You know that I love you. . .(UPDATED)

3rd Sunday of Easter 2013
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic/Our Lady of the Rosary

Our Lord asks Peter a question—The Question, actually—the question that makes Peter squirm like a worm on a hot rock: “Simon [Peter], son of John, do you love me more than these?”* We can't help but wonder what went through Peter's head at hearing this question. He must've flashed back to the time Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” And he answered, “You are the Son of the living God.” He must've remembered rebuking Jesus when the Lord revealed that he would die in Jerusalem, and Jesus yelling at him, “Get behind me, Satan!” He must've remembered Jesus' prophecy that he would deny knowing him three times in the Garden. That memory must've made him blush in shame. His betrayal. Fleeing arrest. Outright lying. Now, the Risen Lord sits with him on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias and asks, “Simon [Peter], do you love me more than these?” Of course, Peter says that he loves the Lord. Could he say anything else? Truly, sitting there in the presence of the Risen Lord, could he confess to any other passion but the love btw friends, friends who willingly die for one another? “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” 

This first answer to the Jesus' question tells us that Peter is confused. “You know that I love you,” so why are you asking me if I love you? All those memories of rebuking Jesus, betraying him, denying him; all those chances to live out the radical love btw friends willing to die for one another; all those flashes of revelation into his teacher's true nature and ministry, the entirety of his short but intense life with this extraordinary man of God—they all collapse into this single, profoundly intimate meeting btw a sinner and his Savior: “Peter, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” No, Peter isn't confused at all. He's feeling awkward, spiritually clumsy. He wants this moment to end. What can I say to get this over with? Or maybe he's hurt that his teacher thinks he might not love him. He has every reason to doubt that he does. Or maybe Peter is offended by the question, “You know that I love you, Lord,” why do you ask? Why does Jesus interrogate Peter this way? Not once or twice but three times he asks. And three times Peter gives the same answer. By the third time, John tells us, Peter is “distressed.” He's worried. Does the Lord really think that I don't love him? Peter is “grieved” by the possibility, so he answers, a little desperately, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” 

This seaside scene btw Jesus and Peter brings to harvest a number of seeds planted by Christ in the hearts and minds of his disciples. Though Peter is the focus of this interrogation, the other disciples bear their own spiritual wounds and fruits as a result of Christ's teaching. Since he first said, “Follow me” to these fishermen, Jesus has taught them in word and deed to forgive one another, to be at peace with one another, and above all, to love one another. He's taught them to surrender themselves to God by taking up their crosses and bearing up under whatever burdens must be carried. He's taught them to remember him in the breaking of the bread, in daily prayer, in fasting and in taking care of the least among them. He's taught them that being first in God's kingdom means being last in the Enemy's; and that if they love him, if they are truly willing to die for love of him, they will feed those who follow him. Feed my sheep. Feed them with the bread of life. Feed them with the Word. Satisfy their hunger for heaven, their thirst for the truth. This seaside scene btw Peter and Jesus is not only Peter's reconciliation with his Lord, it is also his final exam, his last test as the Lord's favored student. 

As students of Christ, how would you and I do on this final exam? If the Risen Lord were to appear to us and ask, “Do you love me?” how would we react? Would we be confused by the question? Hurt? Offended? Embarrassed? Distressed? Or would we jump at the chance to tell the Lord that we do love him? Would there be that split second btw the question and our answer when we remembered that time when we had the chance to bear witness to God's mercy and didn't? That chance to forgive we let slip away. Would we recall all the times we've denied knowing Christ by failing to love as we should? Those times when we let our pride stand in the way of our humility? Would our failures to give God thanks for our blessings cause us to stutter an answer? Would we blush at our lack of growth in holiness? Our spiritual clumsiness when disaster strikes? Yes, probably; yes, to all of these. And then we'd remember what Christ taught from his cross: all is forgiven; every sin, every flaw and fault, every failure to love is washed away. And we'd say, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” And he'd say to us, “Feed my sheep.” 

