Monday of Holy Week

       There is that donkey again. God incarnate, the conqueror is coming to town, the Holy city . . . . . on an ass. I just can't wrap my head around how counter that is, how revolutionary that is. Clearly not the Messiah the Jews were waiting for and expecting. When the believers did not have a written record of Jesus yet, there was no New Testament, at least in words. The 'New Testament' was Jesus' actual life. The written word would not come for decades and even then, the final accepted 'books' would not be approved until even later. The Gospel of John for example wasn't even written until the latter part of the first century.  What does this mean? It means that there is the "book" and there is also "the life" of Christ. The books bear witness to the life, explain the life and convey truths about Jesus' life. The books are distinct from the actual life. When people converted to Christianity and accepted The Way, they did so on eyewitness testimony and on preaching about the actual life of Christ. Initially, any Eucharistic celebration would not even have had readings because they didn't even exist yet.

        The Books of the New Testament are often used, abused, cherry picked and mistranslated to support actions and agendas that are not consistent with the actual life of Christ.  Right now there is a kerfuffle of sorts between two politicians both of whom claim Christ as their saviour. They both claim to be Christians.  Vice President Mike Pence and 'Mayor Pete' have had words and this is the crux of the situation because they again, both claim to be Christians. This is exquisitely typical of what is going on in the United States today. In encapsulates the problem par excellence. Can a believer eschew the love and the actual life of Christ by His own examples for a faith apparently based solely on errant  translations of Holy Scripture? I have been calling this type of person a faux Christian for quite some time now. How can your actions be against the very values and words you profess?  This fake Christianity not only seems to apply to Mr. Pence but also to the man-child in the highest office in the land, President Trump. Can a three time adulterer, molester, philanderer, chronic liar and cheat really call himself a Christian? Can anyone say with a straight face that God chose Trump?? The absurdity of it flies in the face of Holy Week.

       I am not sure that Mayor Pete is the best candidate for President. I do know at face value, he is more qualified in a great number of ways. Mr.Trump cannot even come close to Mr. Pete's qualifications, decency and faith. . If we are to lead a good Christian life, a life that respects who we all are as people, I have to lean to someone who emulates more than the sometimes hollow words of misused scriptural passages, I have to lean towards emulating the life of Christ in a radical way. The man named Jesus that came conquering humanity riding on a ass.  

       For politicians, for myself, for all of us , our lives should emulate the visionary radical life that Jesus lived. Only then will we emerge from our cocoons as the beautiful butterflies we are meat to be, only then will the course of the world be changed towards love, peace and equality.   

John 12:9-19

 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

 The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—
   the King of Israel!’ 
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: 
‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
   sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ 
His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. The Pharisees then said to one another, ‘You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!’