Today’s Gospel is the longest in our entire liturgical year and interestingly it always involves every person in the church building. Think of that, the longest Gospel, that contains the betrayal, death and Resurrection -
involves every man, woman and child within hearing distance. I have always thought that this signified that we indeed were involved in the betrayal, through sin; the death of Jesus, as the debt for our/my sins were paid; and most important the invitation to share eternal life with Jesus, who conquered even death by His Resurrection, if we hear and listen to His Word and allow our lives to be transformed. There may be no apparent surface change, but when we speak, how we speak, and, importantly, what we do will betray even an attempt to live the message and promise made to each of us in today’s gospel.
It was during Lent that, while in church, that I made an important discovery that changed my way of thinking and acting. In the way of the Cross, celebrated by the Church as the “Stations of the Cross” and offered
every Lenten season, Jesus falls three times. Importantly, each and every time Jesus gets back up, he is met by a woman — the sorrowful women, Veronica with her veil who wiped the blood from Jesus’ face, and lastly by his mother Mary as the sword of sorrow was piercing her heart. I have always thought that this has meant that it does not matter how we are thought of by our fellow men and women, but what our interior disposition is. If we have the interior disposition of being faithful to Christ, we will gain the respect of those who share those values. Secondly, God comes to us when we are being mistreated or thought of as being second – just as he came to the women in the Way of the Cross. Jesus as man came to give every drop of his blood in expiation for our sins, some of which remained on Veronica’s veil. He comforts the sorrowful as he did his own mother.
Is “peer pressure” new? Absolutely not! In today’s reading alone, peer pressure led to all of the Apostles fleeing at the time of Jesus’ trial and even Peter, our first pope, denied Jesus three times. When the crowds chanted “Give us Barrabas!”, did they really want a career criminal back in their streets where he could victimize anew? I have always thought not and considered the chant motivated by fear of what someone in a perceived position of perceived power would do if the crowd had chanted otherwise. Be strong and believe in Christ! But make no mistake, a desire for earthly self-preservation motivated that chant and regrettably continues to motivate that chant in our contemporary world.
Lastly, the palm procession and crowds that marked Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem gives the reason why this Sunday is called “Palm Sunday”. Jesus was accorded high honors and their wanting to make Him king,
his betrayal and death signify that his earthly glory was fleeting . Let us all reflect upon our part in the death of Jesus and His promise to us , recalled in our upcoming Holy Week.
Fr. Mike
