“Either give up Christ or give up your jobs.”
Constantine the Great was the first Christian Roman emperor. His father Constantius I who succeeded Diocletian as emperor in 305 A.D. was a pagan with a soft heart for Christians. When he ascended the throne, he discovered that many Christians held important jobs in the government and in the court. So he issued an executive order to all those Christians: “Either give up Christ or give up your jobs.” The great majority of Christians gave up their jobs rather than disowning Christ. Only a few cowards gave up their religion rather than lose their jobs. The emperor was pleased with the majority who showed the courage of their convictions and gave their jobs back to them saying: "If you will not be true to your God you will not be true to me either.” Today we join the Palm Sunday crowd in spirit to declare our loyalty to Christ and fidelity to his teachings by actively participating in the Palm Sunday liturgy. As we carry the palm leaves to our homes, we are declaring our choice to accept Jesus as the king and ruler of our lives and our families. Let us express our gratitude to Jesus for redeeming us by his suffering and death, through active participation in the Holy Week liturgy and reconciliation with God and His Church, repenting of our sins and receiving God's pardon and forgiveness from Jesus through his Church.
Constantine the Great was the first Christian Roman emperor. His father Constantius I who succeeded Diocletian as emperor in 305 A.D. was a pagan with a soft heart for Christians. When he ascended the throne, he discovered that many Christians held important jobs in the government and in the court. So he issued an executive order to all those Christians: “Either give up Christ or give up your jobs.” The great majority of Christians gave up their jobs rather than disowning Christ. Only a few cowards gave up their religion rather than lose their jobs. The emperor was pleased with the majority who showed the courage of their convictions and gave their jobs back to them saying: "If you will not be true to your God you will not be true to me either.” Today we join the Palm Sunday crowd in spirit to declare our loyalty to Christ and fidelity to his teachings by actively participating in the Palm Sunday liturgy. As we carry the palm leaves to our homes, we are declaring our choice to accept Jesus as the king and ruler of our lives and our families. Let us express our gratitude to Jesus for redeeming us by his suffering and death, through active participation in the Holy Week liturgy and reconciliation with God and His Church, repenting of our sins and receiving God's pardon and forgiveness from Jesus through his Church.
-------------------------------------
Thomas
O’Loughlin
Introduction to
the Celebration
The text in the Missal (p. 123: ‘Dear friends in Christ …‘)
cannot be bettered. However, care should be taken to read it as if it were
one’s own notes so as to stress the notion that we are entering into the Great
Week, accompanying Christ in the Paschal Mystery.
Passion Notes
1. For those who seeking in the gospels an historical
record of the events of Jesus’ life, the passion accounts present an awful
problem: for the most crucial event in the whole story the early churches had
at least four different pictures. When Christians today think of Jesus’s death
their picture is invariably a mixture with the people drawn from John and the
general scene from the synoptics. Christ is flanked by two other crosses (Jn
19:18; but a detail common to all four), and standing near him are ‘his mother,
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene’ and John
(Jn 19:25-26). Nearby also are soldiers casting lots for his clothes (Jn
19:23-25 but with parallels in all four). The scene is one of darkness covering
the earth (Mt 27:45; Mk 15:33; Lk 23:44 — a darkness unknown in Jn). Against
this conflation, it is worth noting how Luke sets out his scene as it allows us
to see his particular perception. The scene of the crucifixion is dark (Lk 23:44)
not only in terms of light, but in terms of the courage of his followers: those
who knew him, men and women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a
distance watching the event unfold (Lk 23:49). Near him there are a crowd of
spectacle lovers, scoffing leaders and mocking soldiers (Lk 23:35-36). In
Matthew and Mark both criminals also taunt him (they are silent in John), but
in Luke (23:39-43) we have the dialogue of the Good Thief whose opening words
are a confession that Jesus is suffering as an innocent man (23:41). The
centurion’s confession is found only in Mark (15:39) and Luke (23:47), but
while in Mark this is a christological statement, in Luke it is a declaration
of the imiocent suffering of Jesus: ‘Now when the centurion saw what had taken place,
he praised God, and said, “Certainly this man was innocent!”.’ Luke, uniquely,
adds another detail at this point: ‘And all … who assembled to see the sight,
when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their
breasts’(23:48).
2. A convenient way to see how Luke’s passion differs
from the other is to note those items which are proper to him. These present
Christ as the righteous one who is faithful to the end alone. Luke presents
Jesus as alone from all those whom he had spent time with, eaten with, and been
with in the good times; yet in the dark hour his goodness still shone out and
transformed people. While his long-term followers were lying low, Jesus was
gathering new witnesses to his truth amidst the moral chaos which was his
crucifixion. The sense of finality is heightened at the beginning of the
passage when Christ states his longing to eat the meal (the final meal in a
whole series of meals in Luke) and that he shall not drink wine again until the
kingdom comes (22:15- 20). It is also seen in his instructions for the church
after his departure (22:35-7) and his warning to Jerusalem (23:27-32). His
aloneness is pointed out in the prophesy that the disciples will desert him
(22:21-3 and 33-4), and this is fulfilled in the detailed story of the triple
denial of Peter (22:54-62). By this time Luke presents all the disciples as
having fled. By the time of the crucifixion — in stark contrast to John from
whence comes our familiar picture of John, Mary, and the other women standing
beneath the Cross — there is not a single friendly face nearby: his
acquaintances (hoi gnóstoi) and the women stand watching at a distance (23:49).
