrifice. Sheep have to understand, as far as sheep can, that it would be better to follow the shepherd than to follow their instincts. Even though we are always attracted to instant gratification, we all know that when we are being told to do whatever makes us feel good, we can be sure that is not the voice of our shepherd.

So how do you know when you are hearing your shepherd's voice? The same way sheep do. They have experienced the care of the shepherd. They've had the shepherd remove brambles and other irritants from their growing wool. They've been led to good grazing grounds and fresh water. They've seen the shepherd drive away predators. And the more they've been cared for, the more they associate that care with the voice of the one who leads them. In fact, older sheep even seem to enjoy being sheared; they've learned that losing 20 pounds of wool is liberating!.

A sheep that hangs around his shepherd is going to recognize the shepherd more when it faces a new or disturbing situation. We are like that as well. And we don't think about it sometimes, but that's the whole point of the church – it's the way our shepherd set up to care for his sheep. That's why we talk about the church being the body of Christ. The church exists to spread Christ's message, it is true, but it's most important task is to care for Jesus' sheep.

When you are baptized you become part of the good shepherd's flock. When you receive the Eucharist you are being fed by the shepherd. When you receive the sacrament of reconciliation you are being healed. When you come together in the assembly to hear the word of god you are being given what you need to form you conscience so that you can make the right choices in your life and better follow the will of the shepherd. When you come before the blessed sacrament to pray, to meditate, or even to rest, you are finding peace because your shepherd is there, making you lie down in green pastures.

Some sheep resist being shepherded. In that they are like humans; they all have different personalities and quirks. A sheep will leave the herd now and then, but a real shepherd does not leave his flock to go find the lost sheep; when Jesus told that parable about the lost sheep, the reason it was so radical is that everyone knew real shepherds wouldn't do that, it would be foolish. The lost sheep is likely to become dinner for a wolf pack. But some escape this fate. If they can find a few other wild sheep they might stand a chance – but even then its hard to survive, because sheep that aren't sheared periodically can grow so much wool that it becomes a liability, and to be caught in a rainstorm means that your wool coat may pick up a suffocating weight of rainwater. Sheep don't know it, but a sheep cannot survive without a shepherd, and some people don't know that we can't hope for eternal life without listening to our shepherd..

So let us go where we are cared for; let us submit ourselves to our shepherd's care, and we will increasingly hear his voice and more and more be the sheep of his flock.

Third Sunday of Easter, cycle C

John 21:1 -19

My grandmother on my father's side stood out among all my relatives. She was a hugger. My mother's parents were both first generation German, and the ten children grew up on a farm. They showed affection by teasing each other, but didn't hug. My Grandfather on my Father's side didn't hug either, and none of my cousins did at least when we were kids. And my wife comes from a similar background of non-huggers. I think one of the reasons we were attracted to each other was because we didn't naturally hug. Nevertheless, we ended up with six children. We didn't think our family was unusual until one day we were at church somewhere in another town, and at the sign of peace, several people turned to each other and hugged. At that my youngest daughter, about six I think, tugged on my coat and with a worried expression on her face, remarked, “Dad, Higbys don't hug.”.

A lot of people, myself included, have problems with intimacy. Couples are often counseled to say, “I love you” to each other frequently. That's because intimacy has to be expressed. I think among some couples and in some families it takes a lifetime to develop real intimacy, and it's not helped when a child who has reached out is ignored or even rebuffed. And it happens a lot, even when a parent means well or doesn't recognize that cry for intimacy.

In our Gospel reading, we need to recall that other time when there was a charcoal fire – when Peter was warming himself in the courtyard of the high priest. And Peter three times denied that he knew Jesus, just as Jesus had predicted. Luke says that after this denial Jesus glanced at him and Peter went out and wept. Think of how Peter must have felt. He had been one of Jesus' closest friends; he'd been the first to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. He'd been told that he was the rock on which Jesus would build his church. He'd even sworn that he would die with Jesus. And after the three-fold denial, he didn't even have an opportunity to beg Jesus for forgiveness. I don't know if any of the other apostles witnessed this; it seems when you read the gospels that only Peter got into that courtyard. But I wonder about those days after the Resurrection. When Jesus first appeared, did Peter dare look him in the eye? And the second time, when Thomas was there, was Peter off in the corner hoping he wouldn't be noticed? And then they go back to Galilee and wait. And finally Peter, fed up with standing around waiting, tells the others he is going fishing. And off they go.

