The quote in the paper read "It is unbelievable how cruel people are in today’s world, and I hope this man is brought to justice. I would personally turn him in just for the pleasure of it."

Obvious anger from Vicky T. in Salt Lake City.

But Vicky’s quote wasn’t the only angry statement in the San Jose Mercury News. Several people were interviewed and many of them were more irate and more upset than Vicky from Salt Lake City.

Mary Greeley said "Give him the chair!"

They were all speaking against the horrible act that occurred on Feb. 11.

They were speaking against an act of violence and hatred that has rocked the nation.

On Saturday, the 11^th of February, Sara McBurnett and her dog Leo got in their Subaru and drove to the San Jose International Airport to pick up Sara’s husband, Patrick, who is a pilot for American Airlines.

As Sara was driving on the Airport Parkway with Leo sound asleep in the passenger seat, Sara accidentally ran into the back of a dark sport utlility vehicle.

The driver, upset at the fender bender began to walk back to Sara’s Subaru. As the driver began to shout and scream at Sara, her dog Leo stirred by the excitement jumped into Sara’s lap.

When Sara rolled down her window to apologize, the angry driver reached in the car, grabbed Leo, and threw him into the incoming traffic.

An unthinkable act of road rage in northern California.

Within hours, Leo’s death was reported in the San Jose Mercury News. Then it spread to the "Today" show.

It made the front page of the Washington Post.

It was reported on the British Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio, "Inside Edition", "Extra", "20/20", the Associated Press, the New York Daily News, and in hundreds of other local newspapers and television and radio stations.

Thousands spoke out against the violence that was inflicted on Sara and Leo. Letters poured into newspapers demanding justice and calling the act ‘sheer cruelty’.

Wanting the man from Virginia who killed her dog to be brought to justice, Sara put up a reward for his arrest.

Ron Owens, a radio host in the area heard about Leo’s incident and put up $500 of his own money to add to the reward.

And following Ron’s lead, thousands of people wrote check after check donating money to create a sizable reward for the capture of the heartless man.

And a sizable reward was raised. In only a few days, over $50,000 was raised as the reward.

And now, over a month after it happened, people are still talking about it.

To be honest, I’m upset.

I’m upset for two reasons.

I’m upset that such an atrocity happened.

Many of us have animals as pets and they become and we treat them as if they are a part of the family.

We buy toys for them just as we buy toys for our children.

We take them to the doctor many times more than we go to the doctor.

We truly value the lives of our pets and it is heartbreaking to see another pet killed in such a violent manner.

So I am angry at the driver for committing such an act.

And I’m also angry with myself. I’m angry with myself for the same reason that I’m disappointed in millions of other Americans who reacted the same way that I did upon hearing about Leo.

I am angry with myself because this story bothered me. It stayed with me for several days. It bothered me so much that I told other people about it and stirred up their emotions and I put them on the warpath to find the driver the killed poor Leo.

I am angry with myself because I was on a crusade to fight for dogs like Leo, and I completed ignored and disregarded all of the other articles in the paper and the stories on the news about children who were killed and abused and rapists who roamed the streets.

I am angry with myself because I put more value on the life of a dog than I did the lives of children and other people.

But I wasn’t alone, which adds to my disappointment.

Thousands upon thousands of people called, wrote, and voiced their outrage.

Thousands more sent in money to create a substantial reward.

Over 50,000 dollars were raised in a few days.

A spokesperson for the San Jose police said that he has never seen a reward that high for child molesters or rapists.

I’m upset that we as a people protest crime and demand for justice to be done on those who commit acts against our children, but we only get upset and take action when we see the death of a dog on the late news.

We debate gun control and crime prevention over coffee at the café, we take our stand only in the voting booth every four years, but when something like the death of Leo happens, we rally together and act.

It makes me wonder about where we place our priorities. It makes me painfully aware of how we many times say one thing, but our actions say something else.

One day Jesus asked Saint Peter a question. He wanted to know who people thought the Son of Man was.

Saint Peter responded by saying that some people thought that John the Baptist was the Son of Man.

Others thought that Elijah or Jeremiah or another one of the prophets was the Son of Man.

And then Jesus asked Saint Peter a question that we all must answer as well; "who do you think I am?"

There were many opinions that floated around about who and what Jesus actually was.

People thought that Jesus was either a lunatic, liar, or Lord.

He had to be either crazy running around Israel claiming to be the Son of God, or he was simply lying about the kingdom of God and the eternal life that faith brings, or either he was who he said he was.

But Jesus wanted to know who Peter thought he was.

Just as he wants to know who we think he is.

Saint Peter answered Jesus, declaring him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God.

His statement of faith affirmed that Jesus was not a lunatic or liar, but Lord.

His words confirmed that Jesus was the divine Christ, the one sent from God to save mankind.

It wasn’t long after that Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he would soon go to Jerusalem and die.

Saint Peter did not believe him. He could not believe him, and he told Jesus that.

The same man who recently told Jesus that he was the Son of God, the Christ; was telling Jesus what he couldn’t do.

Sounds a little like us doesn’t it? In fact, it sounds a lot like us.

How many times have come before church and publicly declared our faith in Christ only to tell God what he can and can’t do during the week?

How many times have our mouths said one thing and our actions screamed something else?

How many times have we sang about the power of God, but deny him any control in our lives?

How many times do we say that Jesus is Lord, but treat him like he is a lunatic?

We do this many times because it is difficult to back up our words with our actions. It’s especially tough when those actions are unpopular.

We feel overwhelmed by the crime in our streets and we feel helpless. We feel helpless when our words seem to be empty and fall on deaf ears; so we try to substitute all of the crimes committed against people by focusing our attention and resources on the dog Leo.

But if we would only put the same amount of effort into to stopping crimes against humans as we did in trying to find Leo’s killer, the streets would be safe again.

If we would match our actions with our words, imagine of all the things that we could do.

If we would put our priorities in order and always have the will of God in mind before the will of man, this world would be a very different place.

If we listened to what we say and sing on Sundays, and put it into action, we would know peace, and we would know joy and we would know peace.

Let’s take the death of Leo the dog and learn from it. Let’s see what can happen when we come together for a common cause and make a difference.

Let us come together for the kingdom of God, let us come together in love, let us come together as children of God, and make a difference in our church and in our community.

And when other churches do the same and other communities do the same, soon we will make a difference in our world.

But, while we struggle to match our words and our actions, we experience God’s grace.

You see, Saint Peter’s actions didn’t back up his words that Jesus is the Son of Man.

And his actions didn’t back up his words when he denied Christ three times before the crucifixion.

But the wonderful thing about Saint Peter is that although his actions betrayed his words on more than one occasion, Christ still gave him the keys to heaven.

Even when he rebuked Jesus after calling him the Son of Man, and even when he denied Jesus three times, Christ built his church on him.

We share in this hope as well. Even though we may fall and our actions may deny Christ; through faith, we are offered the keys to heaven.

God’s grace is with us as we strive toward the goal, as we move on to perfection, as well fall time and time again, God is with us to pick us up.

God is with us to point the way, God is with us to wipe away the tears, and offer comfort.

God is with us to offer his understanding; his understanding on why we fall and why it is so hard to do the things that we say we should do.

God is with us, to help us keep in mind the things of God before the things of man.

God is with us. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.