The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul
The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.
The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they were all given great respect.
None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any members who might be in need.
There was a Levite of Cypriot origin called Joseph whom the apostles surnamed Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He owned a piece of land and he sold it and brought the money, and presented it to the apostles.
Good day comrades! First of all, let me say that if you are looking at the graphic, you are probably saying, "Comrade Michael the Lesser, there is a difference between socialism and communism." Comrade Michael the Lesser would respond, "Yeah, but this picture caught my attention so I thought I would use it." But, the scripture passage is often used to state that the early Church was trying to set up a socialist utopia here on earth. Well, while it sounds like the seeds of socialism have been planted, they really were not. The Church has never said one form of government is better than another, except it has condemned communism because of its atheist dogma and lack of respect for the human being. The Church, on the other hand, has cautions for all types of government. She wants governments to be servants of the people and not the people to be servants of the government. But what do we have here in our passage? We have some of our fellow Catholics turning their possessions into money, which is then used to help less fortunate members of the Church. This is a completely voluntary thing while in socialism and communism this generosity would be compelled by the state.
With what we know today, wouldn't it be a great experiment to see if we could have the benefits of socialism? No, not really. Socialism has a tendency to fall apart. Religious and pseudo-religious communities come and go, they all have a couple of things in common. First, the surrendered property starts out helping everyone but soon enough the funds are diverted to help the founder of the group and his or her appetites get more and more extravagant. For example, do you remember the televangelists Jim and Tammy Baker? They hauled in millions and instead of using it for their ministry they used it to pamper themselves. There were extravagances aplenty including jewels and furs for Tammy, vacations in hotels that featured gold plated toilets and sinks, antique Rolls Royce automobiles, two of them, I guess "his and hers." Their ministry fell apart due to scandal, Jim was found in an intimate encounter with another man by Tammy. Then all of the excesses and theft from the church coffers came out, and Jim was sent to prison, initially for forty-five years which was later reduced to eight years.
Perhaps more socialistic in nature was Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. Jim was an old-fashioned film flam man but he did not seemingly start this way. He started as a person concerned with social change and the ending of racial segregation in our country. He gathered a large following and he became friends with politicians and thus had political clout and he knew how to use it. Through the years the temple evolved into less of a religious organization and more of a political one. At one point, Jim condemned the Bible as a book full of lies. He demanded his followers sign over their property to him and that he would take care of them. Eventually, Jim decided to build a utopian community in Ghana. Several hundred of his followers left everything behind and went to Ghana with him. He was a pill popper. He took pills to wake up, to go to sleep, to walk, to talk, any reason was good enough for him to take a pill. The effect of all of these drugs made him paranoid. When a US Senator came to investigate rumors that people were being held against their will, Jim decided that the time had come and he induced his followers, nine hundred of them, to swallow poisoned Kool-Aid and they all, except a few that escaped into the jungle, died. Jonestown was a monument to Socialism.
What the scripture passage tells us is simply that the people in the early Church were inspired to be generous and inspired to help those less fortunate. The Church was not setting up a new socialist government, the Romans would not have approved, but they were setting up, as Christ told them to do, the Kingdom of Christ on earth. We can thank those early Catholics (Yes, Catholics) for the example that they showed us. We can thank them too for showing that Christianity is compatible with many forms of government.
You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children
Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
‘Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.
Burdens, we all carry them. I do mean all of us including those you might think that they do not have a care in the world. Even a child carries burdens and here is an example that from my own my life and you may have heard me speak of this before. When I was young, I had a learning disability. During the time I was in school learning disabilities were not understood and so I was classified as "dumb" by the powers that be and I was left in the wake of the class as it sped forward leaving me to flounder in the sea. It was a hard burden to carry because the kids in the class took their cue from the teachers and since I was considered the bottom of the barrel, I was pounced upon by all of the boys that needed to prop themselves up on my shoulders by making sure that I would rise no further. I had a hard time in grades one through seven at the Catholic school I went to. I felt crushed, unwelcome, unloved, and I a lower form of life than other people. This followed me throughout my school years until the age of about twenty-five. It was then I laid my burden down and I believe with the grace of God started my recovery. I attained a fresh new look as to who I was and how I fit in. Talents came to the top and I was recognized at work with promotions and raises. I found comfort in my religion and Jesus and His teachings brought out in me the talents that really mattered. I discovered that I could feel empathy for those who were downtrodden and I think it is because I remembered all those years when I was considered a joke among my peers, how I felt so alone. This experience made me who I am today. I thank God for all He has done for me over the sixty plus years of my life. His love and His grace have shown me that every one of us, no matter how successful we may appear on the outside, still carry burdens on the inside. These burdens may be self-made or they may have been foisted upon us by the circumstances of life. There is hope in Jesus. He can relieve us from any burden that gets too heavy for us. All we have to do is to trust in Him and ask for help and help will come.
I have enjoyed my life in spite of the burdens I have had to carry. Today, I still carry some but I know that what doesn't kill me will make me strong. I also know that my burden can be laid at the feet of Jesus at any moment when it gets too heavy for me. Thank you, Jesus.
Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.
‘As the Father sent me,
so am I sending you.’
After saying this he breathed on them and said:
‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven;
for those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.’
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:
‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing this you may have life through his name.
"Show me! Put it right here in my hands. I'll believe it when I see it. That's impossible, I've got to see it for myself!"