When we are ashamed of something we've done, we often retreat into the familiar. That was a common response among my children. We'd have an argument, and it often ended with the child going to her room and closing the door, sometimes forcefully. Peter was no different. He was a fisherman, and this was an honorable profession. He probably enjoyed his work and his place in the community. Filled with shame, he hoped that going out on the water and doing what he did best would help. But it didn't. The whole night they caught nothing. You could say that without Jesus, their efforts were wasted and I think that's something the gospel writer wants us to think about, especially when the stranger on the shore tells them to throw the net on the other side of the boat – and they make a huge catch. And then they recognize that it is the Lord.

Peter has lived with his shame and by now wants desperately to apologize; he throws himself into the water and is the first one by the charcoal fire. It says the apostles knew it was the Lord but none dared say anything. Perhaps they all were feeling a little shame, having deserted him when he needed them the most.

Peter is a nickname. The Lord gave it to Simon. It means “Rocky” or something like that. I suspect Jesus was referring to Peter's future role – that he would be the rock on which Jesus' church would be built -- but maybe there was irony here as well. Rocky had crumpled at the first sign of pressure, there on that awful night. Notice that the Lord does not use the nickname here. He calls Peter by his given name, Simon, son of John. That's formal; Jesus is being very serious. I am sure seared into Peter's memory is that threefold denial by a charcoal fire. And Jesus invites Peter to revisit that moment of betrayal. He doesn't point out that Peter betrayed him. He doesn't make excuses for Peter, or gloss over what happened. Jesus says, “Do you love me more than these?” Many authorities think “these” refers to Peter's trade, his family, his home, his boat – the comfortable life he left to follow Jesus. The gospel writer has Jesus using the word for sacrificial love, agape. Peter responds that he loves Jesus using the word meaning love between brothers, philo. Jesus asks a second time, using the word for sacrificial love, and again Peter in reply uses the word for brotherly love. Finally, Jesus in his third question, uses the word for brotherly love, to which Peter, now hurt by the repeated questioning, replies that Jesus knows everything, he knows Peter loves him – like a brother. We don't pick up this exchange because we only use one word for love. But I think we miss something that was probably understood by the people who read this gospel in the original – Peter has learned from his own experience that he can't trust himself to love in that sacrificial way, and when he admits that, twice, Jesus lets him off the hook by using the word for brotherly love himself.

It might have sounded something like this: Jesus: Simon Johnson, is your love for me stronger than your love for anything else? Peter: Yes, Lord, you are like a brother to me. Jesus: Simon Johnson, is your love for me strong enough to die for me? Peter: Yes Lord, you are like my own flesh and blood. Jesus: Simon Johnson, do you love me like a brother, at least? Peter: Lord, you know all things, you know I love you like a brother!. Now when Jesus goes on to predict how Peter will die, it makes a little more sense. Jesus is essentially saying that you may not love me enough to die for me now, but someday you will.

This gospel tells us that true knowledge of God requires intimacy – with the person of Jesus, who is God's word. And intimacy must be expressed. We are seeing more and more people label themselves as spiritual but not religious. A lot of bad things have happened because of religious people, its true. But real love, intimate love, needs to be expressed. That's what worship is all about, the kneeling and standing, the singing of hymns, the recitation of the Lord's prayer together, the very act of coming to church rather than finding something more exciting or interesting to do. And Peter is on his way to learning that.

And I think huggers have an advantage over non-huggers, because they are comfortable expressing their affection physically. And religious people who are spiritual have an advantage over those who are merely spiritual for the same reason – they have a venue where they can express their love of God among their fellow lovers, and that at least has the potential to make love grow.

