Palm Sunday, Cycle A

Is 43:16-21
Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Phil 3:8-14
Jn 8:1-11

As we enter into the holiest of weeks, the liturgy – that is, the work in which we are engaged at this moment – tends to unfold and speak for itself.  There is not much that I can add when it’s already all been said.  My only desire is for you is to meditate and ruminate on what this Gospel means – not only for yourself, but for all of humanity.

As we divide out the parts of this Gospel into all the different parts, the irony is that you stand there, holding your palms while you are yelling, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him.”  If you haven’t noticed, this is gut-wrenching.  At the beginning of the Mass there was a joyous welcome of the Son of David – Hosanna in the highest!  The palm branches laid before Him in peace and homage to the King.  It is a joyous celebration on the one hand and not more than five days later you stand there demanding Jesus’ death.  The Jews didn’t crucify Jesus, we did!  This is not a mean trick to point fingers, but for us to realize the hypocrisy of our lives and that we are all sinners. Every. Single. One of us.  Do a good examination of conscience with your palm branches – are you welcoming the Christ as your Lord and Savior with that palm branch or are you brandishing that palm like a sword about to stab Him in betrayal?  Or do you prefer the kiss of betrayal like Judas?

This is to help us realize that the unrepentant Christian, the uncompassionate Christian are the real hypocrites in this story and are no better than those who – in the name of “righteousness” – crucified an innocent man.  As much as I know how bad I am or how sinful I am, it is salt in the wounds when someone calls me out.  You and I am guilty; guilty as sin.  But guilt is not to keep us down, but to lift us out of our faults and failings; it is to reconcile you with our Lord so that you can continue to walk with Him.

Until then, today’s Mass “begs the question” – or rather it begs a response, our response: to realize that we are all sinners in need of a Savior; that even though we can claim to love God, every time we sin we are slapping Him in the face and kicking Him in the gut.  Fortunately, this is not the end of the story.  The events today unfold in real time this week.  On Monday, we have our Lord’s preparation for burial with Mary anointing our Lord at Bethany with costly perfume and drying it with her hair.  On Tuesday, our Lord predicts that one will betray Him and another will deny Him. And on Wednesday before the celebration of the Last Supper, Judas plots to hand our Lord over to the authorities.  The path is set, the trajectory is to the Cross where He will suffer and die – only to rise again Easter Sunday.

I want to challenge you today to make a commitment to come to the holiest three days of the year starting with Holy Thursday here at Seton.  I guarantee you Easter Sunday will have a whole new meaning in your life.  You cannot go to these three days if you haven’t gone before without it changing your life.  Ask anyone around you who goes to the Triduum every year why they go and they will tell you.  Unlock your heart and bare your soul to Him who has died for you and let us celebrate the Resurrection in His glory.