Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

Mt 21:1-11 (proc.); Is 50:4-7 Ps 22 Phil 2:6-11 Mt 27:11-54

Deacon Jim McFadden

 

         Every year is a moving experience on Palm Sunday as we go with Jesus towards the Temple, accompanying him on the ascent which leads to the Cross. As Jesus enters Jerusalem, people then and throughout the centuries acclaim him, crying out: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Mt 21:9).

         What are we really doing when we join the procession, albeit in a virtual way as we can’t assemble physically. Is there something going on here that is more than a familiar ritual, a quaint custom that the Church does every year? Does it have anything to do with the reality of our life that has been upended by the pandemic? Does Palm Sunday speak to our world in 2020?

To answer this, we have to go back to the first Palm Sunday: what was Jesus’ intention and what actually happened? Immediately after Peter’s confession of faith—“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Mt 16:16—in Caesarea Philippi, in the northern most part of the Holy Land, Jesus sets out as a pilgrim towards Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. He was journeying towards the Temple, which was the epicenter of Jewish worship in which Heaven and Earth came together. Passover was the memorial of Israel’s liberation from the Egyptian oppression, and had become the model for spiritual transformation. Jesus knew that what awaited him was a new Passover in which the real enemies of mankind—namely, sin and death—would be confronted and he himself would take the place of the sacrificial lamb by offering himself on the Cross.   Jesus knew that by climbing up to the City of David, he would be making his way to the heights of the Cross, where he would fully display self-giving love. The ultimate goal was not the Cross, but just as Jesus had ascended Mt. Tabor at his Transfiguration, his ultimate pilgrimage was to the heights of God and he wants to take us with him!

So, our procession today should be more than a familiar ritual, but is meant to take us deeper—that as we intentionally join ourselves to Jesus on his pilgrimage, we will journey more deeply into the mystery of the living God. Palm Sunday should be transformative! We are making an ascent that really matters. We’re not just watching Jesus go through this pilgrimage, but he is inviting each one of us to accompany him. What happens to Jesus is meant to happen to us. Are we ready for this opportunity?   Is it doable or is it a lofty ambition beyond our capability? It is if we try to do it by ourselves. Also, we need to humbly acknowledge that there is a lot dragging us down.

While mankind is so very advanced in terms of what St. Bonaventure called the ‘Eye of the Mind’—think of our technological/industrial/scientific prowess—that is capable of great good, our penchant for doing evil has increased as well.   Our continual state of permanent war, the immoral possession of a nuclear arsenal capable of destroying the world, environmental degradation appear like a gathering storm. On top of that, we dealing with a global plague that has caused so much suffering for humanity that we have never seen in or lifetime.

The Church Fathers have maintained that human beings stand at the midpoint between two gravitational forces. There is one force of gravity that pulls us towards ourselves—towards self-absorption, falsehood, cruelty, degradation of others—which diminish us and distances us from the heights of God. We don’t want to worship God, we want to be God! This disordered desire was unintentionally expressed by Supreme Court Anthony Kennedy in a famous decision that upheld “abortion rights.” He wrote that “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life” (Planned Parenthood v. Casey). In other words, we don’t discover and accept the Revelation that has been given to us, but we create our own meaning. We don’t need God because we can do it ourselves, replicating the Tower of Babel in which mankind wanted “to make a name for themselves.”

On the other hand, there is the gravitational force of God’s love which brought everything into being and is sustained by his loving intention. The fact that we are loved unconditionally by God every moment of our existence and when we respond in love to Him, this dynamic draws us upwards.

So, were caught in between these forces. We won’t realize the fullness of our humanity unless we escape the gravitational pull towards evil and become free by conforming our will to that of our heavenly Father. We are hard-wired to be conformed to God because we are made in his image. We’re ontologically attracted to the gravitational force of God, which makes us authentic, fully human, elevates us to remarkable heights (which we call sanctity), and grants us true freedom.

The question is how can we attain these heights? Again, we cannot do it ourselves; we’re too weak, so disfigured by sin. The thought that we can raise ourselves by our own resolve and resources, simply drags us down further and estranges ourselves from God. God himself must draw us up, and this is what Jesus is going to do on the Cross. Jesus descended into the depths of our human existence. What brought Jesus to the Cross? As Bishop Barron has noted, “Our stupidity, anger, mistrust, institutional injustice, betrayal of a friend, denial, unspeakable cruelty, scapegoating, fear, etc. In other words, all our dysfunction is revealed on the cross” (reflection, on March 31, 2020; WordonFire. Org.). So, Jesus humbled himself on the Cross, so that our pride can be vanquished. God’s humility by submitting himself to the humiliation of the Cross was an ‘in-your-face’ expression of his love. If you want to know just how much God loves you, gaze upon the crucified Christ.   Jesus humble love draws us upwards, provided we follow the Way of the Cross.

It comes down to that: if we’re going to be a disciple of Christ, if we are going to be fully human, we must deny our (false) self, pick up our Cross, and follow Him. There is no alternative Way.   Jesus is primary; everything else is secondary. He is the One who will accomplish within ourselves what we can’t do by ourselves. He is the One who is going to raise us in spite of our wretched condition. Jesus Christ Who is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, through him all things were made” has come down to our level and, in his crucified love, takes us by the hand and lifts us on high to the Father’s embrace.

Brothers and sisters, we are on a pilgrimage with the Lord to the heights. As Kingdom people we are striving to have “pure hearts” and clean hands that only hold the Father’s will. We are seeking truth which is Jesus himself. We are striving to realize our destiny as we seek the face of God, of whom Jesus is the perfect image.

As we follow Jesus this Palm Sunday, let us seek with every fiber of our being to be in right relationship with the Triune God. Let us ardently ask him: Draw us upwards! Make us pure like you! Grant us the words that we can sing from the depths of our being as we process into the New Jerusalem. Let us be part of a new generation that seeks God, ‘which seeks your face, O God of Jacob” (cf. Ps 24:6). Amen.