Brief (ahem) synopsis of the readings: Today is Palm Sunday and the readings are a little different. We begin with Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus and his disciples are about to enter Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus asked two disciples to secure a donkey for him and Jesus rode it into Jerusalem. As he rode the crowds came out to greet him by placing their cloaks and tree branches on the rode in front of him. After a few other readings we pick up a later chapter in Matthew. It begins with Judas going to the chief priests to negotiate his betrayal of Jesus. The scene then switches to Jesus telling his disciples to find a place to celebrate Passover at what we now call the Last Supper. While Jesus and the Twelve were eating Jesus told them that one of them would betray him and Judas protested that it wasn’t him. Jesus then blessed the unleavened bread and the wine (“This is my body, this is my blood”). They all then left the room and went to the Mount of Olives. There Jesus told them that their faith will be shaken and told Peter that he (Peter) would deny him before sunrise and Peter swore that wasn’t true. When they got to the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus went off by himself to pray and promised God he would fulfill his destiny. On returning to his disciples he found them asleep. As Jesus woke them Judas returned with a crowd of chief priests and others who took Jesus to Caiaphas the high priest. Jesus’ disciples gathered in the courtyard where someone recognized Peter as a follower of Jesus but Peter denied knowing Jesus. He did this three times, getting more agitated each time. Meanwhile Jesus was being questioned by the chief priests. Jesus told them he was the Son of Man at which point they accused him of blasphemy and took Jesus to the Roman official Pilate (who had the power to have Jesus put to death). Judas then regretted his actions and committed suicide. Pilate questioned Jesus trying to ascertain if Jesus was guilty of sedition. Pilate didn’t want to put Jesus to death but eventually bowed to the crowd that demanded Jesus’ death. At Pilate’s command Jesus was beaten and crucified. He died after only a few hours on the cross. After Jesus died and was taken down, a wealthy Jew named Joseph had Jesus buried in a tomb.

There’s a lot to cover, frankly too much for one homily. Allow me to focus on one event among all of these: the Passover meal Jesus celebrated with his followers. We call this the “Last Supper” and most of us imagine it looked like Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting. Da Vinci painted it from 1495 to 1498 on a wall in Milan. Spoiler alert: it likely didn’t look like that. For one thing all 13 of them were seated on the same side of the table. Additionally it was normally the job of the women to prepare the meal and Jesus certainly had female disciples; it’s hard to imagine he had women prepare the meal and not share in it. We don’t know but we don’t need to assume it was only Jesus and the Twelve. It’s also worth noting that it’s not called the “Last Supper” in Scripture; that label came later. This does make some sense, though, since it was the last meal Jesus ate before he was crucified. The next time Jesus gathered with is disciples for a meal, it was after he rose from the dead.

In that sense I wonder if we shouldn’t call this event the “First Supper.” As Catholics we point to this meal as the basis of our celebration of the Eucharist. Jesus blessed the unleavened bread and the wine and directed us to “do this in memory of me.” And so we do. It was far from a “perfect meal” and I doubt those gathered spoke with affection over what happened. Over vociferous objections Jesus foretold Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. After the meal they all went to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed while his disciples couldn’t stay awake. Then Jesus was arrested and…we’ll you know the story. As we read this the Resurrection feels a long way off.

But the truth of this meal does not depend on what Judas did, or what Peter would do later in the night. As a matter of fact it doesn’t depend on human action at all. This meal began as a Passover, a commemoration of the high point of their history at the time, their escape from slavery and ended with so much more. The Eucharist isn’t the “new and improved Passover.” This “First Supper” gives us a roadmap for our salvation. Listen to Jesus’ words: “…for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, to be poured out on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Passover gave us deliverance but Eucharist gives us salvation. It ensures not only God’s kingdom but our place in it. Years ago I read a quotation that has carried me through several crises; I think it’s from a local San Diego artist named Suzy Spafford and I’m quoting from memory: I may not know the master plan but I’m encouraged to know that the Master has a plan and I’m included.”

It’s hard to talk about Christianity without talking about the forgiveness of sins, the core belief that we are not the sum total of the bad things we’ve done. Forgiveness also doesn’t mean we can “balance the scales” by doing good things that outweigh the bad. What Jesus instituted in the Eucharist is nothing short of the recognition that we are blessed and saved far beyond what we do. We are included in the master plan simply because our master has decided to include us.

And this leaves us at a bit of a crossroad. If we believe, truly believe, we are included we should be able to exhale and relax. Even those who have been abandoned by addicted parents or unfaithful spouses or ungrateful children can come to believe that we will never be abandoned by God. We need not compete for God’s love because God’s love is infinite and complete.

Given that how do we treat each other? I’m not downplaying the existence of evil or that our ability to forgive is limited. But we have no excuse to point to people who look, love or worship differently and call them the enemy. There are no “children of a lesser god” because there is no lesser god and no lesser people.

Most of what troubles me these days are people who identify as Christians and yet justify violations against human dignity by claiming our world has gotten “out of hand.” I applaud Pope Leo’s words: “Violence can never lead to the justice, the stability and the peace that peoples are awaiting,”

To believe that violence is justified is to believe that God is either not strong enough to bring peace or God has changed his mind about his love for us. The next time we gather for a meal let us recall the “First Supper” and God loves us completely.