In the end the only ones who acknowledge him are outsiders who at least
recognise him as a good and righteous man: Pilate, a criminal, and Roman
soldier. Luke alone has Pilate recognise him as one without fault (23:5; 14-5;
and 22); similarly he alone has ‘the good thief’ incident who states that this
man has done nothing wrong (23:39-43); and finally the centurion, but while in
Mark 15:39 and Matthew 27:54 he states, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’, here
Luke has him state simply: ‘Certainly this man was righteous (dikaios).’
For Luke Christ in his passion is utterly abandoned, and he
in turn abandons himself to the Father to do the Father’s will (22:22, 29, 37,
42-3). This abandonment reaches its climax in the final cry from the Cross
(23:46).
*********************************************************
Michel
de VerteuilGeneral Comments
The Palm Sunday procession is a living lesson in liturgy. By inviting us to
imitate the actions of Jesus entering Jerusalem and the crowd welcoming him,
the Church wants us to experience that the story is still being lived today.
Whenever people of faith decide to confront evil at its source, and do so with
inner freedom, remaining faithful to their values, Jesus is once more entering
Jerusalem.
We have the same experience by meditating on the gospel
texts and recognizing ourselves in them.
Each of the gospels tells the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in a distinctive way. In St Luke’s account, which we read this year, there is first of all the very significant verse 28, which describes Jesus “going on ahead of his disciples.”
Each of the gospels tells the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in a distinctive way. In St Luke’s account, which we read this year, there is first of all the very significant verse 28, which describes Jesus “going on ahead of his disciples.”
The events described in verses 29 to 34 are found in all the synoptic accounts, a sign that the early Church found them highly symbolical. Some take the story as evidence of Jesus’ supernatural powers, but it could merely be evidence of his self-confidence as he faces his great moment of truth, a mark of true leadership.
In St Luke’s account, it is the disciples themselves, entering alongside Jesus,
who are moved to excitement at this moment.
A small detail, but clearly significant for St Luke: the disciples “helped Jesus on to the colt.”
The people do not wave palm branches in St Luke’s account, but their gesture of spreading their cloaks in the road before Jesus is both a sign of their wild excitement and their welcoming him as a king.
The cry of the people in verse 38 echoes the song of the angels at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14).
The brief dialogue in verses 39-40 can be interpreted in different ways. The Pharisees in question may have been followers of Jesus who were afraid of confrontation and wanted to protect Jesus. Or they may have represented the first assault of the opposition to Jesus. In either case his answer expresses his inner freedom very dramatically.
**********************************************************
John
LittletonPassion Reflection
The account of the Passion of Jesus Christ, which this year
is read from St Luke’s Gospel, invites us to reflect deeply on the price that
Jesus paid for our redemption from the consequences of our sins. Surely this
fact alone is sufficient meditation for an entire lifetime.
For example, there are disturbing details about the
betrayal, torture and crucifixion of Jesus. There are descriptions of the
shameful cruelty and inhumanity of the crowd and soldiers. There are, too,
several depictions of the goodness of a few people who were quite concerned
about how Jesus was being treated. And, of course, there are the words spoken
by Jesus that demonstrate clearly his mission and his total self- giving,
through his suffering and death, for the sins of all people.
Perhaps, then, it may be helpful to focus on just some of
the passages from the Passion account and use them in our prayer and reflection
during Holy Week. What are the particular phrases and passages that strike us
when we read the Passion? The following inspire us to become more appreciative
of God’s love for us in Christ and motivate us to repent for our sins:
• ‘Then he took some bread, and when he had given thanks,
broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which will be given for
you; do this as a memorial of me”. He did the same with the cup after supper,
and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be poured out
for you”.’ (LUKE 22:19-20)• ‘Among pagans it is the kings who lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are given the title Benefactor. This must not happen with you. No; the greatest among you must behave as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves. For who is the greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table, surely? Yet here I am among you as one who serves!’ (LUKE 22:25-27)
• ‘Jesus replied, “I tell you, Peter, by the time the cock crows today you will have denied three times that you know me”.’ (LUKE 22:34)
• ‘Pray not to be put to the test.’ (LUKE 22:40)
• ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, let your will be done, not mine.’ (LUKE 22:42)
• ‘Pilate was anxious to set Jesus free and addressed them again, but they shouted back, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (LUKE 23:20-21)
• ‘Daughters of Jerusalem do not weep for me; weep rather for yourselves and for your children.’ (LUKE 23:28)
• ‘Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.’ (LUKE 23:34)
• ‘Indeed, I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.’ (LUKE 23:43)
• ‘Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”. With these words he breathed his last.’ (LUKE 23:46)
• ‘When the centurion saw what had taken place, he gave praise to God and said, “This was a great and good man”.’ (LUKE 23:47)
Key questions for us during Holy Week are: how do we treat Jesus? Do we praise him when we are in the church and when we celebrate the sacraments and then quickly betray him as we return to sinful living?
As we accompany him on his journey to Calvary, will we stay
with him or will we — like many other people — abandon him?
***************************
Homily Notes
1. The Missal says that ‘a brief homily may be given.’ There
is definitely a case today for taking up this permission to omit the homily
altogether; not because such an omission might shorten an already long liturgy,
but since we have just come through one of the longest verbal elements in the
whole of the liturgy (the passion), another verbal event (a homily) does not
bring contrast or help the gospel reading to sink in. A better way to highlight
what has been read would be a couple of moments of structured silence (e.g.
