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3/24/2024 - Palm Sunday
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RAISING THE CURTAIN FOR THE FINAL ACT OF GOD’S LOVE IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY
A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed at home with his mother, without going to Church. His father returned from the church holding a palm branch. The little boy was curious and asked, “Why do you have that palm branch, dad?” The dad answered, “You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved palm branches to honor Him, so we got palm branches today.” The little boy replied, “Oh, my bad luck! The one Sunday I miss Church is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!”
The Church celebrates today as both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday. Today’s liturgy combines two contrasting moments of Glory and Suffering - the Royal Welcome to Jesus in Jerusalem and the Drama of His Trial culminating in His Crucifixion. On the Palm/Passion Sunday, just as the crowd welcomes Jesus into Jerusalem as a King, the Mother-Church invites us to enter the Holy Week, welcoming Jesus into our lives and participating in His suffering, death and resurrection.
As Jesus enters Jerusalem, He is revealing the purpose of His entry into Jerusalem, by riding a donkey. In the ancient times, while horses were associated with warfare, donkeys were associated with peaceful pursuits. As we see the crowd welcoming Jesus as a king, Jesus deliberately and explicitly chooses a donkey as His vehicle (Zech 9:9 – See your king comes to you: triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey), thereby symbolizing that He has not come to wage a war but to establish peace, not by shedding the blood of the people but by shedding His own blood and sacrificing His life on the altar of the cross. The present world, which is engulfed in violence, bloodshed, and war, is in dire need of this peace that Jesus offers; it is not the peace that comes out of bloodshed; it is not the peace of a cemetery but a peace that comes through His sacrificial love and heroic forgiveness on the cross.
In the second part of today’s gospel, it is suggested for our spiritual benefit to meditate on the Passion of Jesus by reading all four gospel passion narratives slowly and devoutly, being open to the Spirit to stir in our souls to truly understand and experience the death. First, we are invited to journey with Jesus through His Passion. We are asked to see for ourselves how Jesus volunteers to sacrifice His Life on the Cross with ineffable love for every one of us. We also need to see for ourselves the way He undergoes the sufferings. We will realize that there is not even a hint of hatred, bitterness, vengeance, shame, or a sense of defeat throughout His passion. But we are there to feel His love, forgiveness, joy, and a sense of victory. Second, we are challenged to examine our own lives as His disciples in the light of some of the characters in the story like Peter who denied Jesus, Judas who betrayed Jesus, Pilate who acted against his conscience, Herod and the soldiers who ridiculed Jesus, the mob which chose Barabbas over Jesus and the leaders of the people who preserved their position by getting rid of Jesus. As we go through the stories of Jesus, we need to ask ourselves a few questions like: suppose I was there in Jerusalem during the first Holy Week, what role would I have played? If the arrest, trial, sentencing and execution of Jesus were going on today in my own city or neighborhood, what role would I play? This spiritual exercise will purify our discipleship and will help us to imitate our Lord in a more intimate and authentic way.
The Mother-Church eagerly awaits your active participation in the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday and Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night. Unlike the crowd which welcomed Jesus with palms then turned against him just as quickly and abandoned Jesus and unlike Peter and other disciples who deserted Jesus to save themselves, let us enthusiastically and devoutly participate in all liturgical celebrations of this Holy Week to draw maximum spiritual benefit for our souls. But let us remember that Holy Week can become "holy” for us only if we actively and consciously take part in the liturgies of this week. During this week of passion, each of us is called to remember the Christ of Calvary who vanquished sin and death through His total surrender to His Father’s Will.
Dear Jesus, our voices join with the voices of the people in Jerusalem some two thousand years ago: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Fr Anil Pudota S.J