When Peter and the other Apostles are arrested by the Sanhedrin, did they remember this profoundly intimate meeting with the Risen Lord? They must've. The high priest accuses them, “We gave you strict orders, did we not, to stop teaching in that name? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. . .” Before he responds to the accusation, Peter must've heard Jesus saying, “Feed my sheep.” So, he says to the priests, “We must obey God rather than men. . .” Rather than obey men, we must feed the Lord's sheep. Rather than bowing to your worldly power, we must bow before the glory of God. Rather than surrender ourselves to this world's hatred, we must teach others to surrender themselves to God's love. Peter must've smiled a little, recalling the grilling Jesus gave him by the Sea of Tiberias. Three times he had to confess his love for Christ. Three times Christ ordered him to feed his sheep. And now, here he is, standing before the powers of men, and he understands why Christ put him to the question. Jesus knew that he, Peter, could not feed his sheep if he himself would not be fed. The Lord absolved Peter of his sins, gave him a word of mercy so that when the time came to defy the world, he can so ready to die. I imagine Peter in front of the Sanhedrin, whispering, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” 

You know already, brothers and sisters, that we must obey God rather than men. We know this, but can we do it. More often than not, there is no conflict btw what we must do to satisfy the world and what we must do to satisfy God. But when a conflict arises, do we think immediately of Peter before the Sanhedrin? Do we think of him at the seashore with Jesus? Or do we think instead of all our failures and flaws, all of our sins and then excuse ourselves again from the obligation to put Christ first in our lives? Our failures and flaws cannot serves as excuses. After the death and resurrection of Christ, our sins are forgiven. We can no long demur in our duties to God b/c we are unworthy, or b/c we imagine ourselves to be too irresponsible to love properly. Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” If your answer is, “Yes, Lord, I love you,” then hear him say to you, “Feed my sheep.”

* If you're interested in my take on why Jesus uses the phrase "more than these," check out this daily homily from 2008.

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A pope, a chair, and a Swiss Guard

Great story about Pope Francis and his Swiss Guard!

Read it. . .
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To Crush My Enemies and Hear the Wails of Their Women!

from Facebook
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Ain't got no time for fear

2nd Week of Easter (S)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

In traditional iconography, St. Catherine of Siena is often portrayed carrying a ship on her shoulder. That ship is the Church. It reminds us of Noah's Ark, those who were saved from the flood. Most of us here this morning are sitting in the nave of the church. “Nave” derives from the Latin word, navis, which also gives us our word “navy.” So, the symbolic connections btw a ship on the sea and the church in the world are easy to draw. The disciples get into a boat and head out over the sea to Capernaum. A storm is brewing, the wind is kicking up, and the disciples are worried about capsizing. In response to this imminent danger, the disciples nominate a Task Force to address the crisis. The Task Force appoints a commission to study the problem. The commission selects a committee to hold hearings, and the cmte recommends that a working group issue a report. Eventually, the disciples vote on a draft of the report and release the document under the title, In navi durante tempestas,* “On a Boat during a Storm.” Unfortunately, all the disciples are tossed overboard and drowned. In another version of this story, Jesus appears to his frightened disciples and says, “I Am. Do not be afraid” and the boat arrives safely on the shore.

My irreverent version of John's gospel story is meant to be a little cheeky and a little telling. When the Church confronts a contemporary crisis, whether its a crisis in the Church or with the world, how do we normally proceed? There's really no way to answer that question fully, of course, b/c each crisis presents its unique problems, thus requiring unique solutions. Maybe a better question would be: from what resources do we draw when a crisis confronts us? Even better: to whom do we turn when a strong wind blows up a storm? We humans are designed and built to solve problems, and we manage quite well considering our fallen nature. But the same instinct to solve problems often leads us to cause problems as well. When we flounder around trying to solve spiritual problems with secular tools, we invariably arrive at secular solutions that worsen the original spiritual problem. Jesus' last- minute appearance to the near-drowned disciples shows us the best way to deal with every crisis we encounter: look for the Lord and expect to hear him say, “I Am. Do not be afraid.” In other words, we are reminded again that we, the boat, the sea, the storm, all belong to God. Fear in a crisis is not only futile, it can be deadly—spiritually deadening.

