Homily For Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Year B, March 24, 2024
“Let the branches of palm trees be the victory banners of our faith, and let our hearts echo the shouts of ‘Hosanna’ as we welcome Christ into our lives anew.” — Pope Francis.
Sunday Readings
My Dearest Friends in Christ,
Today we have gathered to celebrate the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to accomplish his salvific mission. Today marks the beginning of the holy week. Our celebration today is one of mixed feelings. A celebration that began with triumphant songs of kingly praises but culminated in a sorrowful passion of betrayal and condemnation. It was not the Jews but me and you who betrayed and condemned him. The same people who sang his kingly praises, turned around to seek his death, what paradox of human behavior.
The Most Holy of all Weeks Why?
We have entered into the most holy of all weeks, a week in which the mystery of our salvation has been accomplished through the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ. It is a week that defines our existence as Christians and gives meaning to our lives as God’s children. We are not simply recounting history or retelling a story that happened thousands of years ago; neither are we remembering a past event. Instead, we are reliving and re-enacting, living out presently and consciously participating with Christ in everything he underwent to gain our freedom and salvation. Therefore, proper participation in the Holy Week liturgy will deepen our relationship with God, increase our faith, and strengthen our lives as disciples of Jesus. 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. This is also the week when we should lighten the burden of Christ’s passion as daily experienced by the hungry, the poor, the sick, the homeless, the lonely, and the outcast through our corporal and spiritual works of mercy.”
A Moment of Joy and Sorrow
The readings of today have contrasting moments of glory and suffering. Joy and sorrow. Pleasure and Pain are the two extremes of human experience. Jesus also experienced the Joy of a Kingly and triumphant welcome as well as the sorrows of betrayal, unjust trial, and condemnation which culminated in His suffering and death. These are the dynamics of human experience. Jesus experienced it because He is truly human. To deny this Humanity is to reject His suffering as a truly human experience. We too daily experience moments of joy and sorrow, but in His sufferings, we draw our strength.
In the first reading From the third servant Song of Isaiah 50:4-7, Jesus saw aspects of his own life and mission foreshadowed in the Servant Songs, and the Church refers to them in this time of solemn meditation on the climax of Jesus’ life.
The second reading from Philippians 2:6-11 is an ancient Christian hymn representing a very early Christian understanding of who Jesus is, and of how his mission saves us from sin and death. This reading reminds us that our Lord willingly surrendered himself to experience suffering and humiliation for our sake. He did not cling to His divinity but became man to redeem men. He humbled himself further in His humanity to be enslaved like a servant, obediently embracing suffering, death, and crucifixion for our sake.
The Gospel today has two parts. The first part read before the procession with palm describes the royal reception that Jesus received from his admirers. Jesus permitted such a royal procession for two reasons: 1) to reveal to the general public that he was the promised Messiah, and 2) to fulfill the prophecies of Zechariah (9:9) and Zephaniah(3:16-19): “Rejoice, heart and soul, daughter of Zion…”
We are Not Different From these Persons
In the second part, we listen to, Markan passion narrative. In this Passion narrative, we are challenged to examine our own lives 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 who ridiculed Jesus, and the leaders of the people who preserved their position by getting rid of Jesus.
Our attitudes are not different from those of the above-mentioned personalities. At most moments of our lives, we deny, betray, ridicule, act against our conscience, and persevere in our position in justifying evil. Before the beginning of the procession, Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Lk 19:41-42), and when the procession was over, he cleansed the Temple (Lk 19:45-46). On the following day, he cursed a barren fig tree. Jesus cursed a fig tree for lying with its leaves. It looked good from the outside, but there was nothing there. We need to ask ourselves does Jesus still weep over my sins? Are you ready to imitate the prodigal son and return to God, our loving Father by confessing your sins and making a sincere and honest resolution to turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel to share in His resurrection?
May The Palms Remind You that Christ Reigns in Our Lives
Let us welcome Jesus into our hearts and our homes. Today, we receive palm branches, let us take them to our homes and put them someplace where we can always see them. Let the palms remind us that Christ is the King of our families, that Christ is the King of our hearts, and that Christ is the only true answer to our quest for happiness and meaning in our lives. Let the experience of this Holy week strengthen us in our various difficulties and challenges of life. Suffering and pain are an inevitable part of human experience, no one wants to experience it but, many try to avoid it at all costs. But the Holy Week reminds us that it is through suffering that we enter into victory. Without the cross, there cannot be a crown. So be strong child of God in your sufferings, don’t deny Christ because of your hard experiences because if you remain strong and faithful to Him, you will also share in His victory someday.
Offer Your Donkeys
Let us offer Christ our donkeys. If someone had not let go of his donkey who knows Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem would not have been as triumphant as it was. Jesus needs our sacrifices to support the church and suffering humanity. Our little sacrificial gifts go a long way in relieving the crosses of many who are suffering. Let us be generous and Kind. Let us always remember that a Christian without Christ is a contradiction in terms. Such a one betrays the Christian message. Hence, let us become active Christians during this Holy Week, enabling others to see in us Jesus’ universal love, unconditional forgiveness, and sacrificial service.
May the experience of the Holy Week renew and restore your faith in God. May you receive the grace to be a better child of God. May it strengthen you in moments of difficulties. May you see beyond your sufferings the Victory that lies ahead.
May the experience of the Holy Week renew and restore your faith in God. May you receive the grace to become a transformed child of God. May it strengthen you in moments of difficulties. May you see beyond your sufferings the Victory that lies ahead.
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)