Sound familiar? Does it sound like you? Do you know anyone who sounds like that? Don't feel bad if you are skeptical about things in this world. The world lends itself to being something that you should be skeptical about. We all learn to be street smart no matter what street we live on. Let me give you an example of something that happened to me that made me more street smart. I saw an ad on Amazon for a copy of Microsoft Office good for five users and the price was only something like ten dollars. I bought it. I congratulated myself when I downloaded it and it actually worked...for a few days. On day four I loaded word and it came up stating that this was not a licensed copy of Office and if I wanted it to work I would have to purchase a copy from Microsoft. This was an example of a deal being too good to be true and an example of how a fool and his money are soon parted. It made me smarter. I went to an MS dealer and purchased a legitimate copy, which cost slightly more than ten dollars, actually a whole lot more than ten dollars, but it downloaded and is still working to this day. So, life brings us lessons that make us a "Let me see the proof" kind of people. This keeps us safe from scammers (Most of the time) and we adapt our life accordingly, evolution at work! But this also puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to spiritual things, things we cannot see, hear, touch, or smell. How do we overcome this disability that serves us so well in our human life? Make no mistake, we have to overcome it or else we will fail at the thing that is the most important to us, arriving in heaven and being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Saints.
Luckily for us, God has a plan. He sends us abundant graces, more than we will ever need or use, that overcomes our tendency to demand proof and He opens our eyes so that we can see Him in the world around us. We see Him in nature, we see Him in the people around us, every time the sun comes up in the morning, inside of us a bell goes off and unless we suppress it actively as some people do, we know, deep inside of us, that we have a loving God who is caring for us as we go through life. This is called faith. As we go through life and we see God's hand interceding for us we gain trust. To trust in God, one singer says, is to believe the sun will rise again while you are standing in a rainstorm.
In this world there is sinfulness. Sin happens when we turn away from the ways of God and go our own way. Some of us never turn around again and go off happily following selfish misery to our destruction. But many of us feel the tug of grace pulling us back and we turn from our mistakes, and errors, and sins and we turn back to God. We know that God will take us back if we are sorry for what we have done. We Catholics have the sacrament of confession where we receive in a real way, in a way that we can hear. We receive the absolution of the priest who is speaking in the Persona Christi, and all of our sins are washed away. How do we know this? Because Jesus told it to us as we read in the Bible. (Matthew 28:20) We trust in Jesus and believe His words carry absolute truth in them.
Between now and that day when Jesus returns is a time of great mercy. Jesus today is willing to overlook and to forgive all of our faults, all of our sins, no matter what they are. Take advantage of this time of mercy. If you wait until the end times when Jesus comes in His glory, you will be facing the Just Jesus who will dispense justice. The time of mercy is NOW. Catholics, when was the last time you went to confession? If it was more than a month ago, maybe that is too long. The Church rule is that we must go once a year. Do you think that is enough? Would you think that taking a shower and changing clothes once a year would be enough? How about washing your car, is once a year enough to keep it clean? So it is with your soul. But you tell me, Michael the Lesser, I don't commit any mortal sins so why should I have to confess these minor sins. Okay, fair enough. It is obvious you have no idea how serious a venial sin is. If God says, "Honor your father and your mother" would you call your mother a dirty so and so? Calling a stranger a name is bad enough but because you have done it to your mother who is deserving of your love and respect and has great dignity, your error is larger than when you said the same thing to a stranger. Would you agree that this is true? Well, when you commit even a venial sin, the sin is in essence against God no matter who was the victim of your shenanigans on earth. You've offended the dignity of God the Father of all with your sin, and although the matter is "small" in nature, it is big in effect.
Trust in Jesus, trust that His love for you can overcome any obstacle you can put between you and Him. He is never more than arm's length away from you and is listening very carefully for the slightest hint you want to come back. Once you do that your soul will be flooded with grace and your eyes will be opened and you know the Love of God first hand. Trust in Jesus. Trust in Jesus. Trust in Jesus. Amen!
We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard
The rulers, elders, and scribes were astonished at the assurance shown by Peter and John, considering they were uneducated laymen; and they recognized them as associates of Jesus; but when they saw the man who had been cured standing by their side, they could find no answer. So they ordered them to stand outside while the Sanhedrin had a private discussion. ‘What are we going to do with these men?’ they asked. ‘It is obvious to everybody in Jerusalem that a miracle has been worked through them in public, and we cannot deny it. But to stop the whole thing spreading any further among the people, let us caution them never to speak to anyone in this name again.’
So they called them in and gave them a warning on no account to make statements or to teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John retorted, ‘You must judge whether in God’s eyes it is right to listen to you and not to God. We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard.’ The court repeated the warnings and then released them; they could not think of any way to punish them since all the people were giving glory to God for what had happened.
Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News
Having risen in the morning on the first day of the week, Jesus appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom he had cast out seven devils. She then went to those who had been his companions, and who were mourning and in tears, and told them. But they did not believe her when they heard her say that he was alive and that she had seen him.
After this, he showed himself under another form to two of them as they were on their way into the country. These went back and told the others, who did not believe them either.
Lastly, he showed himself to the Eleven themselves while they were at table. He reproached them for their incredulity and obstinacy because they had refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation.’
Today I will be brief, or short and sweet if that is how you want to call it. Peter and John were hauled before the Sanhedrin after curing a man. The elders, who had the same power that they used to stifle Jesus (or at least so they thought) told them to not teach in that man's name again. They told them that they would obey God and not the elders for they had to keep proclaiming what the saw and what they heard. They were cautioned again and because the miracle had been seen by many and they were giving glory to God for it, the elders feared that a riot would break out so they left the two Apostles go.