Fear has its natural uses. Being afraid for our lives discourages us from doing all sorts of dangerous things. Leaping out of planes. Swimming in Lake Ponchatrain. Driving in New Orleans. Fear even has its supernatural uses. It makes us wary of sin. Using occult means for achieving our goals. But fear can also prevent us from doing the holy work we've been given to do. It can discourage us from risking our time, talent, and treasure in the pursuit of holiness. We are not baptized to seek spiritual safety, to cuddle close with our devotions and watch the world burn. We are baptized to go out and proclaim—in word and deed—the freely given mercy of God. We are baptized to go out and preach and teach and heal and forgive and be forgiven. BXVI, introducing the Year of Faith, teaches us that we must propose again to the world an encounter the Risen Lord. How? He writes, “. . .we need to renew our preaching with lively faith, firm conviction, and joyful witness.” Filled with faith, conviction, and joy, there is no room in any of us for fear. Leave no room for fear. And if fear should blow your way, stop, look for the Lord, and expect to hear him say to you, “I Am. Do not be afraid.”

* Counting the seconds 'til someone corrects my Latin. . .3. . .2. . .1

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This just in. . .the Pope is STILL Catholic!

Apparently, the Holy Father woke up Catholic again this morning. . .

“Sacred Scripture,” he reaffirmed, “is the written testimony of the divine Word, the canonical memory that attests to the event of Revelation. However, the Word of God precedes the Bible and surpasses it. That is why the centre of our faith isn't just a book, but a salvation history and above all a person, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. It is precisely because the Word of God embraces and extends beyond Scripture that, in order to properly understand it, the Holy Spirit's constant presence, who guides us “to all truth”, is necessary. It is necessary to place ourselves within the great Tradition that has, with the Holy Spirit's assistance and the Magisterium's guidance, recognized the canonical writings as the Word that God addresses to his people, who have never ceased meditating upon it and discovering inexhaustible riches from it.” 

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The Knox Bible

Along with questions about discerning a religious vocation and requests for my fried chicken recipe, the most frequently asked question from HA readers is: "Father, can you recommend a good translation of the Bible?"

My usual answer is:  "Yes, the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, RSV." (And you cannot beat the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament for excellent footnotes, short essays, and references to the CCC!)

Now, I can add: The Knox Bible.* Translated in the 1950's by Msgr. Ronald Knox, an English priest of astonishing intellect and faith, this translation is his attempt to "English the Bible." You just have to read what he's done in order to understand the gift he's given us.  The Knox Bible includes a booklet of essays written by Fr. Knox, describing the translation process.

Here's my favorite Pauline quote, 1 Cor 13.4-13:

Charity is patient, is kind; charity feels no envy; charity is never perverse or proud, never insolent; does not claim its rights, cannot be provoked, does not brood over an injury; takes no pleasure in wrong-doing, but rejoices at the victory of truth; sustains, believes, hopes, endures, to the last. The time will come when we shall outgrow prophecy, when speaking with tongues will come to an end, when knowledge will be swept away; we shall never have finished with charity. Our knowledge, our prophecy, are only glimpses of the truth; and these glimpses will be swept away when the time of fulfilment comes. (Just so, when I was a child, I talked like a child, I had the intelligence, the thoughts of a child; since I became a man, I have outgrown childish ways.) At present, we are looking at a confused reflection in a mirror; then, we shall see face to face; now, I have only glimpses of knowledge; then, I shall recognize God as he has recognized me. Meanwhile, faith, hope and charity persist, all three; but the greatest of them all is charity.

