“Go to so and so in the city and say to him ‘The Master says: My time is near it is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples”.
In name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Amen!
Good morning my brothers and sisters in Christ! Today we celebrate the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and we begin the great week we know as Holy Week in which we commemorate the last hours of Christ’s life on earth and his glorious resurrection.
As a joke, a little boy 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 do you have that palm branch, dad?” “You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, and so we got Palm Branches today.” The little boy replied with a sigh, “What a shame! The only one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!” Many of you here know this song: “the blood of Jesus, the blood Jesus set me free, from sin and sorrow, the blood of Jesus set me free”. This is what Palm Sunday is all about, that Jesus saved us by his blood. As St. Peter would write, “Remember, the ransom that was paid to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down, it was not paid in anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, but in the precious blood of a lamb, without spot or stain, namely Christ” (1Peter 1:18-19). The importance of blood in the life of every living being like human person, animal or plant cannot be over emphasized. Blood generally is life-giving; it is the essential element in sustaining us in life. Even babies in the womb of their mothers receive oxygen and nutrients from their mothers’ blood. Some times when natural disasters occurred, the Red Cross appeals for blood donors and most often during surgeries it is blood that sustains patients in life. In many cultures, the bonding of people is sealed in rituals that mingle blood. In all cultures blood has a deeply religious significance. This is the same thing in the Bible.
When God brought the Hebrew people out of their slavery in Egypt, it was the blood of sacrificed lambs which was used to mark their homes and they were spared the punishment that fell upon their Egyptian captors. Later, on Mount Sinai, when God bond Himself to His people, Moses offered animal sacrifices and then took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they all said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” Moses then took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exodus 24:6-8). As we enter now into the Holy Week, blood and the cup of suffering is the centerpiece of God’s saving and life-giving actions. In the blood of Christ, which flowed from His crucified body we are liberated from the ultimate consequences of our sins; (if we follow in the way of Peter and not in the way of Judas). God offers, we respond, and everything depends upon our response. We have just read St. Matthew’s account of the passion to remind ourselves just what this week is all about and how important it is that we keep this week holy in honor of our Savior who gave his life for our sake. On Good Friday we will hear the same passion story in the words of St. John. By publicly reading these two passion accounts and by participating in them, as you do so well here (in Fatima Cathedral), we are helping the significance of these extraordinary events to sink into our life and time. They may have happened over two thousand years ago, but in a certain sense, they are happening right here and now today.In this Palm Sunday, we commemorate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of that fateful week. His whole life had been a preparation for this final entry into Jerusalem. It could be said that by entering Jerusalem he was precipitating all that was to follow. It was a deliberate choice of Jesus, he was deciding to do what had to be done, and he was choosing to fulfill his purpose in life here on earth. Jesus enters Jerusalem as a Messiah, but not the Messiah that was expected. Every word of the scriptures is fulfilled but his entry is not heralded by armies of angels or soldiers, he is not accompanied by dignitaries and guards. Those who welcome him to the Holy City are not rulers or priests. No, he comes as simply as he could: he rides a donkey, his followers are fishermen and other working class and he is greeted not by the civic and religious authorities but by ordinary people: men and women, waving palms and leaves. In one way everything is done properly and in accordance with what was prophesied, but looking through other eyes it is utterly shamble and hopeless. The doubters, and those who do not understand, see nothing but a raggle-taggle group of itinerants coming up for the feast. They are blind to the significance of what they see.But those with eyes of faith see what has been longed for by so many prophets of old. They see the solemn entry of the Messiah into his Holy City to take possession of it. They see the culmination of the history of the Chosen People of Israel. They see Jesus entering Jerusalem and the stage set for the most climactic and significant drama of all times to take place.
By entering Jerusalem in such a way, sitting on a ridiculous donkey and accompanied by the poor and the lowly, Jesus is making a definitive statement about what kind of Messiah he is: He is stating that he is a Messiah for the humble and the destitute, the disadvantaged and the outcast, the sick and the lame. He is stating that he has come to liberate the oppressed, to comfort the broken-hearted and to heal the sick. He is a Messiah who comes to save what was lost, to reconcile the sinner and to lead his people into the ways of peace.Finally, our Lord Jesus died for love of God and humanity; and the fact that all through his passion he suffered alone brings out the depth of his love, for loneliness in suffering is the clearest indication of a person’s capacity to love. The fact is that he suffered, not because of weakness inherent in human nature but as the result of human injustice and of his revolutionary message, proves his faithful love for God and humanity. In his suffering he acted upon his own word: “The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them” (John 15: 13). Our Lord did not suffer to wipe out suffering from our lives as so many of us presume, but to teach us how to suffer, to teach us that suffering will always accompany true love; and hence anyone who follows him must carry his daily cross (Matthew 16:24). He taught us about the supremacy of love and of the qualities that exemplify it; namely, that love is stronger than violence, that humility is stronger than pride, that kindness is stronger than anger, that gentleness is stronger than rudeness and that peace is stronger than war. Jesus comes not to rule but to serve; he comes not for glory but for salvation. Let us rejoice and praise God that he has given us so great a redeemer!
Have a wonderful Sunday and Blessed Holy Week!
+Ab Matthew Audu Jos
