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In 1858, two steam powered ships met in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, after one had left north America and the other western Europe. Halfway across the Atlantic, they connected two ends of a 2,500 mile long cable together that they towed from their own shores. Making history, the cable linked together the European and North American continents by telegraph. Once they connected that ONE wire, everyone on our continent had communication with the other side of the world. For many, it was a life-changing event, not simply because of the technology, but for the simple fact that they could be connected with their loved ones. The human connection is so important for our hearts, our minds and our spirits. There are many connections in our lives that make us feel whole, make us feel loved and give us nourishment. What connections are most important to you? Perhaps it’s your family, maybe its being connected to our church, or maybe it’s a connection through walking in nature or practicing meditation…whatever those most important connections are, I am sure you feel energized and filled with light when you are connected to what is important to you. 

In our gospel today, Jesus tells the story of the vine, the branches and the gardener. Jesus gives us a promise for our future and our faith life that all will be well IF WE JUST STAY CONNECTED. Jesus says, I AM THE VINE AND YOU ARE THE BRANCHES, remain in me and I will remain in you.  STAY CONNECTED TO THE VINE AND YOU WILL PRODUCE MUCH FRUIT.

When you look at a tree or a bush that produces fruit, I think we all know something amazing must be going on inside to make that fruit grow on the outside. We can’t see it, but we know that that tree or bush is pulling nutrients and water so that it can grow and flourish.

Throughout this past year, even though facing a shutdown like no other, we found ways to keep our connection strong. 

Like this new cable that connected two continents, our religious education program discovered new ways to broaden WHO we connect to and how we connect. My team and I not only had to find a creative way to keep our children still active in the religious ed program, but give them a learning experience that would provide them the right nutrients to help them grow and thrive during such an uncertain time. 

Whether it was through zoom classes, our new pen pal system or even virtual learning, these children showed how resilient they are and their vines stayed strong and their love for God reflected to us in so many ways.  So much magic and growth was happening this year behind the scenes, but the news is too good not to share it with all of you.  

Behind the scenes, our team helped create lessons by recording sessions and then putting them on our virtual platform we created. Each child could log on and go to their grade level and watch their teacher provide a lesson for the week. Along with those lessons children were given projects and reflection activities to process what they learned. We knew the importance of needing that face to face connection, so we also provided a rotating zoom schedule so that every few weeks our classes could connect through zoom. Sometimes the children participated in a lesson, sometimes they sang together, sometimes they played a game and sometimes they even shared how they were feeling and how their week was going.

Children were also given a pen pal throughout the year that they would write letters to and receive letters from. This created a deeper and more meaningful connection with children on a more personal level. My daughter and her pen pal found they both loved Harry Potter. They had been in the same religious education class for some time, but because they were able to speak one on one, they discovered more about each other and grew closer this year, even though they were apart. I found this to be true of many of the children who participated in the pen pal system. 

I hav

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There was a family that had moved to a new city, and after they got settled in their new home, they did all the other things you might do in order to get acclimated to a new place.

They learned where the grocery store and posts office was.

They asked locals about which restaurants were the best to visit.

And of course they took time to get their two kids settled into their new school.

Well – next came the important part – it was Easter Sunday and they were on their way to celebrate Easter Mass in a new church.  

The parents, not wanting to be embarrassed, tried to give their kids a quick brush up on their catholic knowledge.  So the mother asked the kids – “Do you know what Holy Thursday is?”

Their 10-year old daughter in the back seat answered: “That is when Jesus called his friends over for one last dinner with him.”

Next, she asked: “Do you know what Good Friday is?”

Again, their 10-year old daughter answered from the back seat: “That is when Jesus was put on the cross and died, and then they put him in a cave.”

“Very good,” she said.  

Her last question: “Do you know what the meaning of Easter is?”

Yet again, their 10-year old answered: “That is when Jesus came back to life!”

Well – not wanting to be upstaged by his older sister anymore, their 7-year old son called out from the back seat: “Yeah, and when he came out of the cave he saw his shadow and there was six more weeks of winter!”

The mystery and wonder of the resurrection is certainly somewhat hard for children to grasp the meaning of – but it’s often hard for even ADULTS to grasp the mystery of the resurrection, too.  

In the gospel today we get a first-hand account of how hard it was for even the first disciples to grasp the resurrection.  

It says that Jesus stood in their midst and said PEACE BE WITH YOU – and they were so startled and terrified by his presence they thought they were seeing a ghost.  