You really can't ask for better clarity!

* Thanks to a generous Book Benefactor (you know who you are).

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"Elite Panic"

Another explanation for the deafening silence of the MSM on the Gosnell murder trial: the Unwashed Plebs will misinterpret the facts and overreact by demanding political actions that their Enlightened Betters do not approve of:

Elites tend to believe in a venal, selfish, and essentially monstrous version of human nature, which I sometimes think is their own human nature. I mean, people don't become incredibly wealthy and powerful by being angelic, necessarily. They believe that only their power keeps the rest of us in line and that when it somehow shrinks away, our seething violence will rise to the surface -- that was very clear in Katrina. Timothy Garton Ash and Maureen Dowd and all these other people immediately jumped on the bandwagon and started writing commentaries based on the assumption that the rumors of mass violence during Katrina were true. A lot of people have never understood that the rumors were dispelled and that those things didn't actually happen; it's tragic.

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On Not Fitting the Pro-abortion Narrative

On Kermit Gosnell 

On who? If you asked that question then that means the mainstream media has once again been doing its job – of censoring news and covering up important stories. This is one of the most spectacular news items to break in the US recently, yet almost no one knows about it, thanks to all the PC lefties in the MSM. 

This huge story has been almost completely ignored by the pro-abortion mainstream media, but every media outlet in the country is covering this major news item: the weight gain happening to a pregnant Kim Kardashian. Go figure.

[. . .]

Kermit Gosnell faces 43 criminal counts, including eight counts of murder in the death of one patient, Karnamaya Monger, and seven newborn infants. Additional charges include conspiracy, drug delivery resulting in death, infanticide, corruption of minors, evidence tampering, theft by deception, abuse of corpse and corruption.

[. . .]

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Run from every golden crown!

2nd Week of Easter (F)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary/St Dominic, NOLA

The 5,000 plus men, women, and children that Jesus feeds with a few fish and a few loaves of bread are all thinking the same thing: “Hey, let's make this guy Jesus our king!” Wanting nothing to do with being a worldly king, Jesus heads for the hills to be alone. Given his power to heal disease and injury, multiply fish and bread, and dispense divine wisdom at the drop of a sandal, why does Jesus run when folks start thinking about putting a golden crown on his head? One reason, one very good reason: the Romans had a nasty habit of lopping off the head of anyone who dared lay claim to a crown. Another reason: the Son was not sent by the Father to rule an earthly kingdom. During his forty days in the desert, Jesus was tempted by the Devil to take up the scepter of secular power, and he refused. Why? B/c he knows that his crown will be made of thorns not gold. And his scepter will be the cross. A kingdom of men ruled by a man will flourish only as long as the man in charge manages to stay in charge. The Christ is sent to establish an everlasting kingdom, a kingdom ruled not by rebels, heretics, and false prophets but by the Risen Lord. It is this kingdom that we are vowed to proclaim. 

 And we find the Apostles doing just that: proclaiming the kingdom of God. They are arrested (again) and brought before the Sanhedrin. Gamaliel persuades the members of the Sanhedrin to release Peter and the other Apostles by reminding them that others had tried to do what the Apostles were doing and had failed. Concerning the Apostle's preaching, he says, “. . .if this endeavor. . .is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them. . .” He mentions the false prophet, Theudas and the militant rebel, Judas the Galilean, both executed by the Romans. Gamaliel knows his business; he adds, “. . .you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” The Apostles are flogged, ordered to cease teaching, and released. Did they learn their lesson? No. Luke tell us, they left “rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. . .they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ.” And we should be disappointed if they had. After all, infused with the Holy Spirit, the Apostles could do nothing else but teach and proclaim the Christ and the founding of his Father's everlasting kingdom. With no one arresting us or flogging us (not yet anyway), how much easier is it for us to follow their example? 