‘Let us now reflect in silence on the passion of our Saviour’) before standing
for the Creed. On the subject of the length of today’s liturgy we should
remember that length of time is one of the key non-verbal ritual cues that
humans use to indicate special importance: a crucial symbolic event that is
over in a moment, or takes just the same length of time as an ordinary event is
an anti-climax – do not forget that Christmas dinner must take longer than an
everyday meal. Because this is a special day opening a special week, it should
md must take a noticeably longer time than an ordinary Sunday.
2. If one does preach, then the brief comments should be
directed introducing the week as a whole rather than particular comments on the
readings. This could take its starting point from the gospel outside – that
Christ has arrived at, and entered Jerusalem, and that ‘his hour’ has arrived.
As Christians we are sharers in this event.
3. If the situation calls for a meditation rather than a
homily, then a suitable meditation is provided in the Christ-hymn (the second
reading) as a way of interpreting the events narrated. However, rather than
re-reading it directly from the lectionary it may be broken up into its verses
and read with pauses. The version used in the Office is better for such use
than either the RSV/ JB. Better still, have it sung by a soloist and simply
introduce as the earliest Christian meditation we possess on what we lve just
recal1ed about the death of Jesus.
********************
Apparent
Disaster
Jesus
Christ was not the first man to die for a cause, nor the last. He was not the
first or the last innocent man to be put to death. He was not the only one ever
crucified. There were on that same day two others. Even as regards physical
pain it is at least possible that others have suffered as much. What then makes
the passion so different? And it is undeniably different.
The gospel
account is roughly about two newspaper columns long, and even though I’ve read
it, or heard it read hundreds of times, it still affects me. I wonder why? I
think the answer lies in the details – the completely human and utterly shabby
circumstances in which Christ died.
Take for
example the behaviour of his friends. Was there ever such a complete let-down?
Judas, one of the specially chosen twelve. One can feel the hurt, almost the
unbelief in Christ’s gentle words, “Friend, why are you here? Judas would you
betray the Son of Man with a kiss?’ One could almost stomach the betrayal of
Judas had the other eleven remained faithful. But one short line tells their
story “And they all forsook him and fled.” And Peter – surely not Peter. Think
of all those miracles Christ worked while Peter was by his side. He raised the
dead child to life, set him walking on water, was transfigured before him. Only
a few short hours before, Peter had boasted, “Even though all abandon you, I
will follow you to prison and to death.” – but at a distance, a safe distance.
And when he was cornered a jibe or two from a servant girl looking for notice,
Peter the Rock disintegrated. “He began to curse and to swear that he knew not
the man.” That must really have hurt Jesus. “And Jesus turning looked at Peter
and Peter went out and wept bitterly.” And these were his friends, his only
friends. The people he lived with and loved. The people he showered his
miracles on and shared his secrets with. And not one of them lifted a finger
for him.
What has
this story to do with us? It is the story of our salvation. But it is more,
much more. It is the story of our lives. There isn’t a part in the whole sordid
script that we, you and I, wouldn’t play to perfection. Peter in his pride and
Peter in his fall and, hopefully, Peter in his repentance too. We’d fit in
perfectly with the disciples who fled at the first sign of danger, or with
Caiaphas and the high priests, with their self-righteousness and eagerness to
reform others while ignoring themselves, or with Pilate in his abuse of
authority, or with the mob with its thirst for excitement and blood. And Judas?
Let’s face it – there’s a Judas in all of us. There are times and situations in
all our lives when Jesus could easily say to us as he said to Judas, “Friend,
why are you here?” The truth is, it was only his friends who could really have
crucified him so.
Like us
in all things but sin
“He was
oppressed and was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is
led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so he opened
not his mouth” (Is 53:7). For the followers of Christ, this Isaiah text evokes
a response deep down within us, seeing how they apply to God’s only beloved
Son, and how he died for all of us. In the words of St Peter, “without having
seen him you have come to believe in him, and so you are filled already with a
joy so glorious that it cannot be described” (1 Pet 1:8). Without this sincere
love of Christ, we are no true followers of his. We cannot say we fully love
him, until we appreciate what he suffered for us.
Having just
heard the Passion narrative there is no need to retrace in great detail the
events there described. But we might reflect how Christ was no stranger to
hardship, privation and suffering, long before that final day of his life.
“Being in the form of God,” as St Paul says, from the moment he came on earth,
Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are
(Phil 2:6f). He, the most high God, suffered the hardships of the poor, at
times not even having a place to lay his head. He endured hunger and thirst,
and after long days surrounded by crowds seeking a cure, he often spent whole
nights at prayer in the hills. Despite his compassion for all who came to him,
he met with hatred and rejection, in particular from Pharisees and priests, who
planned to have him killed. How this rejection and hatred must have grieved
him. King Lear knew “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is, to have a
thankless child;” and how must Jesus have felt at being rejected by the people
he had chosen, above all others.
The cruelly
disfigured face was the face of the Son of God. The forehead streaming with
blood, the hands and feet nailed to the Cross, the body lacerated with
scourges, the side pierced with a lance, these were the forehead, the hands and
feet, the sacred body, the side of the eternal Word, made visible in Jesus. Why
such suffering? We can only say with Isaiah, “It was for our transgressions he
was smitten, for our sins he was brought low. On him lay the punishment that
brings us healing, through his wounds we are made whole” (53:5ff). God, our
Father, grant that your Son’s suffering for us may not be in vain.
******************
Scripture ReflectionLord, there comes a time in the lives of all of us when we, like Jesus,
must enter into a radical confrontation:
- those in authority have been abusing their power;
- we finally recognise that we need help to overcome an addiction;
- some members of our community have betrayed the cause and must be excluded;
- we need to give up our comfortable situation and move into something new.
