My friends, I am sure that you, like me, have been appalled and saddened this past week by the start-up, once again, of active “war” between the Palestinians and the Israelis in the Middle East.  While I in no way condone the violence perpetrated by Hamas on the Israelis, when one looks at the years of suffering that the Israelis have dealt out to the people in Gaza, it is understandable that this unjust situation will “bubble up” and boil over from time to time. 

   It is most important that we as onlookers understand that this situation is multi-layered, and that violence has happened on both sides.  It is almost incomprehensible to me that Jewish people in Israel would be okay doing to the people in Gaza what was done to them during the Second World War.  The Gaza Strip has become a ghetto enforced by the Israelis, and when the “pot boils over,” “when enough is enough,” we unfortunately see the actions that Hamas did this past weekend. But let’s leave this for a bit. 

   Our readings for this Sunday are all about a God who walks with us “spiritual people here having a human experience,” as someone once said.  The fact that each of us started out as an “original blessing,” instead of being people who, “carried an original sin,” as Matthew Fox has made the case, should tell us something significant about how we are to act in our world. 

   Starting out as “spiritual beings” tells me that we will need to continually rise above the “human condition,” which is “imperfect,” responding to the “hurts in this world,” with less than perfect actions.  In my 73 years, thus far, I have found that most evil done in this world is not “black and white,” but “multi-layered.”  In other words, “nothing comes from nothing” –basic humanity responds as it has been treated. 

    But as Christians, or members of any other religious group, are we not called to more? I would think so!  The gospel from Matthew today tells the story of a ruler who has invited everyone to the wedding feast of his heir.  And of course, the ruler represents God.  This story should be familiar to each of us as it is the mission statement for our Vatican II parish –everyone is welcome!  If God can include us all, why would we not think that we are called to do the same, in the memory of Jesus, the Christ, truly our brother in our human sojourn.

   When I consider the conflict now, and in the past, between the Palestinians and the Israelis, it seems to me that one group of people can only enjoy “justice” if and when that same justice is available to others. 

   Hopefully, you can go deeper into the Gospel reading today and realize as others have, who have gone deeper, that the “wedding feast” is not so much, “a place” as an “attitude,” where, as I said above, “everyone is welcome.”  The “cloth” or the garment, we are told, is “our attitudes” toward life, and all of creation:  mercy, justice, long-suffering, and patience, to name a few. 

   If we simply stay on the surface of this parable, all we will see is a vindictive, ruler/ God.  Although, we might say that the apparent vindictiveness of God comes from the expectation that each of us, “will be, or strive to be, our “best selves” in our “human experience.” 

   Going back to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I believe, “hopelessness” comes for people when the “cloth” is about “selfishness,” rather than, “justice.”  The other readings for today likewise give a picture of who each of us should strive to be in our world. 

   The prophet Isaiah says it simply: “God will wipe away the tears from every cheek.”  So must we!  At least, we must try.  The prophet Paul, writing to the Philippians gives us hope: “I can do all things through the One who gives me strength.”  And finally, we should take up the prayer of the psalmist today as we attempt to do the good each of us is called to in this world: “Shepherd me O God, from all my wants, from all my fears…”

   And because, “being good” can really be hard at times, I will end with the wisdom of a few others that I have shared in the past, in the form of “good quotes.”  The thing with a really good quote is that it is timeless.

• We cannot close our eyes to any form of racism or exclusion, while pretending to defend the sacredness of every human life. —Pope Francis
• Let us not seek the Republican or Democratic answer—but the right answer.  Let us not try to fix the blame for the past.  Let us accept our own responsibility for the future. —John F. Kennedy (for our Congress)
• Fight for what you believe in, but do it in a way that others will follow you. —Ruth Bader Ginsberg  (some in Congress might heed her wisdom)
• Everything is supernatural for those who know how to see. —Paul Tillich, Protestant theologian
• There are 1,000 ways to kneel and kiss the ground. —Rumi, 13^th Century Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and theologian
• Additionally, from Rumi, “You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.” (I love this one!)
• If we had been holier people, we would have been angrier, oftener. —John Templeton, investor—who believed in a higher purpose beyond profit for profits’ sake. (Palestinian/Israeli conflict—just anger).
• And finally, from Sister Joan Chittister, Benedictine speaker and writer, “Do you want a test to know if your work in life is over, the philosopher asked?  If you are still alive, it is not!”  Sister Joan continues—as the rabbi and the disciple both well know, God needs us to complete God’s work. Now! Amen? Amen!