The Old Testament passage chosen for most Sundays throws light on the Gospel. Matthew 11:25-30 asks us to imitate a gentle Jesus. The first reading from the Prophet Zechariah 9:9-10 stresses peace. A king riding on a donkey comes for peace. Perhaps worth mentioning is that there is only one animal in the picture. In Hebrew poetry a second line often repeats a first line in different words. It was common for rulers to ride around their kingdom on donkeys. This peace-bringing king does not ride a warhorse. In fact he banishes them along with bows and chariots used in war.
Peace is a dream of the human race. I'm reading a book in which one character is a boy who graduates from high school just at the time when the United States is considering entering the Second World War. He considers himself a pacifist. Dorothy Day is one of his heroes. His family and friends think he is an unrealistic dreamer. His is a very hard stance to maintain in the face of Hitler's evil. And so it goes.
We need a gentle leader who can bring us to take seriously the possibility of "No More War."
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