Respecting the Poor

Gospel: John 12: 1-11

Today's Gospel portion contains the favorite passage of those who look to neglect and malign the poor, giving them justification to live to excess and not provide for the needs of the poor.  They overlook the fact that the text contains the general posture of the Christian is care for the poor, even if Judas himself were not sincere about it.  This particular event is an exception to the rule; it is not the rule of the Christian life itself.  

Emphasizing that point is the story of the rich man and Lazarus where the rich man neglects the needs of poor Lazarus and finds harsh judgment on himself.  At the same time, the story of the repentance of Zacchaeus shows the proper posture of the rich Christian who finds himself a thief of the needs of the poor.  He gives his ill-gotten gains to the poor and then some!  Care for the poor is the standard operating procedure for the Christian disciple.  

As we approach the end of Lent we may find that we have not done much to care for the poor as we ought.  Time still remains for us to do so in what remains of Lent and beyond.  During the Triduum we will be attending to other things and that is necessary.  Once completed, however, we must return with renewed vigor to the care of the poor among us, the immigrant, migrant, and refugee - and putting an end to the wars that create such conditions in our world.  

Entering the Scene

Gospel: Matthew 21: 1-11

Many homilists today will tell us that this crowd that welcomes Jesus into Jerusalem will in five short days turn on him and call for his execution.  But this is false.  They are two distinct crowds of people.  From all three accounts of today's event it is clear that today's crowd is a crowd of Jesus' disciples and followers who are making pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.  They have organized this symbolic event to make a point.  The Good Friday crowd is organized by the religious leaders intent on putting Jesus to death.  

What point is being made with this parade? Jesus enters the city of peace on animals signifying peace. He does not come on a war steed seeking domination and armed conflict.  He comes in the spirit of peace to bring that peace to all.  Throughout his ministry Jesus entered a town providing healing, freedom from demons, and nourishment.  He told his disciples to go from town to town extending their peace to the place.  The entire ministry and posture of Jesus is one of peace extended to all.  

Symbolic events are important for us to make.  We must recognize they are performative and will not immediately result in what we hope for.  Yet their value lies in what posture we wish to have before the world.  Today's event, if we enter into it ourselves, is to put us in the posture of peace so that we might have that peace in the upcoming scenes of the passion we will encounter, that we might enter into them, see the choices that lay before us in them, and to endeavor to be that posture of peace in all we do each day.

 

A Fateful Choice

Gospel: John 11: 45-56

The religious authorities of Jesus' day are afraid that if everyone follows him that the Romans will come and destroy the nation.  It is unclear why they have this belief.  Certainly there were people calling for Jesus to be made king, but he rejected such a title at every turn and showed no indications of desiring political power or influence.  Jesus in his teachings offered no overt political message, showing no partiality in the people he cared for in his work of healing, liberating, and feeding.  

Yet, this fear of the religious leaders will lead to a fateful choice later this week at Jesus' trial.  They will decide between Jesus and Barabbas.  The choice is an ironic one for two reasons.  The first is that Barabbas means "son of the father" and he was in fact a political revolutionary.  In choosing Barabbas over Jesus, they choose the path of violence which leads to yet another irony in causing what they claimed to have feared - destruction of the nation at the hand of the Roman Empire.  

We too have this same choice to make.  We can choose the path of Barabbas with the excessive attention on politics and power, a path of violence that leads to destruction.  Or we can follow the path of Jesus which is the path of mercy and care for others, a path of providing healing for those ailing, liberation for those gripped by their demons, and nourishment for those hungry in body and spirit.  Set before us is life and death, a blessing and a curse.  May we choose life.