Jesus appeared to many but still, there were those that refused to believe unless they saw for themselves including some or all of the Apostles. So, Jesus appeared to them and told them to, "Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation." What more needed to happen to make them believe?
So...What in the world are you waiting for? Sin and death have been conquered. We no longer need to be slaves to these two bitter pills sent through the ages from Adam and Eve. Death will claim our body someday but it will never claim our soul and because of the work of Jesus we will live forever more. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Get off the couch and let people know the Good News!
Jesus stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish
Jesus showed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night.
It was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, ‘Have you caught anything, friends?’ And when they answered, ‘No’, he said, ‘Throw the net out to starboard and you’ll find something.’ So they dropped the net, and there were so many fish that they could not haul it in. The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’ At these words ‘It is the Lord’, Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak around him and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish; they were only about a hundred yards from land.
As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?’; they knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead.
Although the Gospel writer mentions several Apostles, this story's main characters are Peter and Jesus. Everything that happens points of Peter being the leader of the group since when he announces "I am going fishing" everyone decides to go with him because after all, he is their leader. They get to their boat and spend an evening with nothing to show for it. They come back to shore and Jesus is there and asks them if they caught anything. They tell Him," no," and he suggests to them that they should cast the net over on the right side of the boat and you will find something. They do and they get a catch of 153 big fishes. Why 153? In the time of Jesus that was the number of known species of fish in the sea. So the number 153 symbolizes the Apostles duty to preach the Good News to all nations, to everyone, everywhere. Notice also that Simon Peter is said to have gone aboard and hauled the heavy net in - this symbolizes his duty as the chief of the apostles and leader of the Church that Christ established. One other interesting point that a lot of people do not see, Jesus did not ask for one of the fish that they had just caught. No, He has breakfast already cooking over a charcoal fire. Where did He get the fish? It was dawn so He could not have purchased from anyone. Scholars say it is the only time in the Gospel where Jesus makes something out of nothing. Every other time He fed people it was with material that was already present such as barley loaves and a few fish, washing jars at Cana filled with water, etc.
The fish that the Apostles caught that day was caught only after the Risen Lord told them what to do and where to fish. We can do nothing without the help of Christ. So, on this Easter Friday, let us remember that we are the Easter People and that our job is to make certain that the Word of Christ is distributed to all people. We should not be happy until all people are united in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
You must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus
On the day of Pentecost, Peter spoke to the Jews: ‘The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.’
Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered ‘and every one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God will call to himself.’ He spoke to them for a long time using many arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.’ They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptized. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.
We have just completed a forty-day journey through the desert as seen through the eyes of a simple man on a pilgrimage. Our own walk may have been very different than his or perhaps we did not walk at all. It is of no consequence because now we have a reason to be hopeful. We have a reason to be joyful. We have a reason to want to announce the good news that death has lost its sting, that sins have been forgiven. We should be walking with a spring in our step for Jesus Christ has Risen Today! Yes, we are two days away from the day which we memorialized the Resurrection with great ceremony and ritualistic celebration. The Church asked us to reflect, fast, give alms, and repent for forty days. Today she bids us rejoice for fifty days - From Easter to Pentecost - and to be ready to tell everyone we meet why we are so happy. The pagan world welcomes Easter as the time when the cold and gray of winter are banished. They give a bunny the power to bring candy to children. They play hide and seek with eggs. This is all great fun, even politicians in Washington get into the act. At the White House, there was an Easter Egg rolling contest. Easter, for pagans, fades into nothingness when the sun rises on Easter Monday. It was fun while it lasted, but now there is work to be done. The childish things like bunnies and hard-boiled egg hunts are put back on the shelf and the serious business of business returns. For a Catholic especially we realize that the festive season has just begun. In the words of a song that is sung on Holy Saturday at the vigil Mass, "We will sing to my God who has delivered us from death, into life into freedom through the sea."
Let me exhort you. The death of Jesus on the cross was for you, personally. The resurrection on Easter Morning was for you personally as well. Jesus did not destroy death for the world, He did it for you. How can you be silent about that? These next weeks between now and Pentecost, give vent to the joy. Let everyone you know how happy you are about the gift that Jesus gave you. Your joyful face should cause people to wonder why you are so happy. If they ask, tell them, tell them, tell them. If they don't ask, tell them anyway by the way you live your life, with joy. Be a little kinder, be more gentle, be helpful, let the love that is bursting through the walls of your soul escape into the wild. The joy is the Spirit of God in you. Don't hold it in, dispense it freely. People will notice and more importantly, you will notice the difference in how people treat you.
Brothers and sisters, the world is in darkness this day. The pagans have not a clue that they are loved beyond measure by God who knows them better than their own mother and father. They see the grave and live their life in abundant poverty of spirit. Give them the gift or at least make them wonder why you are so different than they are.
Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognizing him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped short, their faces downcast.
Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked. ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth’ they answered ‘who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him, they saw nothing.’
Then he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.
When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening’ they said ‘and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, ‘Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognized him at the breaking of bread.
My flight from Tel Aviv arrived on time and my wife picked me up at O'Hare International Airport and we were famished for one another's company. This was the longest we had ever been apart in our marriage. We got home and I didn't even unpack. I was too tired and we went to bed. We slept from about nine until seven the next morning. I awoke with still feeling the effects of crossing so many time zones in such a short time, jet lag! But we hurried along and made it to Mass fifteen minutes early. All of the relatives were there and the Mass was memorable, beautiful, and the choir sounded as if they were inspired by angels! Afterward, we all went to the restaurant where we had reserved a party room and we all had a wonderful time reliving old stories and laughing at ourselves and one another. The birthday cake for our daughter was brought out and we all sang Happy Birthday to her and with our second cup of coffee, Aunt Ginger spoke up and asked me about my trip to the Holy Land. Everyone there knew that I had been gone for over forty days and they wanted to hear all about it. I had no prepared remarks but I did my best.
