My friends, in this day and age when it seems that the only answer to conflict around our beautiful world is war and the taking of human life, as opposed to the much harder work of communication and negotiation—give and take, coming to solutions, while maybe not perfect, are, at the least—just, in some ways, for all involved; I lift up the “hope” reflected in this weekend’s Scripture readings.  I will get to that in a bit. 

   In order that we might see the need for hope, based on faith, in the “best angels” around us, which someone said to me recently, I would like to name more of the seemingly “hopeless” words and actions that came to me this week.

• Without saying much by way of explanation, let me just lift up the U.S. House of Representatives and their apparent lack of leadership in being able to choose someone “to speak” justly for all of them.
• With heavy heart, I lift up the example of an innocent 6-year-old boy in Chicago, an Arab American, stabbed 26 times by his deranged land-lord for what cause? —fear, revenge? This makes as much sense as our Church saying that every beautiful baby born into this world comes with the stain of sin.  With regard to the first boy mentioned, as our president said in an address to the nation, and I paraphrase—revenge is never, ever right.
• And a final example, and then I will move on to more hope-filled ones: I saw a copy of our diocesan paper the other day and read that Bishop Barron, in heading to the Synod in Rome this month, went with a “concern.”  While acknowledging the “continental” hopes of those who answered the surveys in preparation, wanting more “welcome” for those who feel “alienated” from the Church, the bishop basically said, pastorally, it is “legitimate” that the Church be concerned, but at the end of the day, law always trumps love. And because I think it important for you to know how cut and dried, the bishop looks at this matter, here are his exact words: “But if the estrangement is caused by a deep disconnect between what the Church legitimately demands and the manner in which someone is living, then the needful thing is for that person to change his attitude.” Funny thing, my read of Scripture tells me that our brother Jesus came to say just the opposite—while we respect the law, which is almost never played out in people’s lives in black and white ways, but in hues of gray, love is always, always, the better choice. 

A final note is that “the very real hope” of our bishop that the “pastoral and properly theological dimensions will be a key work of the Synod,” is based on the Bible, the theological tradition, and the natural moral law.  To that I would say, as did theologian, Sister Sandra Schneiders, “the Bible was written by men, about men, and for men,” and theological tradition and natural moral order was constructed and put in place by men as well, seemingly inspired by a male God, so I wouldn’t depend on “voiceless” women or others on the fringes being treated very fairly or justly in all of that. 

   Before going on then, to what is more hopeful, let’s see first what the Scriptures have to say:  Isaiah, Paul, and Jesus—prophets all, speak to “hope” in different ways.  Isaiah reminds the people that throughout history, they have been known to be the “chosen” of God. With the completion of this “First” testament and the “Second” with Jesus, we come to know that we all,  each of us is “chosen” and should consider all others, regardless of age, color, gender, sexual expression—whatever, “God’s chosen” too.  With that in mind, it is interesting to think of both the Israelis and the Palestinians praying to the same God, to quote Isaiah, on behalf of God, “I am your God, there is no other.” 

   Paul says it a bit differently, “You are proving your faith by your actions, laboring in love and showing constancy in your hope in Jesus.”  If I might revert back to Bishop Barron’s “concern”—with regard to Paul’s words here—it would seem that the bishop does not have much hope that the Spirit “is continually renewing the face of the earth,” and may be calling us to a broader view than theological tradition.

   And finally, Jesus says in Matthew’s gospel for today, “Give to Caesar [what is his], give to God what is God’s.”   I will leave you to find the meaning for this one in your own lives.  In simple parlance though, for myself, I would say that Jesus’ words are about “showing up” and showing God’s love. 

   With that, I will end with two examples that give me hope in our troubled world:

• You may be aware of writer, speaker, Michael Perry—he’s a favorite of ours and one of his programs was on this past week on PBS. Suffice it to say, he came from a family of two loving and generous parents who not only cared for their own three sons, but took in many foster children, some of which they adopted, and always, for the most part, these were children few others wanted.  So Michael learned “generosity” and care for others, throughout his growing years watching his mom and dad, and other adults in action.  One story that he shared was about his 4^th grade teacher, a man who gave him a lesson to live by.  It seems that in this 4^th grade class of boys and girls, there was a girl whom, for whatever reason, was picked on and teased by the others, Michael included, he shared.  One day the teacher asked for a volunteer to go next door and help with a project. Everyone but the girl who was teased raised their hands. The teacher looked at her and said, “Why don’t you go!”     After she left, the teacher closed the door and spoke to the children.  “I want you all to know that when I asked for a volunteer, all of you raised your hands, except for her. She would not volunteer because of the merciless way that you always tease her about everything.  Michael said that he has never forgotten that story, that it was basically, a teaching moment. It’s good to remember, I think, the effect we can have on others.
• And finally, a story about a man I think most of you know who completed his life’s journey this past week—Dave Palmquist.  He was a naturalist for many years and opened up for many of us the wonders of our earth through plants and birds and all.  Dave had fought cancer for several years, and when his wife, Kathy asked where should she look for him in the night sky, as they always enjoyed looking at the stars together, he answered, “Look toward Orion.”  I read Kathy’s Facebook post out loud to Robert and when I finished, he said, “Do you want to hear something neat?  Sure, I said! “This morning, I went out in the dark, and looked up to see Venus, something I don’t regularly do, and do you know what I saw? Orion was right overhead, usually seen only in the winter sky!

   Both stories give me great hope friends—for I will always hold onto, and look forward to seeing the best from us humans, always, no matter what the present time might pre-sent!  Amen?  Amen!

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!