Theme: Palm – The Victory of the Passion of the Lord
TODAY we celebrate Passion Sunday and/or Palm Sunday. There are two aspects of Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday of the ONE Paschal Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Passion commemorates the Suffering and Death of our Lord, while Palm commemorates the Triumph and Victory of our Lord.
Tonight, as we begin our celebration, we have welcomed Jesus, our King and Saviour, into Jerusalem, into this Church community and into our hearts. We have to be sure that we know Him. This is because we welcome only those we know into our hearts. Do we know Him who is our King and Saviour?
The Gospel of Mark (Mk 11:1-10) tells us that Jesus did not enter Jerusalem on a horse that symbolizes power and strength. Instead, He entered the city on a colt that represents a sign of peace and simplicity. Jesus, King and Saviour, comes into our lives with meekness and humility. Do we welcome Him with open hearts?
In the second Reading (Letter of St Paul to the Philippians), St Paul tells us that “…Jesus, His state was divine, yet He did not cling to His equality with God but EMPTIED Himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are …. And He was HUMBLER yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. It is the Unconditional Love of God to each of us:
- First: He emptied Himself, even though He is the second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God. He did not cling to the equality with God. He emptied Himself and became man.
- Second: He was not only emptied Himself and became man, even lower than man – became a slave and died on the cross.
Hence, He is not the powerful King that the world is desiring, but a servant King to serve and save. Do we desire and welcome this kind of King into our hearts and our homes? If yes, we have to follow His step, and what is His step – constantly empty and humble ourselves.
How does one empty oneself like Jesus? Though He was/is the Son of God, He was rejected by His own people. He accepted all these humiliations willingly: Judas betrayed Him; Peter denied Him three times; All the apostles ran away; the crowd rejected Him; the soldiers made fun of Him; the passers-by jeered at Him; and even those who were crucified with Him teased Him.
And Jesus was humbler yet, He accepted all these happenings willingly for our redemption. In the Gospel, Jesus said “Am I a brigand that you had to set out to capture me with swords and clubs? I was among you teaching in the temple day after day and you never laid hands on me, but this is to fulfil the Scriptures.” Why was our Lord Jesus Christ so willing in accepting the will of the Father?
This is because of His Love to redeem each one of us. Hence, this Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is about His Love for us. What kind of Love – “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13); He gave us a perfect example of Love – unconditional, infinite – He gave His own life for us.
Jesus invites us and says to each of us “This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.”
In the first Reading, prophet Isaiah tells us that because of Love, our Lord made no resistance, neither did He turn away from any insults. He offered His back to those who struck Him, His cheeks to those who tore at His beard. He did not cover His face against insult and spittle. Why? Because of Love.
Let us journey with the Lord in this Holy Week and prepare ourselves well to receive this Perfect Love, even as we petitioned in the Collect (Opening Prayer) for the Lord to “graciously grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering and so merit a share in His resurrection”.