"Thank you, Ginger. I never realized that my little journey would become a subject for an after breakfast talk so I do not have any prepared remarks but let me put in terms reminiscent of the Gospel reading we heard today. You all know me, I have always been interested in the history of the time Our Lord walked the earth. Every aspect of it fascinates me but none more so than the walk of two disciples to Emmaus. Emmaus, as we reckon it today, is about ten miles from Jerusalem. This made it slightly outside of the distance that the two men could walk on a Sabbath which legally was about seven miles. I would assume that these faithful Jews started from a house outside of the city proper which most likely made the journey legal. Imagine the two of them, heartbroken because they really thought that this Jesus was the Messiah. But how can He be the Messiah if He is dead? Picture this, the two of them are in the middle of nowhere. There are no crowds on the road on this day and suddenly, out of nowhere, a third man joins them in their journey. We know it is Jesus because the Gospel writer tells us so, He asks the two what they are talking about as they walk along. They say Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus feigns ignorance and you can almost hear the disdain in the disciple's response which was basically, "Were you living under a rock? Don't you know that Jesus gave every indication that He was the Messiah? Now our Chief Priests delivered Him over to Pilate and had Him crucified? Where have you been? Were you in your cups and in a stupor?"
"Jesus calls them to task and calls them foolish and slow to believe. He then holds a clinic in Bible prophecy about Him and explained every scripture that referred to Him. The travelers must have been spellbound. They arrive at the place in Emmaus. Jesus makes as if He is going to go further but the two invite Him in so the conversation could continue. He accepts their invitation and when they were at the table He blessed and broke the bread and they suddenly realized that Jesus, the Messiah that had been crucified, was there, alive with them. No sooner had they realized this and Jesus disappeared from their midst. He had disappeared because He was still there in the Eucharist, His very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. They immediately went back (a ten-mile walk!) and told the others what had happened."
My days in the Holy Land were like a forty-day journey to Emmaus. I learned more in the desert about myself and about my spirituality than I ever knew before. I learned that Jesus did not come to earth to die for the sins of the world, no, He came to die for my sins, the offenses I committed against God and my fellow travelers. I learned that God is not impersonal but very personal. He knows me inside and out. I cannot hide from Him but I can hide from myself. Walking through the desert, the mountains, the city of Jerusalem was an experience I never will forget. To see the very place where the Cross was erected that Jesus was on and to touch the stone where His body was prepared for burial was amazing but more amazing was that after this trip I felt that Jesus was no longer out of reach for a sinner like me but rather He was a personal friend and that as a friend I could ask for and receive help in my life because I have a twenty-four hour a day lifeline to Him. Now when I go to communion, I take time to be with Him and to bare my soul to Him for He is with me and in me. No longer do I feel that going to communion is just a social norm for me to practice, no, it is a personal act where I am united to Jesus and to all of my fellow Catholics inside my church and in the Church as a whole. So, yes my trip changed me and changed me for the better. I can never go back to the way I was. Praise God and Jesus for I know now what it means to be an adopted son and a member of the Household of God.
On the first day of the week, at the first sign of dawn, they went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but on entering discovered that the body of the Lord Jesus was not there. As they stood there not knowing what to think, two men in brilliant clothes suddenly appeared at their side. Terrified, the women lowered their eyes. But the two men said to them, ‘Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here; he has risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee: that the Son of Man had to be handed over into the power of sinful men and be crucified, and rise again on the third day?’ And they remembered his words.
When the women returned from the tomb they told all this to the Eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them also told the apostles, but this story of theirs seemed pure nonsense, and they did not believe them.
Peter, however, went running to the tomb. He bent down and saw the binding cloths but nothing else; he then went back home, amazed at what had happened.
