Palm Sunday (Fr. Francis)

After hearing 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.

Our Lord Jesus was not the first person to die for a cause, nor the last. Neither was He the first or the last innocent man to be condemned. Even on Calvary, He was not the only one to be crucified, for two others suffered alongside him. The martyrdom of archbishop Oscar Romero forty years ago (March, 1980) reminds us how some have been killed just for sharing the message of Jesus. What then makes the Lord’s passion so different? Our Gospels tell this story in such a way that we can all feel involved.

The Passion brought out the weakness of his friends. First, his apostle Judas, one of the chosen twelve, who heard the accusing question, “Friend, why are you here? Would you betray me with a kiss?” As after Judas betrayed him, the other eleven panicked and also let him down. One phrase conveys this: “they all forsook him and fled.”

What of Peter, who was reckoned to be steady as a rock? Only a few hours before, he had boasted, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” But when Peter was cornered, a gibe from a servant girl his proud claim fell apart. “He began to curse and to swear that he knew not the man.” We are told that when Jesus turned and looked at him, Peter “went out and wept bitterly.” These were his friends, the ones who loved him and shared his company during the years of his ministry. In the crisis of his trial, not one of them stood by him.

How does the Passion of Jesus relate to us? Mysteriously, his cross is the means of our salvation. But it is also the story of our lives, of our failures and our recovery. There isn’t a part in the whole script that does not involve us. Like Peter in his pride and then in his denials and, hopefully, his later repentance. We also mirror the disciples who fled to avoid involvement. Perhaps we have something of the rigid spirit of Caiaphas and the priests, who were keen to reform others but not themselves. And let’s face it, there’s also a hint of Judas in us all. There are times and situations when Jesus could say to us as to him, “Friend, what are you doing here?”

On a more positive note, we can identify with the “Good Thief”, who was crucified alongside Jesus, who humbly asked for a final blessing: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Or we can join the centurion in charge of the execution who, on seeing how Jesus breathed his last, said “Truly this man was God’s Son!” Or we can join in prayer with the faithful ones who stood beneath the cross of Jesus “… his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene, and the disciple whom Jesus loved. Seeing them, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.” (Jn 19:25-27).

This most solemn week of the liturgical year was once called the ‘Great Week’ but nowadays we call it Holy Week. In it we witness the total self-giving of Jesus. St Paul describes it as his kenosis, the act of self-emptying by which Jesus made himself entirely receptive to the divine will. (“He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.”) Paul goes on to affirm to total vindication of Jesus: “God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name.”

This week we will try to follow Jesus every step of the way, beginning with his triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Fr A Francis HGN