Despite his obvious power and good will, our Lord runs from the temptation of secular power in order to make it clear that his mission and ministry is all about planting in the sinful soil of this world a divine seed, a seed that will sprout and flourish to produce a harvest of men and women vowed to spreading the Good News of God's freely offered mercy to sinners. To use another metaphor: the Church is an infection in the body of the world, a virus injected into the bloodstream of the Devil's kingdom that replicates and spreads, slowly but inexorably rewriting the DNA of the creation. As followers of Christ, we are the symptoms of this world's Christ-sickness—the holy sneezing, the divine coughing, the righteous fever of a fallen body that can only be cured by dying of Christitis. Both the Church and world loses out every time we fail to proclaim the Father's kingdom, every time we relax in compromise or accommodation, every time we take a beating and slink off to lick our strips. When the world tries to cure itself by killing us, we must remember that the blood of the martyrs seeps into the ground and there the Church flourishes. Bear witness. Bring testimony. Never cease proclaiming the mercy and love of the Risen Lord.

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A long day not yet over!

Much appreciation for the prayers!  The interview/homily/presentation went well, I think.

No hymnals were thrown, no one laughed out loud at me.

I'll keep y'all posted on the outcome.

Now, one more Mass and a mtg with the Young Adult Group. . .
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The Spirit is not rationed

St. Stanislaus
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Notre Dame Seminary/St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Today's Good News—every day's Good News—is that God freely offers His boundless mercy to all sinners through the death and resurrection of His Christ. And not only does He offer us His mercy for the forgiveness of our sins, He also pours out—with extravagant excess—the gift of His Holy Spirit. And why should God be so generous? Because He loves the world so, that He gives to us His only-begotten Son in death so that we might live, and live eternally. Such love-in-sacrifice cannot be wasted in giving stingy gifts, or by withholding those favors that help us grow to perfection in Christ. God's generosity, by its very nature, is diffusive—spreading, increasing, saturating, and enriching; satisfying and fulfilling every holy desire, every human longing to belong more intimately, to adhere more closely to Him Who is all in all. If a grace can be put to work in speaking His Word or doing His will, then that grace is given. John teaches us, “[God] does not ration his gift of the Spirit.” No rationed gift is worth receiving, therefore, gratefully welcome into your life the lavish gift of God's Holy Spirit. And remember: with gratitude comes generosity. 

As followers of Christ, we are vowed to the graced task of becoming Christs for one another and for the world. Our transformation from worldly sinners to divine slaves is accomplished through the once- for-all sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the tomb. And if our transformation in Christ is to be made perfect, we not only need the generous on-going blessings of God, we must also generously divide and distribute to others the gifts we receive. After all, we know that love is made perfect in sacrifice. Christ on the cross reveals this truth. The empty tomb of Easter morning reveals this truth. And it is our vowed responsibility as the priests, prophets, and kings of the Father's kingdom to see that the truth of His love and mercy is constantly uncovered, persistently revealed in every word we speak, in every thought we think, and in every deed we do. If the Father's grace-giving generosity through Christ is diffusive (and it is), then the nature of our own gift-sharing must follow His. The Spirit we receive is not rationed, nor measured but freely, copiously poured out. In justice, we give Him thanks and praise. 

Our Father justly receives our gratitude and adoration for His kindness. And in a world made perfect through Christ, we too would justly receive the gratitude of all those with whom we share the fruits of His Spirit. But we know all too well that the world we live in has never been, is not now, and will not always be grateful for the Word shared. Peter and Apostles discovered this truth. Arrested and imprisoned by the Sadducees, the Apostles are charged with heresy. When confronted by their accusers with their disobedience, the Apostles reply, “We must obey God rather than men.” Thus are martyrs made. But there is no help for it. We are new men and women in Christ, and that newness compels us to bear witness, to give testimony to the Good News that no one must remain a slave to sin, no one must remain in darkness, no one must live apart from the sacrificial love of Christ. The Spirit is not rationed, parceled out piece-meal to favored tribes, nations, or races. Nor is the Spirit measured out according to worth or achievement, prestige or popularity. Once for all Christ died on the Cross and rose from the tomb. Bear witness then to graces you have received; be made perfect in love by sacrifice. 