The first question Jesus asks them is “Why are you troubled and why to questions arise in your hearts?”

Why are we troubled???  

Why are we troubled?  Um – maybe because a couple days ago we saw you die and now you’re standing in front of us.  Right here in front of us.  ALIVE!

Could it be that the TRUTH of the resurrection was too much for the first disciples to grasp?  Could it have been that their hearts and brains could not process fast enough what was unfolding in front of their eyes?

Have you ever experienced something so unbelievable that it was scary?  So unbelievable that your brain refused to send information to your heart that is was real?

Many years ago I was at a conference, and one of they keynote speakers was a woman named Maria.  

Maria was the mother of 4, and her oldest son served in Desert Storm. 

After a bombing in Kuwait, word came that her son had died.  His whole unit could not even be found in the disaster area.

Her son, however, did not die in the bombing, but it was simply assumed that he did.  His unit fled the area.  Without radio communication they had no contact with the rest of their troops, and in order to stay alive they had to go into hiding.   

After being found, his unit was sent home, and when he got off the plane and greeted his mother, she was frozen.  She couldn’t move – not even to embrace him.

Maria said that she was terrified to grab a hold of him to hug him and kiss his face – because she thought – what if this isn’t real? What if I go in for a hug and feel this extreme love and joy only to wake up from a dream and find out he’s really not here.  

The truth can scare us sometimes.  It can rock our world and even at times change our perception of reality.  

As humans we also have a tendency to doubt in an instant when we feel something is too good to be true – even wh

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On Palm Sunday 5 year old Johnny stayed home from church with a babysitter because he had a sore throat. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm fronds. Johnny asked what they were for. ‘People held them over Jesus’ head as he walked by,’ his father said. Johnny got all huffy and crossed his arms, ‘Oh great,’ he complained, ‘the one Sunday I don’t go to church and Jesus shows up.’

Growing up Catholic, I never paid much attention to Palm Sunday.  I mean it was a cool day when you got palms to play with during church, and, of course, my brother and I would have palm sword fights with them.  But Easter was the big show and Palm Sunday was kind of the trailer.

That all changed for me when I came across a book called The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Borg and Crossan literally go day by day during the last week of Jesus (which is Holy Week) and tell us what’s going on.

What we have come to know as “Palm Sunday” likely took place at the time of Passover in Jerusalem.  The population of Jerusalem swelled every year from 50,000 to 200,000 people during Passover and it was a time of great celebration.  But it was also a time of great tension and social unrest.  The Jewish people – who gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate their freedom from Egypt – were not unaware that they now lived under occupation by the Romans.  Every year there was talk of rebellion and revolt against Rome.

So every year, the Romans would have a huge military parade that entered from the West side of the city.  They’d bring out their war horses, chariots, soldiers, military gear…you name it.   Political figures and dignitaries marched in it – waving to the crowds.  It was a big spectacle meant to impress people.  

But it was also meant to scare people.

Rome was sending a message about who was in charge and what would happen to you if you got in their way. Theirs was a system of domination and punishment.  They didn’t care if you practiced your own religion or kept your customs and traditions.  But if you stopped paying your taxes, organized against them or disrupted their bottom line, there was going to be trouble.

On this particular Passover, however, we have a different kind of parade happening on the East side of the city.  Jesus – who no doubt knew that the Roman parade was happening – organized a parade of his own.

On Jesus’s side, it was the island of misfit toys.  These were just your average salt of the earth kind of folks and a lot of people who didn’t quite fit in anywhere else.  Very little money. No pomp. Definitely no circumstance. Second hand clothes. Parade started late.  And Jesus is riding a donkey – very intimidating!

But Jesus’ parade wasn’t just a quaint gathering.  It was an act of political resistance, a protest.  Brazilian Archbishop Dom Helder Camara once said “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”  What Jesus was doing on Palm Sunday was a direct affront to the powers that be and he knew that he’d be labeled a threat.

That’s one reason why the crowd was all excited and shouting, “Hosanna!”

The word “hosanna” literally means “save us” and the people that Jesus hung out with wanted to be saved from the crushing systems of the empire that broke their bank accounts, broke their bodies and broke their spirits.  They were psyched that someone had finally come to turn this thing around.

But Jesus’ revolution didn’t quite fit their expectations either.

The crowd that gathered around Jesus no doubt expected him to have a world-altering plan.  I imagine some were like, “Jesus, I love the donkey, that’s a nice touch, and the minimalism is key…but where are the chariots and the weapons?” 

Jesus said, “We don’t have any. 

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