At these moments, give us
- and especially those of us whom you have called to be leaders in our communities –
a share in the inner freedom of Jesus,
so that like him we can go on ahead of the rest, as we go up to our Jerusalem.
Help us like Jesus to make our arrangements confident that they will come to pass,
and to allow ourselves to be put in a position of authority.
Help us to be so confident of our cause
that if someone told us to check our followers
we would know that if they kept silence, the stones would cry out.
- those in authority have been abusing their power;
- we finally recognise that we need help to overcome an addiction;
- some members of our community have betrayed the cause and must be excluded;
- we need to give up our comfortable situation and move into something new.
At these moments, give us
- and especially those of us whom you have called to be leaders in our communities –
a share in the inner freedom of Jesus,
so that like him we can go on ahead of the rest, as we go up to our Jerusalem.
Help us like Jesus to make our arrangements confident that they will come to pass,
and to allow ourselves to be put in a position of authority.
Help us to be so confident of our cause
that if someone told us to check our followers
we would know that if they kept silence, the stones would cry out.
Lord, we thank you for
glorious moments of grace
- we found a friend whom we felt we could trust perfectly;
- we enjoyed intimacy with our spouse;
- one of our children did us proud;
- a new social movement arose in our country.
We were like the disciples when Jesus approached the downward slope of the Mount of Olives:
we joyfully began to praise you at the top of our voices for the miracle which we had seen.
We cried out, ”Blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
We glorified you in the highest heavens.
- we found a friend whom we felt we could trust perfectly;
- we enjoyed intimacy with our spouse;
- one of our children did us proud;
- a new social movement arose in our country.
We were like the disciples when Jesus approached the downward slope of the Mount of Olives:
we joyfully began to praise you at the top of our voices for the miracle which we had seen.
We cried out, ”Blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
We glorified you in the highest heavens.
Lord, it is strange how
when the moment of grace comes,
everything seems to fall into place very naturally.
If we need something, we find as the disciples did on the first Palm Sunday,
that all we need say is, “The Master needs it,” and immediately all obstacles are removed.
everything seems to fall into place very naturally.
If we need something, we find as the disciples did on the first Palm Sunday,
that all we need say is, “The Master needs it,” and immediately all obstacles are removed.
Lord, we pray that as a
Church we may not betray our young people.
Often we lack the courage of our convictions,
are too anxious to please them, and do not go ahead of them.
But when young people today meet leaders who challenge them, they joyfully praise God,
they are ready to spread their cloaks in the road before them,
and welcome them as kings who come in the name of the Lord.
Often we lack the courage of our convictions,
are too anxious to please them, and do not go ahead of them.
But when young people today meet leaders who challenge them, they joyfully praise God,
they are ready to spread their cloaks in the road before them,
and welcome them as kings who come in the name of the Lord.
“The important events
of history are the thousands of humble actions that heal and reconcile.”
Cardinal Arms of Sao Paulo in Brazil, 1994
Lord, we thank you for the many humble people who enter Jerusalem in peace.
As we think of them, we praise you at the top of our voices
and cry out, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.”
Lord, we thank you for the many humble people who enter Jerusalem in peace.
As we think of them, we praise you at the top of our voices
and cry out, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.”
*****************
ILLUSTRATIONS:
1. When The Cheering
Stopped
Some years ago a book was written by Gene Smith, a noted
American historian. The title was "When The Cheering Stopped." It was
the story of President Woodrow Wilson and the events leading up to and following
WWI. When that war was over Wilson was an international hero. There was a great
spirit of optimism abroad, and people actually believed that the last war had
been fought and the world had been made safe for democracy.
-------------------------
2. President Wilson
in Europe after the War:
On his first visit to Paris after the war Wilson was greeted
by cheering mobs. He was actually more popular than their own heroes. The same
thing was true in England and Italy. In a Vienna hospital a Red Cross worker
had to tell the children that there would be no Christmas presents because of
the war and the hard times. The children didn't believe her. They said that
President Wilson was coming and they knew that everything would be all right.
The cheering lasted about a year. Then it gradually began to
stop. It turned out that the political leaders in Europe were more concerned
with their own agendas than they were a lasting peace. At home, Woodrow Wilson
ran into opposition in the United States Senate and his League of Nations was
not ratified. Under the strain of it all the President's health began to break.
In the next election his party was defeated. So it was that Woodrow Wilson, a
man who barely a year or two earlier had been heralded as the new world
Messiah, came to the end of his days a broken and defeated man.
It's a sad story, but
one that is not altogether unfamiliar. The ultimate reward for someone who
tries to translate ideals into reality is apt to be frustration and defeat.
There are some exceptions, of course, but not too many.
It happened that way to Jesus...
----------------------------3. Debtor's Prison:
One of the most gruesome, hopeless places in early
nineteenth century England was "debtor's prison." Charles Dickens
described it, but thousands of England's poor lived it first-hand. Everything
the debtor owned was confiscated. Nothing was left. If any debts still
remained, debtors were imprisoned until the balance owed could be paid. Which,
of course, could never be, because the debtor was locked up. It was a situation
without hope.
That was "civilized" nineteenth century England.
But according to ancient Jewish law, there were moral limits on what could be
demanded in payment for debts. Among those things that were legally
"off-limits" was a person's most important piece of clothing, their
"cloak." Less substantial garments could be held as collateral. But a
person's cloak was considered to be in a category by itself. A cloak offered
warmth and protection. It provided modesty, shielding nakedness. A cloak
doubled as clothing and shelter, functioning as haberdashery by day and as a
bedroll by night.
You could take a lot in payment for debts, but you could not
take the cloak off someone's back.