Second Sunday of Easter, 2019

John 20:19 - 31

One of the many joys of being a grandfather is that you can get away with telling your young grandchildren fantastic stories and they believe you! We all go through that stage where we do not doubt. I have a memory of when I was about three or four, when I was teased by my grandfather and one of his friends. They insisted that I had a tail, and all I had to do was turn around and I could see it. But of course the more I turned, the region in which the tail was supposed to be also turned. I did not doubt, though.

Probably every Christian has a little sympathy for Thomas, who because of this short gospel story, has been known as the Doubter for two thousand years. Thomas who said to the other disciples, “Let us go down to Jerusalem with him to die with him”. Thomas who probably traveled as far as Paul did, founding churches up and down the gulf of Arabia and into India. Thomas who died a martyr. And I think we misinterpret Christ's words to him: “Thomas, you have believed because you have seen; blessed are those who have not seen, but believe.” It is not a rebuke of Thomas, I think, but rather, a recognition of the fact that believers are that way because of a special grace from God. John makes it clear in his gospel that belief is a gift, not something that comes about because you've reasoned to it. Belief, even that of Thomas, is always a gift. But I'd like to look at something else today.

Why do the gospel writers record the resurrection appearances that they do? According to John and Paul Jesus appeared many other times; and if we believe Sister Faustina, He continues to appear to some of his followers even today. So why these appearances? It isn't just to impress us, or convince us that Jesus rose from the dead. One purpose is to show us where we can find Jesus.

The first point made by all the writers is that if you look into the tomb, you will not find Jesus. The angel emphasizes this: Why are you looking for the living one among the dead? The tomb is empty and it is a promise to us that our tombs will be empty some day. Perhaps it reminds us not to regard Jesus as someone “up there” who no longer moves among his people.

The second point is that for many of the appearances Jesus is at first not recognized. In Luke, when Jesus appears to the twelve,“They thought He was a ghost.” Jesus has to convince them that he really has risen from the dead by showing them his wounds and eating something. And you remember the other appearances. Mary Magdalene doesn't recognize Jesus until he calls her by name. The two disciples on the way to Emmaus don't recognize him until he breaks bread with them. When the seven apostles describe in John go fishing in Galilee, eventually the Beloved disciple, the one who previously believed because of his great love, recognizes Jesus first, and this triggers recognition in the others. What does all this mean? I think it means that the Risen Jesus is with us; we don't see Him most of the time. If we did, we would not have a need for faith; we would not be able to make a choice; and Jesus wants us to choose to love him, not force it on us.

But he is with us nonetheless. When we read the gospel story today, we should note that John has Jesus appearing among his disciples on the first day of the week, and again on the eighth day. That is deliberate. John wants us to note that Jesus can be found in the assembly of believers; among those who come together to worship. Jesus himself told us that when two or three are gathered in his name, there he was.

When we remember the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, we should note that as they rushed back to tell the apostles of the fact that they had met the Risen Lord, they spoke about how their hearts were burning within them as he interpreted the scriptures for them. Jesus is present in the scriptures, specifically, when they are being interpreted, when they are being read prayerfully and with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is so unfortunate when Christians don't read the scriptures, or read them superficially, or read them as some kind of text book. Truly, they should read them together, perhaps in small groups, because the meaning is not in the mere words but is in the interpretation of those words. Someone once said that the bible is not inspired until it is read by someone with the help of the Holy Spirit.

In the time after the Resurrection Jesus is recognized by the Emmaus disciples and by the seven disciples on the shore in the breaking of the bread. We Catholics hold that in the Mass the bread and the wine become the body and blood of Christ, as do many other Christian bodies. And there are Christian bodies who do not believe that. Some believe that the bread and wine remain, but Jesus becomes present; some believe that the action is only a symbol; and there are some, like the Mormons, who don't even believe you need bread and wine, because the acting out of a sacred meal is all that matters. But every Christian body has a ritual in which they try to carry out Jesus' command, to do this in memory of him; and that is the third place we can find Jesus; in the breaking of the bread in his memory.

Every Christian can seek the presence of Jesus in the assembly of fellow Christians, in the scriptures prayerfully read and studied; and in the breaking of the bread. And there are two more situations where Jesus can be discovered. One is when he is sought with deep love. We see this in Mary Magdalene, who weeps at the tomb, who cries out, “where have you taken my Lord?” And Jesus answers by speaking her name – the shepherd calls his sheep by name. The Beloved Disciple on seeing the empty tomb, believes because of his great love, in circumstances when Peter only wonders.