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New OP blog

Student brother, Mariano Veliz, OP has started a blog. . .

Check out his post, From Purgatory to Resurrection

Leave a comment and tell him I sent you!
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Big surprise this morning. . .

Wow. Woke up this morning to discover that. . .the pope is still Catholic!

The homily strengthened the line of continuity between Pope Francis and Pope Benedict; the latter was criticized for affirming, in Dominus Iesus, that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ. 

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Go on. . .get back to work.

2nd Week of Easter (W)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

We could be forgiven if we were to give a little partisan cheer this morning, reading Luke's account of the Apostle's escape from prison. Out of jealousy and fear, the Sadducees lay “hands upon the Apostles” and lock them away in order to silence their preaching. We can grumble about this injustice, even flare up with righteous indignation at such a flagrant violation of the Apostles' human rights. Had we lived back then, we might've started a petition campaign, protested outside the temple, and boycotted paying our temple taxes until The Twelve were released. However, if we were paying attention, we'd take our cue from the angel and skip the public theatrics. Luke tells us that the angel opens the jail and says to the Apostles, “Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.” No flaming angelic Sword of Justice? No booming voice from heaven damning the unrighteous? Just “go do your job”? That's it? John writes, “. . .whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” The only light we have is the glory of God shining through our words and on our deeds. The only approval we should need comes from God, and Him alone. 

Reading Luke's account of the Apostles' imprisonment and escape leaves me wanting a little more, something more dramatic, more Old Testament-like: an earthquake cracking open the jail, or a blinding white fire melting the Apostles' chains. Something truly epic to let the Church's persecutors know that they're messing with power and majesty beyond their comprehension. The way Luke describes the scene in Acts is just. . .boring, if being rescued by an angel can be called boring. I'm ashamed to confess that I'd hoped the angel would shoot bolts of lightening at the guards and melt the offending Sadducees in a cloud of black acid. Instead, the angel just opens the cell door and says, “Go on now, get back to work.” What the angel understands and I'm reluctant to admit is that the work the Apostles have been given to do is not theirs work alone to complete. Nor is it mine or even ours. The Church's enemies—over the centuries—have managed with prison, torture, and death to silence thousands of gospel voices. But the Voice of the Gospel has never been silenced nor will it. “Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” 

A work done “in God” is a work done with heaven's approval and help. A work done “in God,” a word spoken “in God” is indestructible. The worker, the speaker can be silenced, locked away, murdered, but the Word and Deed of the Good News lives on through the Church, in the Body of Christ, always free, always in the light of God's truth. A moment's reflection tells us why this is. If God so loved the world that He sent His only-begotten Son to die for us so that we might live, and then arranged our salvation through Christ in such a way that the news of his saving death must be heard to be believed, then it makes sense that that Good News would be permanently proclaimed despite the Enemy's opposition. God's plan for our salvation never rests on a single man or woman, never on a single preacher, priest, or pope but upon the witness of the whole Church, speaking with one heart, one mind the one word of God's freely given mercy to sinners: Christ. So, no, the Apostles' rescue from prison was not an earth-shattering event worthy of being made into a 3-D summer blockbuster movie. Nor does doing our work as followers of Christ warrant a novel or two on the bestseller list. Your cell door is open, go on now, get back to work. 

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And your vegetables?

This is an old joke, but it captures Maggie Thatcher's character perfectly. . .

One evening, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher treats her cabinet ministers to dinner at her favorite club.

The waiter attends to the PM, "Mrs. Prime Minister, may I take your order?"

PM: "I'll have the Beef Wellington."
 
Waiter: "Excellent choice. And your vegetables?"

PM: "Oh, they'll have the same."
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