It is hard for me to believe that just in a matter of hours I will be back in Chicago. In one respect it is a relief that I am leaving this strange land of Israel. The Israeli people are warm and friendly but they have this hang-up against the Palestinians and of course, the Palestinians have a hang-up against the Israelis. So, the Palestinians feel the need every so often to fling some rockets at Israel and Israel in appreciation either flings some good old missiles made in the US of A back at them. Dealing with either party on a one to one basis is not a bad experience. They both are warm and friendly to tourists, they love that hard currency that we bring to them. But put an Israeli and Palestinian in a locked room and you can bet your last dollar that one or both of them will come out of the room with a black eye! We did have a guide and a priest go with us as we followed the Via Delarosa. To do the stations of the cross was kind of hard. It is a commercial district and every Christian tourist wants to follow the path the Jesus took to Calvary although there is some doubt if this is actually the same route but it really does not matter because you are following the path in good faith. Besides, excavations have revealed Roman pavement dating to the time of Christ so that it is very likely that Jesus had passed this way and walked on this ground from time to time. There is something about walking the actual steps that make the stations more real. Believe you me, you need all of the help you can get because the street is popular with tourists, it is a commercial district where you can purchase souvenirs of your pilgrimage everything from crucifixes (for followers of the Catholic tradition) and crosses without the figure of Jesus on it for those that believe that Martin Luther or some other "reformer" founded the church. No matter where you go on the street it is a cacophony of noise and buying and selling. But once you are in the Church of the Holy Seplecur the timbre of the noise seems to change. It is quieter, it is definitely cooler, and you can observe all manner of men, women, and children from every Christian denomination in awe in seeing the place where the Cross of Christ was placed and to see the stone where His body was prepared for burial. I know I wanted to stay for hours in this place but time is the enemy of modern spirituality and we had places to go and people to see and all too soon we left the street and ascended the Mount of Olives, which does not have too many olive trees on it anymore. On Mount Tabor, we visited the church that was built on the spot where it is believed that Jesus was transfigured. The church is built in three parts to represent what Peter said, "Let us put up three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." Next, we visited the Garden of Gethsemane where the Passion of Our Lord really began. A Gethsemane is not really a place. The word means "Olive Press" so there were many of them in Israel at the time of Jesus. But this particular one was a favorite resting place for Jesus and the twelve and like all humans, Jesus sought out the familiar and comfortable at times of stress. In this garden, Jesus was abandoned by His Apostles. Of course, one of them Judas Iscariot was not there, yet, he was with the priest and the temple guards along with a detachment of heavily armed Roman guards that Pilate sent along as a touch of sarcasm. In truth, if the Temple gang had sent one Sadducee to ask Jesus to come in for a chat, Jesus would have come. But now, after asking his Apostles to stay awake and pray, He Himself fell on his knees and poured out His heart to the Father. He was human, He did not want to feel the pain of death, but He was also the Son of God and He was completely obedient to what the Father's will was to be in this matter. Yet, He asked that this cup be taken away from Him if the Father could see His way clear to do so. The Father sent an angel to console His Son but the angel said nothing so Jesus accepted the will of the Father. I believe He then began to see what was in store for Him and He saw the sins of the world and each of us, those that had lived and died already, those that were living then, and finally those that were to come after Him. He sweated blood. This is a rare condition that afflicts people when a person is in deep fear and in contemplation. So Jesus was in a sense a broken man at this point. He was looking at His life and His mission and found He was coming up short. He was grieved that He couldn't reach more people but He was also consoled that the Apostles He had selected were more than able to spread the Word of God even though they all would abandon Hiu this night and even the man He had appointed as the head of His Church would deny Him three times. He had, I believe, a vision of all of the things that would happen to Him and the human in Him rebelled at the thought of pain and agony. But He set His face like flint and did not shield his face from being struck and being spat upon. Then it began. It began with a kiss, a sign of friendship, the kiss of a traitor. It began with a sign from Judas that he really did not believe in Jesus when after kissing Him he said, "Hail Rabbi." To Judas, Jesus was not a master, but a mere teacher. Judas, quite to his surprise, was roughly pushed away by the commander of the Roman guard and Jesus without further ado was taken into custody. Peter drew his sword and hacked off an ear of a bystander. He was chastised by Jesus who also seemingly without being noticed by the contingent sent out to get Him healed the ear. Jesus is led away and now the politics of the day started working their magic against Him. He was led first to Annas who was the high priest emeritus. Annas was the first high priest to be appointed by the Romans and he served from 6 to 15 A.D. and although deposed by the Procurator, Valerius Gratus, he and by extension his family wielded great influence in Judea. As a matter of fact, nothing of any importance would be decided until the opinion of Annas was sought and known. The office of High Priest was his unofficially and at the time of Jesus, he was the puppeteer that pulled the strings of the current High Priest, his son-in-law Caiaphas. So, although the scriptures make it seem like this visit was just a mark of respect for the old gent, it was nothing of the sort. Annas wanted to size up his opponent and after seeing Jesus was comforted that this death would cause no uproar. With that, he sent Jesus with no comment to Caiaphas. No comments were needed. Caiaphas was quite aware of the thought of Annas and would not accept any outcome that did not include the dead body of this Jesus being laid in a tomb. Caiaphas had a problem. It was a problem of time. He had to dispose of this sadly delusional messiah before the Sabbath and the Passover began, He had to do it quickly, quietly and he had to pass the blame off to the Romans. A stoning would not do him any good. This Jesus had to be lifted up on a Roman cross. He sent servants out to get key members of the Sanhedrin out of their beds so that they could try Jesus of Nazareth at night, which of course was technically not legal, but no one of the people that he summoned would split these hairs. He knew that they would see the writing on the wall and follow the path to Golgotha that he would lay out for them. Jesus was brought into the chamber. He did not frightened, he looked resigned. He did not glare or disrespect the high priest or members of the council in any way. As a matter of fact, He