Jesus was around on this earth for about three decades, and then he wasn't. Some said he died on the cross and that was that. Some said he rose from the dead, stuck around another 40 days, and then returned to his Father. But those who believe accept two things simultaneously: that Jesus definitively went away, and that he also emphatically remains. So where is he?

Fill a room with people, and you're inviting not only individuals but the very real possibility of conflict. Fill a world with people, and those chances multiply exponentially.

Today we pray for vocations—and mothers. Not such a strange pairing because many vocations into this world come by way of mothers. Many learned to say their prayers from their mothers and were brought to Mass (later dragged to Mass) and sacraments and other parish involvements because it was important to their mothers.

The disciples who departed from Jerusalem after the tumult of the Crucifixion and the confusion of the Resurrection reports made the mistake of choosing isolation at a time when community mattered most.

Every Sunday the collection basket circulates throughout churches across America. You and I throw in our dollar, five dollars, ten, 20. If you've ever been drafted for counting duty, you know that once in a while someone throws in a $100 bill! Perhaps that's when the sermon is especially good, or when someone is feeling especially grateful—or guilty.

In what or in whom do you trust? Money says we trust in God, but surely some of us trust in money almost as much (or perhaps more). Maybe you base your ultimate confidence in your spouse, your family, your parish community—or your country, right or wrong. My parents used to trust with an almost religious fervor in the reports of Walter Cronkite. In the same way I tend to trust a little too much in Wikipedia.

The Passion story is the longest passage of scripture you ever hear in church. It's nearly two chapters long. It includes a cast of characters too numerous to follow without a missalette. It also requires you to pay attention for a long time in a culture not much given to listening. So one way you can use this reading is as an annual examination of conscience, to pinpoint yourself on the road of discipleship. Which character in the story best represents your relationship to Jesus this year?

Going to church is one thing. Believing what you profess there is another. You may know when to stand, speak, kneel, and come forward in the setting of the assembly, but do you know how and when to act in the many challenging situations of your life? Everyone in today's gospel gets a summons to do something when Jesus sets his redemptive action in motion. His disciples, for example, are incredulous that he wants to return to Judea, a place where he recently risked his life. Thomas rallies the group with the rather faint appeal that it's better to remain with Jesus if only to die with him. These are prophetic words, and poor Thomas has no idea how wisely he's spoken.

The other morning there was bedlam in the neighborhood at 5 a.m. Some early-riser decided it was a great time to catch up on some preliminary yard-work for the spring, so he revved up some powered machines and tackled the job. A nice idea, but of course the rest of us were still sleeping. So now our exuberant neighbor is on the outs with the whole block.

Religious differences add fuel to the potential conflict. This woman's "five husbands" are, from a rabbinical perspective, the five tenets of Samaritan religion: belief in one God, in Moses as the one prophet, in the Torah as the only Book, in Mt. Gerizim as the one place of worship, and in final judgment. Three of these directly oppose Jewish belief in other prophets, other holy books, and Jerusalem as the only Temple. A collision course between this woman and this man seems inevitable. Instead truth brings their disparate hearts into resonance. This will not be a place of conflict but of hope.