But a cloak could always be OFFERED. Sir Walter Raleigh
legendarily swept his cloak off his shoulders and flung it over a mud puddle so
his Queen's foot would not be dampened. In today's gospel text cloaks were
offered for theological, not meterological reasons.
As Jesus prepared to enter into Jerusalem proper, he
intentionally "changes things up." The Galilean ministry is at an
end. The time for keeping a low profile is over. It is a new messianic moment.
Jesus had announced to his disciples the fate that awaited "the Son of
Man" once he entered into the city of Jerusalem. As Jesus crossed into
Jerusalem the Calvary cross already stood before him. He chooses to embody the
image of the humble king, the meek Messiah, riding on a small and simple
donkey. Jesus moves into Jerusalem with obedience and humility. Symbolically
his back is already bared, readied for the cruelties and sacrifices that await
him...
___________________________
4. There Is Still
Hope
The reality is that, if we figure to survive in this world,
we had better have hope. The ancients knew that. Do you remember Pandora?
Mythology has her as a lady endowed with every charm...the gift of all the
gods. She was sent to earth with a little box which she had been forbidden to
open, but curiosity finally got the better of her...she lifted the lid and out
from that box escaped every conceivable kind of terror. Pandora made haste to
close the box up again, but it was too late. There was only one thing
left...HOPE. That was the ancients' way of saying how important hope is. Even
when all else is lost, there is still hope.
This was what had sustained the Israelite faithful from
generation to generation. This was what energized the crowd along Jesus' parade
route that day.
David E. Leininger, Sunday's Coming!
_________________________________
5. Palm Sunday - Who Is That?
Picture Fifth Avenue in Manhattan--the stretch of road where
the Macy's parade is held each Thanksgiving Day. Imagine that one spring day a
kind of makeshift parade is being staged along upper Fifth Avenue near Central
Park. But this is not the Macy's parade, not by a long shot. This is a
relatively small affair: no floats, no tickertape, no giant balloon figures
floating down the street. It's just a crowd of people waving some tree branches
and throwing their coats into the road. At the center of it all is a modest,
average looking fellow astride a donkey's colt which actually is too small for him
to ride with any kind of dignity.
But the members of the parade entourage are nothing if not
jubilantly excited. Especially the kids are making a lot of noise, singing and
shouting. The enthusiasm of this little crowd is enough eventually to attract some
attention. The people standing on the plushly carpeted steps leading into the
Plaza complex swivel their heads. The horses hooked up to Central Park
carriages turn a lazy eye toward the parade even as the people in the carriages
peer out past the canopy to see what the commotion is all about. Shoppers
coming out of Saks Fifth Avenue and the Time Warner Center also start to glance
around to discover the source of all the hubbub. And inevitably people begin to
ask, "Who is that?" In reply the branch-waving, coat-tossing folks
excitedly answer, "Who is this, you ask! Why, it's Joshua Jones, a
preacher from North Platte in Nebraska!"
"Oh. So it's not Donald Trump? Not Tom Cruise or Katie
Couric, not Bill Clinton? Joshua Jones from Nebraska? Oh. That's nice."
But then eyes roll, eyebrows rise, and smirks are repressed as the big city
folks go back to their big city business.
Granted that Jerusalem circa 30 A.D. was not New York City.
Granted that maybe Jesus' name on that Sunday long ago was a little bit better
known than the Joshua Jones in my analogy. Granted, and yet . . . there is
something about Matthew 21 which bears resemblance to this allegorical story.
"Who is that?" the Jerusalemites ask in verse 10. In verse 11 comes
the reply: "Jesus, the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee."
Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations
_________________________________6. Save Us
When we wave our palms and boldly cry out,
"Hosanna," do we dare imagine what we really want God to save us
from? Save me from anger. Save me from cancer. Save me from depression. Save me
from debt. Save me from the strife in my family. Save me from boredom. Save me
from getting sent back to Iraq. Save me from the endless cycle of violence.
Save me from humiliation. Save me from staring at the ceiling at three a.m.
wondering why I exist. Save me from bitterness. Save me from arrogance. Save me
from loneliness. Save me, God, save me from my fears.
In viewing Palm Sunday from that angle, we can begin to see
the potential for some real depth in this celebration, for embedded in our
quaint pageantry is an appeal to God that originates in the most vulnerable
places inside of us; and it bubbles, almost beyond our control, to the surface.
"Hosanna." "Save us." Please God take the broken places
that will tear us apart and make them whole. We beseech you, God, jump into the
water and drag our almost-drowned selves to shore. "Save us."
"Hosanna."
Scott Black Johnston, Save Us
___________________________________
7. Power through Love
Back in our early seminary years Janice and I visited one of
her aunts and uncles in Pennsylvania. The uncle had been a car dealer much of
his life, and had always wanted a Lincoln Continental, the height of luxury in
a car thirty years ago. We were going out to dinner together, and as we walked
to the garage he somewhat sheepishly told us about his recent purchase. And
then, rather apologetically he asked, "Did you ever want something so
much, and then when you got it, wondered why in the world it had been so
important to you?"