said nothing. Witnesses, Sanhedrin members, came forward and testified against Jesus but the testimony fell apart because it did not match. Caiaphas was one step from having to release this so-called messiah. The silence of Jesus was protecting Him because no witnesses testimony had so far been found credible. If the silence continued, Jesus would be a free man. Caiaphas tossed the dice knowing full well that his roll would result in a loss. He asked Jesus if He was the Son of God. He inhaled deeply as one silent second went to two and then the culprit spoke, "You say that I am." This is a rough translation and it really means in our English today, "Not only am I the Son of God, but you acknowledge out of your own mouth." The eyes of Caiaphas sparkled, he almost chuckled, but then he screwed his countenance into a self-righteous, holier than thou look and tore his garment and said, "We have no need of witnesses, he has blasphemed. What do you say?" To a man, they voted that Jesus was to die. They led Him away and sent out servants to make sure that most of the Sanhedrin would attend a very early morning meeting to make the condemnation official since a trial could not be convened during hours of darkness. Those that were known supporters of the charlatan would accidentally not be informed. Jesus would be condemned and sent to Pilate, who normally rubber-stamped their decisions and Jesus could be decorating a Roman cross by nine in the morning long before the drunks and tax-gatherers would be out and about to make a scene. By the end of the day, Caiaphas would ask that the legs of the culprit could be broken and the idiot be buried before this solemn Sabbath began. He breathed a sigh of relief and sent word to Annas as to what was going to happen. Annas replied congratulating him for nipping this messiah thing in the bud. Messiahs do not come from Galilee. Pilate did not care too much for the Jews. Early in his tenure as procurator, he caused a stir because he had his guards carry shields that stated the emperor was divine. This caused a riot which he put down using the same troops. He was of a mind to show these backward people that Rome had the means to enforce its will and was not afraid to spill Jewish blood, even in their temple, to prove it. Unfortunately for Pilate, word got back to the Emperor about what went on and he received a censure and orders to remove the offending wording on the shield. Rome, meaning the Emperor, wanted peace. Pilate had started as an ordinary soldier and he distinguished himself in battle and rose in the ranks. But it was the fact that he married well, his wife was related to the royal family, that he was appointed Procurator of Judea. He wasn't a full governer, Judea was too small to have a governor but he saw this as the first step on his way to being a senator in Rome. History loses track of Pilate pretty much after the Jesus incident so while we do not know his fate, we do know that he was a lousy governor who did not have the nack of the carrot and the stick. He was a stick man and that kept the excitable Israelites just barely on the right side of rebellion where just a gentle push would put the province over the edge and be the cause for their destruction by the might of the Roman legions. The Jews could not hope to win against the Romans. Years later, they would try, and the siege at Masada was the result as was the destruction of the temple in about the year 70 A.D. It is to this man that the fate of Jesus would be entrusted. Jesus was brought to Pilate. The chief priests would not enter the house of a Gentile and defile themselves for the Passover so Pilate went out to see them. They told them their story and Pilate wanted very much to frustrate this so-called high priest who looked down upon the Roman official as one would look at a pile of camel dung in the middle of the street. He listened to the story, spoke to Jesus, who said nothing, which was not good for the defendant because, in Roman law, silence was considered almost an admission of guilt. In spite of this Pilate went to the rabble outside and told them that he found no reason Rome would punish this man with death. Caiaphas was floored. He had a decent relationship with the despot procurator and usually, it was a matter of just getting a nod of the head and the criminal would be taken out and crucified. It was a common and ordinary transaction that the two had agreed to many times in the past. Neither the Temple nor Rome needed a Messiah to stir up trouble so Caiaphas was not sure why this time was different. Then, Pilate after hearing that Jesus was a citizen of Galilee he figured he would send this case back to the Jews that sent it to him. He ordered that Jesus be brought to Herod for judgment. Herod was famous for his drunken parties and lavish displays of his piety in donating to the temple. In actuality, he gave no thought to the people under his jurisdiction. He left their fate pretty much to the whims of the Romans. He did not like Pilate who seemed to mock his rank in the country. But he really appreciated the fact that Pilate thought so much of him that he would send this magician, Jesus, to see him and to consult with the judgment of Him. Jesus was brought before him. The chief priest and his cronies quickly explained what needed to be done and the need for it to be done as expeditiously as possible. Herod was not going to be rushed. After all, he was a king. He had Jesus brought before him. He questioned him closely but received no answer from the man. He finally gave up, had a ridiculous cape that a king from a very small nation had left behind, it was gaudy and cheap, had it placed upon Jesus and sent Jesus back to Pilate. Herod would not be taking the blame for this man's death upon a Roman cross. Pilate had heard from his wife and was told not to harm this Jesus because of what she had heard in a dream. He shook his head and thought to himself, "That is why Rome did not make her the procurator of this land." He went out to the priests and was amazed that the party had grown. What had been a rag-tag group of temple leaders had grown into a sizable crowd, When he once again pronounced Jesus innocent, the crowd grew malevolent and shouted for the death of Jesus. He said, "Although He is innocent, I will have him flogged and then I will release Him." Jesus was taken to a courtyard where the soldiers were assembled to watch the punishment. He was stripped and chained to a pillar. Two soldiers whose job it was to administer the flogging took up position behind Jesus. We would call the whip used a "Cat O Nine Tails" but it was a bit worse than that. At the end of each braid, there were metal pieces designed to tear the flesh from the back of the victim. The men began the punishment under the trained eye of the commander. This flogging was to stop just short of death and it was his responsibility to see that it did. Time and time again the lash came down and Jesus screamed in pain. Then after only what the commander felt was a "mild" punishment, he ordered it stopped because it looked to him that Jesus could not take any more. Jesus was unchained and he fell to the ground and unconsciousness claimed him. But this was not a satisfactory thing for the commander. He had Jesus doused with icy water which brought him back to the reality and the pain that he had been awarded. The assembled soldiers had heard that Jesus claimed to be a king so they put the robe that Herod sent him away with and mocked Him. One soldier decided that no king worth his salt