23 March 2017 - Thursday of the 3rd week of Lent - Luke 11:14-23

     “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”  We want to be with Jesus, don’t we?  We want to live his values.  We want to make the right decisions.  But sometimes, we think we are doing the right thing when we are really way off track. 

     In this week of March in 1976, a military coup took over the country of Argentina.  Argentina was one of the 10 wealthiest counties in the world in the 1950s following the wake of WWII.  It was a well-educated country with a richness of resources and strong ties to Europe.  However, after a lack of confidence in Argentina’s economy and political environment, the military took over in a coup, which was supported by most of the population, including the wealthy, the elite, the Middle Class, and the Catholic Church.  They thought that the military government would bring stability and order to a country that was spiraling out of control.  However, then people started disappearing from society after being picked up by government officials, never to be heard from again. Those who disappeared who those who the government identified as the enemy - the radical university students who spoke out, those who had ties to Marxism or socialism, those who dared to speak out against the government.  The country did not want to face the reality of what was happening, so most people kept quiet in silent denial.  A group of mothers and grandmothers, many of whom were related to those who were disappeared, decided to take action.  They began gathering on the Plaza de Mayo, the main public square in the capital city of Buenos Aires. They did not say much, but they held up signs of their disappeared loved ones, asking what happened to them, asking for their return.  These mothers and grandmothers were subject to harassment, resentment and even arrest, but they carried on.  Their witness brought publicity to what was going on.  The military dictatorship in Argentina collapsed in 1983.  The courage and dignity of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo shook up the conscience of that country.  It is estimated that more than 20,000 Argentine citizens disappeared, never to be heard from again.  Most were tortured and killed.  Would we have the courage to speak up in such circumstances?  Do we gather with Jesus or do we scatter?  Are we with Jesus or are we against him?