Might that not be akin to the reaction of many in the Palm
Sunday crowd? They recognized something special, something unique, about Jesus,
but Jesus does not fit their preconceived notions of how the Messiah ought to
act. They do not know what to make of one who, in spite of a commanding
presence, talks not of power through force, but the power that comes through
emptying oneself, taking the form of a servant, dying to self in order to find
genuine life. The crowd does not know what to make of one who embraces a
different kind of peace - the peace that comes from recognition that love, and
love alone, can meet and master greed and lust and hatred. The crowd little
knows what to make of one who challenges us to embrace a love so potent that,
in place of vengeance, we can turn the other cheek and go the extra mile in
relationships. Jesus speaks of a love so powerful that it can lead us to face
the full fury of hatred and enmity with the prayer, "God, forgive them,
for they do not understand what they are doing." It is a love so
transforming that it empowers us to confront life - and death - with a spirit
of trust: "Gracious God, into your hands I commend my spirit."
Joel D. Kline, What Did We See in Jesus?
_________________________
8. Creating Turmoil
In his book, The Freedom Revolution and the Churches, Robert
Spike recalls an incident from the early years of the turbulent civil rights
movement. Flying out of Jackson, Mississippi, Spike overhears the conversation
of a Catholic sister, sitting across the aisle from him, with her seat
companion. The sister is lamenting all the unrest in Mississippi, and she
complains about the "outside agitators," the students and church
leaders who have come to her state in support of civil rights, certain that their
presence is provoking violence on the part of white racists. "I do not
question their dedication, nor even the rightness of their position," said
the sister. "But surely it is a bad thing to create turmoil by stirring up
people who feel differently." As the sister talks, all the while she is
nervously fingering a cross hanging around her neck.
There's a tragic irony in the sister's words and actions,
not unlike that of the first Holy Week. For the one whose cross the sister
holds most dear, Jesus, would never have taken the risk of going to Jerusalem
and proclaiming a new way of living, would never have confronted comfortable
patterns and ultimately endured the cross, had he followed the sister's
philosophy.
Joel D. Kline, What Did We See in Jesus?
_________________________
9. The Tomb Is Easier
than the Cross
In just a matter of days Holy Week takes us from the
mountain of festive palms to the mountain of Golgatha's despair. And that is
why we resist it so. I mean, do we really need the emotional rollercoaster of
Holy Week? What's so wrong with just jumping from one parade to the next and
skipping all the sacrifice and death stuff? What's wrong with simply moving on to
the joy of Easter, with its white bonnets, Easter eggs, family, friends, big
ham dinner, and of course the empty tomb.
Well, I think we know the answer to that. For starters, an
empty tomb, at face value, is a lot easier to deal with than a dying, bleeding
Savior on a cross. Add to that all the pain and suffering that comes with Holy
Week, is it any wonder that the human tendency is to try and ignore the events
of the week and simply move on to the Easter celebration? But as much as we'd
like to skip Holy Week we know that the only way to Easter is through the
cross. We know where the parade of Palm Sunday leads and we also know that
we're part of that parade. That is to say, we know this intellectually. Our
hearts are another story. Our hearts may be more in sync with the disciples and
the fear and disbelief that led them to run away. It would seem that 2000 years
later Jesus' disciples are still running away.
Jeffrey K. London, And When You Think It's All Over
__________________________
10. Walking the Walk
Christ's commitment reminds me of a Japanese social worker
who lived before and during the Second World War named Toyohiko Kagawa. Kagawa
was a devout Christian whose faith caused him to have an extraordinary impact
on the working conditions of ordinary citizens in Japan. He was so well thought
of in that land that he came on a mission to the U.S. before the beginning of
the Second World War to seek to prevent that terrible conflict breaking out.
Even though he failed in this effort, he gained international renown for his
Christian witness and selfless work.
Years later Kagawa was on a lecture tour to the United
States. Two college students were walking across their campus after hearing him
speak. One of them confessed that he was disappointed in Kagawa's simple
message.
After some reflection, the other student replied: "I
suppose it really doesn't matter very much what a man says when he has lived as
Kagawa has lived."
That is true. In today's vernacular, it is more important
that Kagawa walked the walk and not just talked the talk. A consecrated life is
far more eloquent and convincing than any well thought out argument. The world
will not accept the way of Christ because we can out talk our spiritual
opponents, but only because we can out live them. Such a demonstration of the
superior quality of our faith will verify our witness more readily than any
other effort in which we can engage. Kagawa did that superbly. His life,
however, was simply a reflection of the life of his Master.
Jesus walked the walk more perfectly than anyone who has
ever lived. He lived out the ethic which he taught. He was totally committed to
doing his Father's will. He was a man of courage. He was a man of commitment.
King Duncan
___________________________
11. What Is Good For Us
Is Hidden
Martin Luther often spoke of this aspect of the theology of
the cross, concerning how God works in a hidden way through contrasts. In a
series of lectures that Luther gave in 1515 and 1516 on the Book of Romans, he
wrote: "For what is good for us is hidden, and that so deeply that it is
hidden under its opposite. Thus our life is hidden under death, love for
ourselves under hate for ourselves ... salvation under damnation, heaven under
hell ... And universally our every assertion of anything good is hidden under
the denial of it, so that faith may have its place in God, who is a negative
essence and goodness and wisdom and righteousness, who cannot be touched except
by the negation of all our affirmations."
Martin Luther had one more observation about why God
operates this way - under contrasts and opposites. In another of his sermons,
he put it this way: "He thrusts us into death and permits the devil to
pounce on us. But it is not his purpose to devour us; he wants to test us, to
purify us, and to manifest himself ever more to us, that we may recognize his
love. Such trials and strife are to let us experience something that preaching
alone is not able to do, namely, how powerful Christ is and how sincerely the
Father loves us. So our trust in God and our knowledge of God will increase
more and more, together with our praise and thanks for his mercy and blessing.
Otherwise we would bumble along with our early, incipient
faith. We would become indolent, unfruitful and inexperienced Christians, and
would soon grow rusty."