would be without a crown! He went to some bramble and he carefully wove a crown of thorns. He bowed to the King of the Jews and carefully put the crown on Jesus' head. Blood began to flow on to the face of the Holy One. The soldiers mocked Him some more and then they heard that Pilate was ready to see the Man again, they helped Him up and brought him to Pilate. Pilate was a man who had a strong stomach. But even he was surprised at how pitiful that Jesus looked. His servant asked if he should clean up the man. Pilate said, "No, this may be a way to let Him go free. Maybe this blood-thirsty lot will be satisfied with a thoroughly mocked and broken king of the Jews." Pilate had Jesus brought out and yelled, "Ecce Homo." This means "Behold the Man." The crowd yelled for his death. Then Pilate played a trump card, his last. He reminded them that he would release with a free pardon any criminal that they wanted at the occasion of the Passover. He said, "In my dungeon, I have a man named Barabbas, he is a murderer and a thief, and a scoundrel. To take a life for this man is just as if you were to kill a mosquito that landed on your arm. He has made many widows and orphans in your country and now awaits execution on the cross. Before you see Jesus of Nazareth, a deluded man who has never hurt a soul, who preaches peace and who I believe has been brought to me out of the envy and fear of your leaders. Rome finds no reason to execute Him. So I offer you the choice. Choose Barabbas the murderer or Jesus, the King of the Jews to be released to you." None of the followers of Jesus were in the crowd. Some companions of Barabbas were there and they along with the puppets controlled by Annas yelled for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus. Then the chief priests showed their true colors and they themselves blasphemed against their God. Pilate asked, "What I should crucify your king?" To which they replied, "We have no king but Caesar!" Pilate had lost and that point was driven home when Caiaphas yelled, "If you release Him, you will prove yourself to be an enemy of Caesar for anyone saying that he is a king has Caesar as an enemy. I pity you if the word were to get to Rome is Jesus walks free" The battle was over. He called for water and a basin. He washed his hands in a symbolic washing stolen from the Greeks and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood." To which the Jews replied, "Agreed, his death be upon and upon our children." This too means more than what it says. It means literally, "We are so confident that this man is guilty that we know there will be no effect on those that come after us." Jesus was taken away to be crucified. Jesus, still wearing the crown of thorns was given the cross beam of the cross he was to occupy, The upright portion of the cross was kept on the hill called Golgotha which means "Place of the Skull." Jesus carried the timber the best that be could but he made a misstep and fell. Some say that this first fall caused internal injuries that lessened the time Jesus would be able to endure the cross. But He continued along the road to Golgotha, part of the time being helped by a conscript taken from the crowd. He met his Mother, but the guards would not let him linger except to exchange a glance at one another and finally, almost with a feeling of joy that the journey was over, they arrived at the Place of the Skull. Jesus was knocked to the ground and in short order, nails were driven through his wrists and causing Hum great agony the crossbeam was lifted, His feet were secured to cross and the race with death began. He pulled Himself up so that he could breathe. He looked up to heaven and said, "Father forgive them, they do not know what they do." Hours past and he was getting tired. Insects landed on Him and doubled the agony of keeping Himself up high enough so that He could breathe. Near the end, he gave His mother, Mary, to John the Apostle to take care of because she had no one else. Then He knew all He could do had been done. Now, he would end the old covenant and begin the new one by drinking the fourth cup of wine that he had not drunk on Thursday night, the drink that was the cup of forgiveness and closed the Sader. He said, "I thirst." Some sour wine was held up to His lips on a sponge and He drank it and said, "It is finished." and Jesus willed that death take His body and He gave up His spirit. At that moment, a great storm hit. The veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom and the ground shook. Pilate had given his permission for the Body of Jesus to be removed and they laid it in a borrowed tomb because the Sabbath was near. We now wait for the Resurrection. Without Jesus defeating death as He did, He would have just been a footnote in history. I know it is strange for me coming home before the Easter celebration in the Holy City but I promised my wife that I would be home in time to celebrate my daughters birthday which happens to be on Easter Sunday this year. It's the big four zero for her this year so we have integrated our Easter celebration along with her birthday celebration. I will not be home in time for the Easter Vigil Mass but we plan to go to the nine o'clock Mass on Easter Sunday. The whole family, all my kids their godfathers and godmothers, aunts, uncles will all be at church with us. I will be the second best Easter Sunday in recorded history.
After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and to fulfill the scripture perfectly he said:
I thirst.
A jar full of vinegar stood there, so putting a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said,
It is finished.
and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
If there was only one thing that I learned during my Lenten journey through the desert it would be that a desert is a lonely place. It is a quiet place, maddingly so, but it is never completely silent. The wind blows forever on its way to the north, south, east, or west. Sometimes it seems to go in all directions at once obscuring the light until the day becomes as the night. Even in the midst of twelve fellow travelers you are faced with large banks of time when your only companion is yourself. It is only in a place like this that you can forsake all other cares and really dig into yourself and find out what you are made of spiritually. I led Benjamin, my sweet-tempered camel who took everything in stride and I think that he liked me across countless miles of desert with the sun beating down on us for eight to twelve hours a day. Benjamin did not complain, he just followed me one step at a time, following me mile after mile, shouldering the burden that I placed on his back. This journey has placed me in a reflective mood and I am questioning some of the paths that I have taken in life. I have analyzed myself and I have to say that I find a lot of good in me and this fact surprised me. I was always taught to be humble and I was humble, at least what I thought humble was. I always taught to be self-effacing. I would turn down compliments with head bowed low. I would give all the credit for something to others and make it seem that I had nothing to do with the outcome of a project. I know now that is false-humility. When someone compliments me from now on, if the compliment is truly deserved, I will thank them and I will do so with head raised high. I will also be sure to look for ways to build up my brothers and sisters and make sure that they get the credit that they deserve. To be humble is, to be honest. I will always remember this lesson.