And the other, I think, is when a committed Christian struggles with doubt. To read the whole story of Thomas shows that he is as much a true disciple of Jesus as the rest of them; both before and after the Resurrection. But Thomas has honest doubts, and the Lord knows that doubt is part of being human. Mother Theresa reported to her confessor that most of her life she struggled with doubt; and yet she is a saint. Doubt is normal, and when we face our doubt, when we realize that a condition for faith is doubt, (because when we are certain of something it's no longer faith), it is then the Jesus shows us his hands and feet, and invites us to touch him and doubt no longer.

Jesus has risen from the dead. He is already here among us. He has shown us where to find him. And sadly, some of us will not bother to look for him.

Palm Sunday cycle C

Luke 19:28 – 40

Its time for the Passover feast. The population of Jerusalem will go from about 50,000 to more than 200,000, as Jews from all over the world come to celebrate their liberation from slavery in Egypt. It's a time of great joy, but the Jewish authorities worry about too much celebration or even rebellion. The Jews may have gotten away from Egypt, but the Pilate's soldiers would think nothing of putting down a rebellion against Roman rule. As the eight day feast begins, Pilate will march into the city on a majestic horse followed by charioteers and foot soldiers. It will be a reminder to the Jews about who really rules; a reminder that even while they celebrate their deliverance from Egypt they are slaves to Rome.

Jesus deliberately acts out a prophecy. Zechariah said, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey”. Jesus' followers place him on the animal and welcome him into the city. They recognize what is happening and call him king and throw down their garments for him to ride over, because that's how you treat a king. At last it seems that Jesus is going to establish the kingdom his followers have expected; at last this messenger of God will drive out the Romans and Israel will regain its independence. The Messiah of God and some ragged followers will take on Pilate and his trained army – and they will win.

The gospel we read at the beginning of the liturgy describes that moment of expectation, of triumph. The people were shouting “Hosanna!” the other gospel writers tell us. This is not a cry of triumph or praise; it means “Save us, Lord”.

Have you ever cried out “save us Lord” or something like that? I think we all have. Take away my cancer! Bring my child back to the Church! Keep me from losing my job!. Because you are, after all, the savior, Jesus!

My kind of savior comes in triumph, makes things right, lifts up the lowly, pulls down the high and mighty. In fact, my kind of savior is exactly like the one the Blessed Mother expected when she sang her Magnificat; it was the kind of savior for which all Israel waited. I know the kind of savior I need, one who repairs things, who intervenes with power, who I always know is present, the one who is my sword and my shield.

But that's not the kind of savior Jesus is. God rides on a donkey; Jesus dies in order to live; he is a suffering king. He comes into his kingdom with nothing but love, humility and sacrifice. We live in a world of pain, suffering and contradiction. We can accept the world as it is in the humility that we don't understand God's plans for the world or for us; Jesus The kingdom Jesus brings is a kingdom of peace; a kingdom of slow, self-emptying love; a kingdom of patience, a kingdom that demands from us a degree of trust, vulnerability, and courage. It's a kingdom that Pilate and Herod and you and I can hardly imagine; but that's what our king shows us and our Blessed Mother learned at the foot of the cross.. But we are obsessed with certainty, with ease, with safety, with prosperity. It's hard for us to follow a king like Jesus.

Palm Sunday starts with triumph in the gospel we read in the back of the church when the palms were blessed. The readings end with the king we follow dying on the cross and us hiding in a locked room. And the question we should ask on Palm Sunday is what kind of king do we follow? Do we trust him to be our shepherd and stay with him even when our world seems to be crashing down? Or do we cling to safety and certainty and not rocking the boat, hoping for a king that doesn't exist?

