It’s a sad fact of history

that the largest religious community
that ever lived together in the same place
in the history of the Catholic Church
was at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany during World War II.
Over 2,500 Catholic priests became prisoners in Dachau,
in Cellblock 26, known as the Priestblock.
They were from 144 dioceses and 25 countries,
and they made up about a third of Dachau’s total population.

While they were there at Dachau,

the priests ministered to the other prisoners the best they could,
and they tried to strengthen each other, and give each other hope.
As the days went by, they even held theological discussions
to try and make sense of what was happening,
not only to them, but to the world.
They talked about the holocaust that was happening before their eyes,
and the war raging across the world,
weapons of destruction worse than any other in history;
and all this coming after what had been called “The War to End All Wars.”

These 2500 priests considered all of this,

and as they pondered,
one question kept returning to them.
“How could this happen?”

But that was not the complete question they asked.

The complete question, the full question, included a key phrase at the end.
Their full question was,
“How could this happen in Christian nations?”
Germany was a Christian nation. Italy, France, Great Britain,
the United States; even Russia had its Christian roots.
And these priests asked themselves,
“How could this happen
among people who professed to be followers of Christ?
We must do better!” they said.

We must do better.

And that is what Jesus is telling his disciples in today’s gospel.

He says, “your righteousness must surpass that

of the scribes and Pharisees.”
In other words, “You must do better.”

The law is not simply to be observed,

it is to be lived.

It is not enough to merely avoid murdering someone, he says,

that’s not enough.
You must do better.

If you have conflict, resolve it.

Disciples are not to call people fools or other demeaning names.
These people you try to humiliate are my brothers and sisters.
Before you even approach the altar with a gift,
if you have a problem with someone,
go reconcile with them,
and then come back.
You must do better.

It is not enough to avoid committing adultery.

Don’t even look at someone with lust.
That’s exploitation,
using someone else for your own pleasure.
You must do better.

It is not enough to avoid false oaths.

Live a life of integrity,
be who you are at all times,
in public and in private,
so that your yes means yes
and your no means no.
You must do better.

This is what Jesus is telling his disciples.

It’s what Jesus is telling us.

When we look at the world today,

the escalation of conflicts between nations,
the out and out war taking place,
we must do better.

When we look at our nation,

the polarization, the name calling,
the attempts to utterly humiliate opponents,
we must do better.

Even when we look inside our Church,

we see infighting, bickering, lack of charity between fellow Christians,
even, sadly, among Church leaders.
Is this reconciling with our brother or sister before coming to the altar?
Is this living a life of integrity where our yes means yes
and our no means no?
We must do better!

The 2500 priests at Dachau who saw the need to do better

also had discussions about how to do better.
In the face of the great evil they were experiencing,
they had an insight,
perhaps even the grace of the Holy Spirit inspiring them.
They realized that in the ministries of the Church
there were images of Christ the King
and images of Christ the Priest,
but there was a need for images of Christ the Servant.
And this could help us do better.

Whenever we humble ourselves enough to serve others,

we encounter Christ in them
and they encounter Christ in us.
In the words of Pope Francis,
“The more we serve,
the more we are aware of God’s presence,
especially when we serve those who cannot give anything in return…”
And when we see Christ in those we serve,
we are more likely to treat them with dignity,
we are more likely to build friendships with them,
we are more likely to want to reconcile with them
in peaceful and loving ways.
Conflict and disagreement are always going to exist.
But the way we resolve those conflicts
and address those differences with others
ought to grow out of an understanding of their dignity as children of God.
When we serve others, we are less likely to call them fools,
humiliate them,
or exploit them for our own pleasure.

When we serve others,

we do better.

So as the priests in Dachau

continued thinking about the important of service,
they saw the need for more images of Christ the Servant.
But they weren’t thinking necessarily
of more icons or paintings of Christ the Servant
being put up in churches and homes around the world,
although that would be wonderful.

I’ve brought in this image of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet,

because that’s who Jesus was and is, a servant.
Contemplating icons like this one
can certainly help us remember Christ the Servant,
and our own call to serve others.

But the priests at Dachau intended something more.

They saw the need for living images of Christ of the Servant.

And so they began to think the time had come

to bring back permanent deacons.
In the 1940’s, and for centuries before,
there were no permanent deacons,
as there had been in the early years of the church —
deacons like St. Lawrence and St. Ephraim.
Permanent deacons existed in the Church for many centuries,
but for a lot of complicated reasons they declined in number
and eventually disappeared.

The priests in Cellblock 26 saw the need

for the return of permanent deacons,
permanent images of Christ the Servant,
who would animate the people to service.

That is what those 2500 priests concluded,

and they wrote their thoughts down in notes,
and those notes were eventually published in a book
that was one of the influences on Pope Paul VI
when he decided to re-establish the permanent diaconate in 1967,
after the Second Vatican Council.

That decision is what allows me to stand before you,

a permanent deacon,
talking to you about serving others.
God always knows how to make grace come out of any suffering.
That horrible experience of the 2500 priests in Cellblock 26
lead to the renewal of the permanent diaconate,
so that now there are almost 49,000 deacons in the world,
and the numbers are increasing each year.

But when we look at the current conflicts in our world,

the divisions in our nation,
and even in our Church,
I must do better,
you must do better,
we must do better!

So I ask you to find some individual or some group that you can serve;

someone who cannot give back,
someone you disagree with or have a conflict with;
or some individual or group that makes you feel uncomfortable.

Christ the Servant went to uncomfortable places

like Samaria and the Decapolis.
He ministered to people who made others uncomfortable,
people on the fringes of society,
like tax collectors, prostitutes, and those with leprosy.
Who would he minister to today, if he were here among us?
Those are the very people he is asking us to serve.

Today Jesus asks us to surpass the righteousness

of the scribes and Pharisees
and do better.

It is not easy;

but when has the Christian life ever been easy?
the Christian life is the way of the cross.
And through the grace of our baptism,
strengthened in confirmation
and nourished here at the Eucharistic table,
Christ gives us the strength to carry that cross.

Today I urge you to find a way to serve others,

for in doing so you will find Christ;
and others will find Christ in you.

With Lent approaching,

maybe this can be part of your Lenten sacrifice.

The world desperately needs to see Christ, the Prince of Peace.

Because what we Christians have done so far,
as good as it has been,
has not been enough.
We must do better.