Mark Ellingsen
_____________________
12. Passion Sunday:
Surprising and Inevitable
At a pre-concert lecture, the conductor of a symphony
orchestra was telling the audience about the major work that the orchestra
would be performing at that evening's concert. The conductor told the people
that if they listened carefully to the music, they would discover that it was
both surprising and inevitable. On the one hand, the musical score would take a
fair number of rather jarring and unexpected twists. There would be points in
the concert when the blare of the trumpet or the sudden rolling of the timpani
would seem to come from out of nowhere in a surprising fashion. On the other
hand, however, the conductor noted that in the long run, these surprises would
themselves become part of a larger coherence. Once listeners heard the entire
piece from start to finish, they would find in the music an air of
inevitability--how could it ever have been written any differently?
Surprising and inevitable...
-------------------------------------13. Two Teenagers:
Background:
This poor man lucked out with neither of his sons. He loved
them both and they both were goofs. The first was too wild, the second was too
rigid and nasty. Neither one appreciated their father’s love. Both tried to
exploit him. What’s more he knew they were exploiting him.
This is not a story
of a prodigal son, but of an indulgent father, indeed of a hyper-indulgent
father. Note that he runs to meet the first son and cuts off his phony speech.
Note too that he is incredibly patient with the mean-spirited and ungrateful
second son. This story is not supposed to provide a model for family life.
Rather it tells us that God loves us like the indulgent father, so much that my
human standards, he’s quite over the top.
Story:
Once there were two teenagers whose parents went away for
the weekend. As some teenagers do, they decided they would have a party. You
know the rest. A couple hundred people showed up. They drank all the family
liquor, trashed the house, tore up the garden, wrecked the family cars, burned
down the garage, smashed the windows in the neighboring homes, rioted when the
police came, and even threw beer cans on the rectory lawn (Really!).
When the parents came
home to find the National Guard patrolling their streets, they said to their
children, “You shouldn’t have done that.” Why not, said the kids. You went away
it’s your fault, not ours. You should have never trusted us.
But the parents love
their children so much that they weren’t angry at them.
That’s the way God
love us.
-------------
14. A BOY WAITS FOR
THE BUSThere's an old story of the boy who stood on a sidewalk, waiting on a bus. A man walking by spotted the boy, and gave him some gentle instruction. "Son," he said, "if you're waiting on the bus, you need to move to the street corner. That's where the bus stops for passengers."
"It's OK," said the boy. "I'll just wait right here, and the bus will stop for me."
The man repeated his argument, but the boy never moved. Just then, the bus
appeared. Amazingly, the bus pulled over to where the boy stood, and the child
hopped on. The man on the sidewalk stood speechless. The boy turned around in
the doorway and said, "Mister, I knew the bus would stop here, because the
bus driver is my dad!"
When you've got a family relationship with the bus driver, you don't need a bus stop. If your mother is a US Senator, you won't need an appointment to slip into her office. If you've given your heart to the King of Kings, you're in a royal family of unspeakable proportions.
15. ADD:
Young Harold had a really bad case of Attention Deficit
Disorder. On Palm Sunday, Harold’s Sunday School teacher sent empty plastic
eggs home with each of her students. Mrs. Wilson told them to bring something
back in the eggs next Sunday to represent Easter. She really didn’t expect
Harold to bring anything, because he never listened in class. The next Sunday
her children brought their eggs back. Susan had a pretty spring flower inside
her egg. Joey had a little cross in his egg. Jackie had put a plastic butterfly
in her egg. But, just as Mrs. Wilson suspected, there was nothing in Harold’s
egg. She was surprised that he even remembered to bring it back! She had
praised each of the other children for what they brought, but she didn’t say
anything about Harold’s empty egg. Harold looked at her with anticipation and
said, "Mrs. Wilson, you didn’t say anything about my egg!" Mrs.
Wilson said, "But, Harold, you don’t have any reminder of Easter in your
egg." Harold replied, "Uh-huh! It’s empty just like Jesus’
tomb!"
----------------------
15. John Singer
Sargent at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts
I attended a wonderful exhibition of the works of John
Singer Sargent at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. It went on
for rooms and rooms. There seemed to be hundreds of works. The artist must
never have rested. There was as best as I can recall only one religious work.
And that was a riveting crucifixion scene.
Studying Sargent's brass relief, one could better understand why Cicero wrote
that crucifixion was the "most heartless and most harrowing" manner
of execution.
This solitary work by the master artist Sargent was a fulfillment of the line of a priest who said so prophetically, "The world can never get away from that strange Man on the cross."
The crucifixion was of a type that I had never seen before. It had been made for the Boston Public Library about 1899. Beneath each of the outstretched arms of the Christ, there stood a figure. One was clearly the young disciple John. The other was a woman, no doubt His mother.
Each one held a chalice. They were catching His precious blood as it flowed from His hands wounded by the nails. They obviously wished to collect each and every drop of it.
The right foot of the Saviour was standing on a serpent. He was meant by Sargent to be a symbol for Satan. By His death Jesus the Christ had bested him.
And at the very base of the representation was a pelican.
She was feeding her young with her own flesh and blood. It was a reference to
His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. I recall wondering whether the artist knew
of the line: "All the love of God crammed into a tiny piece of
Bread."
Sargent had himself squeezed a great deal of theology into one brass relief.
For me, John Singer Sargent had brought some fresh insights
into the horrible and painful death of the Messiah. It was also the case for
other spectators. Many stood around his crucifixion work studying every detail.
No one spoke. They were transfixed. They better understood I think the awesome
price the redemption had cost the Christ.