Fifth Sunday of Lent, cycle C

Fifth Sunday in lent, cycle c

John 8:1-11

I went to a very liberal medical school. It was the middle of the Vietnam war, and those of you who are old like me probably remember how polarized the country became over this issue. At my school, one professor in particular would organize “teach ins” to which we were not forced to go, at least not in so many words. At the teach ins we would hear several speakers, often from the university of California at Berkeley, describe in vivid detail the atrocities of the war and how north Vietnam was just a poor country of farmers that wanted to be left alone. And how those in the military who fought in this war were war criminals. And on and on it went. There was no attempt to present the opposite side; the only people that were allowed to demonstrate on campus had to be invited there by a professor or student group. And as might be expected, by the time we graduated most of us had become radicalized. A few of us had close friends that were in the military, and some of us thought that our defense of south Vietnam was basically a good thing, but we were in a very silent minority. My class had been radicalized into a mob.

Ever since then I've been very wary of mobs. The story of the woman caught in adultery is a story about mobs. You have a crowd of people who are taking a woman out to execute her for breaking the mosaic law. And they are following the law; it says right there that if you catch a man and a woman in the act of adultery they are to be stoned. Of course we could always ask about where the man was in this case, but that's beside the point. There were two ways of stoning someone; one was to throw the person down on stones which almost happened to Jesus when a mob was going to throw him off a cliff. The other, assuming a cliff wasn't handy, was to pick up stones and throw them until the person was dead. That's what happened to saint Stephen. Paul was stoned once as well, but lived through it.

Another thing going on here is that execution was against roman law, unless it was approved by roman authority. That, of course, was the point of getting Pilate to allow the crucifixion of Jesus. But the way around that was to form a mob. Sometimes the Romans would execute the whole mob if they could get there in time with the troops; but usually the process was over and the mob dispersed before the Romans even heard about it. And that's what is happening here. Obviously the enemies of Jesus are using this occasion to put him on the spot, but for the mob, that was just an aside. They were fired up with zeal and could barely wait until this sinner was dead.

That's the thing about a mob. However it begins, it makes the people in the mob choose sides. And when you are caught up in the emotions of a mob, you stop thinking rationally. And you catch the emotions of those around you and reflect them back until the whole group is on fire. It's primitive; it's something from our animal ancestors.

If we are part of a mob, by definition we are being irrational. The mob planning to stone the woman caught in adultery is a classic mob; but there are other kinds as well. You don't have to be physically marching down the street. Think about die hard sports fans. Have people really broken up friendships because one was for the Yankees and the other for the Red Sox? Can you develop a mob using the press or social media? Of course. We are seeing a lot of that these days and it's concerning. The Kavenaugh hearings brought out the beast in our country with people shouting for his head. And think of the national mob that rose up over the kids from Covington. Had there not been proof that they had actually behaved in an exemplary way they might very well have been expelled from their high school and worse – that after all was what the mob was crying for.

I suspect most of us are at least touched by that mob mentality now and then. If you believe strongly in something, the tendency is to see those who believe differently as the enemy and once you make this identification even if you are on the side of angels you've become a little irrational and when you find like-minded people who can magnify your feelings by agreeing with you, you've started a mob.

Jesus bends down ad writes on the dirt. People have wondered why ever since the gospel was written. Some say Jesus was just doing what came naturally in those times – doodling on the ground while he gathered his thoughts. And of course my grandmother told me he was writing down the sins of the people who were in the mob. But maybe Jesus was doing the only thing you can do to stop a mob – distract them. They were full of passion, they knew they were doing what god had commanded and at the same time thumbing their noses at the Romans, and to top it all off, they had a chance to put Jesus on the spot. What's you answer, Jesus? Quick, what's you answer?

And they paused and waited, and while they waited, their rational selves awoke, and to those rational selves Jesus said, “let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” And one by one they left the mob and went home.

If you are not part of a mob, your tendency is to keep silent. And because of that silence, the mob has changed our world very quickly. Same sex marriage, abortion without any restrictions, five year old's being surgically and chemically changed into the opposite sex because a boy played with a doll or a girl wanted to play football; Christians being demonized because they don't want to go along with the mob – and perhaps among the saddest consequences – a rapid rise in the fraction of the population who want nothing to do with religion, which is probably the only counter to the mob. Being a Christian means that we try to see where Jesus is in our own story, and in the story we've just heard, Jesus is all about mercy … but he is against sin and against mobs.