Thursday night all of us met for one last time at a restaurant near the Via Della Rosa. It was mid-afternoon and it was very pleasant, not too hot or cold. The party room on the second floor had been reserved for us. It was a plain sort of room, There was one large table with room for all of us. The Master was already there and greeted each one of us warmly by name and showed us to our place at the table, My place was next to The Master, to the left of Him. When we were all gathered around the table, He spoke to us like a father speaks to his children.
"My good friends, my sons, we have traveled many miles together through the desert. We have spent long hours combating sand, heat, stubborn camels, and ourselves. The hours we spent with the reins of a camel in our hand were lonely ones because the person in front of us was too far for us to easily speak with and the same was true for those that trudging behind us. At the end of the day, we would gather together, we would share a meal and usually some stories, laughter, and on at least one occasion an excess of wine. (He looked directly at me and the table erupted in laughter) I told you many things while we were on the way. I fed you with a food you had never had before. Today, I will do the same. It will be the last time you receive it directly from my hand to your mouth. So, take and share this bread among you for even the angels are envious of you. Drink also from this chalice of wine and think of the death of the Lord."
We each took a piece of the bread and a sip of the wine and our souls were filled with concentrated graces as they had never felt before. The Master had left, but no one had seen Him go. None of us said a word. We couldn't because we were filled with holy joy and wonder and awe. We just relished the beauty that had invaded our soul and we knew that the Master even though He had gone away, that He was still there.
The time came for us to participate in the walk to Calvary on the Via Della Rosa. At each station, we not only saw but felt in our spirit the misery and pain that Jesus, the Christ of God, the Son of the Father had gone through. I felt the weight of the cross as I walked each step. I felt the love pass between Mother and Son when they met on this final journey. The tenderness of Veronica was not lost upon me, it was the only kindness He received along this journey of pain. He fell three times and three times he willed Himself to rise and shoulder the burden. He was thrown to the ground and nails pierced His hands and His feet. He was raised to public view not on a throne of ivory but on a cross of rough-hewn wood. He forgave us from the cross and He promised the repentant thief paradise this very day. Then all was that He had come to do was done. Now His baptism in pain was over. He said, "I thirst." and one of the bystanders raised up to His lips a sponge soaked in sour wine. Jesus drank of the wine and in a loud voice ended the Passover meal He had presided at the previous night and drank the last cup of wine, the fourth cup, the cup of forgiveness, and He allowed His Spirit to depart from His body and death claimed Him.
At Calvary, there twelve men traveling together. They had been together for a long time and had faced many hardships together. All of them, grown men, weathered by wind and sand, were inconsolable in their tears when they heard the Gospel proclaim that Jesus was dead. To a man, their lives would never be the same.
Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord
This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.
It has been exciting these several days we have been on our own left to explore Jerusalem. Unfortunately, the Palestinians and Israelis have chosen these few days before Good Friday to rattle their swords at each other and we could hear rockets going one way and Israeli fighter jets going the other. Today, however, peace has broken out later this evening we are all to meet at a private house for dinner. It is kind of a farewell dinner for us. The Master said He would be there.
I cannot help but remember what happened on this day so many years ago. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, on the night before He died for us on the Cross, took bread into His Venerable Hands, blessed the bread and broke it and said, "This is My Body which is given up for you." Then He took the cup of wine, blessed and passed it to His disciples saying, "Take this all of you and drink it, this is the Cup of My Blood which is poured out for you, do this in memory of Me."
Imagine, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ right there on the altar when we go to Mass. How many times have I gone up and received because it was the "Catholic Thing To Do?" How many times have I thought about breakfast or my job, or getting the car washed, or about the big game while Jesus, God Himself was inside of me with graces that He wanted to give me and yet I never bothered to acknowledge that He was even there?
We will be attending Holy Thursday Mass later today and then meet up at the restaurant.
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Well, our journey through the desert has come to an end. The tour company was on hand and took charge of the camels and all of the equipment we have been carrying. I made my goodbye to Benjamin who, with typical camel attitude looked at me in disdain and then he paid me a supreme compliment, he walked away without spitting at me. I guess that there is no greater sign of affection that a camel can give so I was honored.
The Master came to each of us and warmly thanked us for joining Him on this journey. He said that He had business to attend to and He would see us next on Thursday. After speaking to each one of us individually, He called us all together and He spoke to us one last time.
"Children, I leave you now. I have business to attend to that you cannot help with. I have to see people and do things that are of importance to my family and my Father's business. It is fitting that we end our time together in the desert on this Sunday of the Lord's triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The story of Jesus entering into the Holy city is rich with symbolism, some of which escapes us in these modern times. For example, why did the people lay down their cloaks and wave palm branches? Back in the day, this was how Romans honored their heroes, kind of like rolling out the red carpet as we do today. There is also the symbolism of Him riding on a donkey. A king who had conquered a land and was assuming the kingship thereof would want to make his presence known. If he was going to be a real bastard of a king, he would ride through the town mounted on a white horse and survey his new kingdom with much pomp and ceremony and he would leave no doubts in anyone's mind who was in charge and to whom they should make their tax checks out to! "
"On the other hand, should he ride in on a donkey, it was a forecast that he would be a kindly but just leader to the people of the neighborhood, one who brought wisdom and kindness with him and who would judge justly and wisely. It was this latter type of king Jesus was to be, rich in kindness and wisdom and short on rod and whip. So, enter the Holy City with rejoicing. It is God's city. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are the true owners of it, although they like to think that they do. You will find much to fill your spirits here. Enjoy the feast and I will see you next on Thursday. Uriah will show you the place.
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