Dear Preachers:

PRE-NOTE:   If you, or someone you know, does ministry in the Vietnamese community, you can get a Vietnamese translation of "First Impressions@ by going to the "Preachers= Exchange@ webpage (www.judeop.com) and clicking on the "Vietnamese@ tab.

We have just celebrated Independence Day (July 4^th) here in the States.  The scriptures we have today challenge our national perceptions of our country and offer biblical wisdom by which to measure our land and our personal values. 

The Zechariah passage provides quite a switch from our ordinary ways of thinking!  In our world of power, those at the head of states and kingdoms summon subjects before them.  But Zechariah, speaking of the coming Messiah-ruler, proposes the reverse, "Your king COMES TO YOU."  This one who will save the people will arrive, not with war horses and armed chariots, but riding on a donkey, the beast of the lowly people of the land.  To be lead by one who is not after lands and vassals, who does not want to be ruler of a war machine C now that would be a completely different leadership!  For a year and a half we have been  hearing speeches by potential presidential candidates as the primary campaign warmed up.  Zechariah=s vision  certainly challenges the present and potential leadership of our nation as well as our individual perception of leadership as we celebrate this 4^th of July. 

Doesn't Zechariah set up a longing in our war and violence-satiated minds, hearts and land?  Don=t we yearn for an end to our current war? Don't we want  a place to live where there is peace for ourselves and our children?  Don=t people in certain violence-prone areas wish for assurance and tranquility as they worry about sending their children off to school?  Our world and our leaders are far from the vision Zechariah offers us today.

We who have accepted the reign of the one Zechariah anticipated, have said in effect, "This is how I choose to live.  I want to >banish= the chariot, war horse and warrior from my life.  I want to seek a peaceful way of living in the world.  I hope to be guided by the Spirit of the One who comes riding a donkey and who establishes peace by his presence and his response to violence.@  The one Zechariah promises shall be triumphant over the nations, but unlike other conquerors, he shall achieve dominion through proclaiming peace and winning hearts to his way.  He sets himself apart from all other conquerors and in doing so,  is the one who fulfills the long-ago hopes expressed by Zechariah.

One parish where I've preached, requires the preacher to compose the intercessory prayers.  That might be something we preachers could do, and in those petitions draw on today=s first scripture as we pray for our land and our world.   Thus, we might pray:  for those who have died struggling to be free;  for gentle peacemakers;  for those who speak for justice and stand with the downtrodden and, in this election season, we pray for wise and strong leaders who will help us achieve peace here at home and in war-torn parts of the world.

There is more than a bit of irony in Jesus= prayer today.  He praises God for "hiding" from the "wise and learned@ what God has revealed "to the little ones".  Jesus has just reproached the towns, including Capernaum where he lived, for not accepting him, even though he worked most of his miracles in those places (11:20-24). He was also rejected by the teachers of the law, those who should have recognized him as one sent by God.

 Despite rejection by so many, Jesus does the unexpected and praises God for those who have accepted him C the least, the "little ones".  These religious leaders would have despised the crowds following Jesus because they were the religious outsiders and marginalized C the poor.  They were considered incapable of following the righteous path on their own.  Thus, these "little ones" were those who had deep spiritual as well as physical hungers.  Their leaders had not taken seriously the role of teaching and shepherding them. But God had noticed them, seen their  need for a shepherd and sent them Jesus. 

Things were upside down.  Those who should have known better rejected the one God sent to them. Was it because Jesus didn't fit their preconceived notion of what their deliverer would look like? Hadn't they absorbed Zechariah=s vision of the gentle savior, meek and riding in on a donkey?  Didn't they recognize their king who had come to save them?  But those who didn't know which way to go and were considered lost by the religious establishment, were found by God.  It was they who heard what Jesus had been saying about the reign of God and it was Jesus who welcomed them in.  What had these "little ones" done to deserve God=s special attention? Nothing, except that God has a "gracious" will, and judges contrary to all the usual standards of excellence and merit.  The "little ones" needed God and they knew it C so God responded.

Jesus praises God for choosing those who haven=t earned God=s pleasure and can only have it as a gift. The gift is given, based solely on God=s love and it comes through Jesus, the meek and humble one. It takes strength to be meek and humble.  Jesus doesn't invite the poor, already crushed down, to be a doormat for the aggressive and powerful.  Instead, he is inviting those of us who have personal, financial, physical and intellectual power to choose not to use that power over others. 

Meekness seems like a useless and impossible virtue in our modern world with all its dangerous weapons and aggressions.  But the gospel today invites us to try practicing meekness (we "practice" because we will never get it perfect) by: disarming our own hearts; not returning anger against anger; using our personal authority to stand with the powerless and those deprived of a chance for a full life.

Jesus was "meek and humble of heart" because he chose to be that way. He could have used power to gain a following, to conquer his opponents and overwhelm the towns that rejected him.  Instead he used his power to stay committed to God and God=s ways and to share the life of the "little ones" who accepted him.  They had suffered at the hands of the powers of the world, and Jesus will too.  They only had God as their support and future and Jesus= own faith was the assurance to them that their trust in God was not misplaced.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Wayne Cavalier, OP, of the Southern Dominican Province, informs us of homilies written on Health Care by prominent homileticians.  They can be found at the webpage,  "The Healing Ministry of Catholic Health Care":

The webpage describes their service in this way:

Health care is a pivotal concern for Americans and an important ministry of the church. Often, health care issues are complex and difficult to understand. The Catholic Health Association of the United States is pleased to offer a free, new homily service for parish priests to help clarify these issues for parishioners.

Written by prominent Catholic theologians and bioethicists, the homilies bring important issues to life in the context of Gospel and church teachings.

QUOTABLE

Ministry and preaching in a multicultural environment must involve the language of hospitality.  Ministry to Latino peoples is not a crisis to be solved but a blessing to treasure. The open door is an effective and universal language without words.  The church, its ministers and its people welcome the Hispanic community with joy.  Those who preach can extend the welcome of hospitality through God=s Word, creating a safe shelter within an often discriminatory and racist culture. Radical hospitality is rooted in what the guest needs and who the guest is above all else.

C Guerric De Bona, OSB, FULFILLED IN OUR HEARING: HISTORY AND METHOD OF CHRISTIAN PREACHING.  New York; Paulist Press, 2005, page 144

JUSTICE BULLETIN BOARD