Yet, I do think Mr Sargent would have been surprised to learn that the cross
did not appear as a Christian symbol till about the fifth century. Many
archaeological digs have discovered early Christian symbols other than the
cross. One thinks immediately of the ever-popular fish whose Greek letters
stand for "Jesus Christ Son of God Saviour." There was the anchor
which symbolized hope for the early Christians. And there were various types of
Christograms. These were the first letters of Jesus Christ in Greek placed one
on top of the other. But there were no crosses to be found among these early
century finds.
Why? No less an authority than Dominican Father Jerome Murphy O'Connor, a professor at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, answers the question for Catholic News Services. "The cross at the time," he says, "was being used for crucifixion and torture. To wear it around one's neck would be like wearing a miniature electric chair around your neck today. The idea was repulsive." Furthermore, many Christians felt it would be dreadful to utilize a symbol of sheer disgrace for their flourishing creed. Other scholars confirm Fr Murphy O'Connor's view. Some observers also go on to declare that if the Christians were to wear a cross, they would be inviting serious troubles from the police. They would be broadcasting the fact that they were indeed the followers of the Christ - Him who had been crucified outside Jerusalem by the Romans. So wisely they chose the more subtle symbols of the fish, the anchor, and the Christograms. These were codes that those who did not follow Jesus Christ would not fathom. These early centuries were of course the period in which the Christians underwent serious persecutions for their faith.
In the fourth century, the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Happily he brought an abrupt halt to the centuries-old barbarous crucifixion. Then and only then did Christians accept the cross as their universal symbol. But intriguingly Fr Murphy O'Connor asserts it took another two centuries before the Christ figure was placed on that cross. The why of it remains a mystery.
As we begin this solemn week, we should carry with us this refrain: no one is too bad to be forgiven.
Stories from Father Tony Kadavil:
1) The six-year-old came home from Palm Sunday services
proudly carrying his palm. Mom and Dad quizzed him on his Sunday school lesson
for the day. He responded enthusiastically, "Jesus came to Jerusalem on a
donkey. And the happy people waved their palm branches and sang, “O
Susanna..."
2) "Why do you have that palm branch, dad?"
Little Johnny was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with
his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch.
The little boy was curious and asked why. His father explained, "You
see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved palm branches to honor him; so
we got palm branches today." "Aw, shucks,” grumbled Little
Johnny. "The one Sunday I can't go to church, and Jesus shows
up!"
3) The angry Jesus:
Winston Churchill once listened to a
hot-tempered raving, ranting tirade directed at him by an opponent whose mouth
worked faster than his mind. At the end of it, Churchill said, in his own
Churchillian way, "Our honorable colleague should, by now, have trained
himself not to generate more indignation than he has the capacity to
hold." A lot of people are like that.
4. “Either give up Christ or give up your jobs.”
Constantine
the Great was the first Christian Roman emperor. His father Constantius I who
succeeded Diocletian as emperor in 305 A.D. was a pagan with a soft heart for
Christians. When he ascended the throne, he discovered that many Christians
held important jobs in the government and in the court. So he issued an
executive order to all those Christians: “Either give up Christ or give up your
jobs.” The great majority of Christians gave up their jobs rather than disowning
Christ. Only a few cowards gave up their religion rather than lose their jobs.
The emperor was pleased with the majority who showed the courage of their
convictions and gave their jobs back to them saying: "If you will not be
true to your God you will not be true to me either.” Today we join the Palm
Sunday crowd in spirit to declare our loyalty to Christ and fidelity to his
teachings by actively participating in the Palm Sunday liturgy. As we carry the
palm leaves to our homes, we are declaring our choice to accept Jesus as the
king and ruler of our lives and our families. Let us express our gratitude to
Jesus for redeeming us by his suffering and death, through active participation
in the Holy Week liturgy and reconciliation with God and His Church, repenting
of our sins and receiving God's pardon and forgiveness from Jesus through his
Church.
5, Passion Sunday and the shadow of the cross:
The bishop
of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris during the early part of the last century was
a great evangelizer who tried to reach out to unbelievers, scoffers, and
cynics. He liked to tell the story of a young man who would stand outside
the cathedral and shout derogatory slogans at the people entering to worship.
He would call them fools and other insulting names. The people
tried to ignore him but it was difficult. One day the parish priest went
outside to confront the young man, much to the distress of the parishioners.
The young man ranted and raved against everything the priest told him.
Finally, the priest addressed the young scoffer, saying, “Look, let’s get
this over with once and for all. I’m going to dare you to do something
and I bet you can’t do it.” And of course the young man shot back, “I can
do anything you propose, you white-robed wimp!” “Fine,” said the priest.
“All I ask you to do is to come into the sanctuary with me. I want
you to stare at the figure of Christ on His cross, and I want you to scream at
the very top of your lungs, as loudly as you can. ‘Christ died on the cross for
me, and I don’t care one bit.” So the young man went into the sanctuary, and
looking at the figure, screamed as loudly as he could, “Christ died on the
cross for me, and I don’t care one bit.” The priest said, “Very good.
Now do it again.” And again the young man screamed, with a little
more hesitancy, “Christ died on the cross for me, and I don’t care one bit.”
“You’re almost done now,” said the priest. “One more time.” The
young man raised his fist, kept looking at the crucifix, but the words wouldn’t
come. He just could not look at the face of Christ and say those words
any more. The real punch line came when, after he told the story, the bishop
said, “I was that young man. That young man, that defiant young man was
I. I thought I didn’t need God but found out that I did.”
