Palm
Sunday
Is
50: 4-7; Phil 2: 6-11; Luke 22: 14- 23: 56
Today
we celebrate both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday. It is on Palm
Sunday that we enter into Holy Week, enter along with Jesus to
Jerusalem, walking along with him to share in his suffering, death
and resurrection. We gloriously enter into Jerusalem waving palm
leaves but pathetically going to meditate on His passionate suffering
for the redemption of Humanity, the redemption of each and every one
of us from the clutches of evil. We are going to remember and relive
the great self sacrifice of Jesus on the table and on the cross. We
are going to share in His Passion, Death and Resurrection by active
participation in these Holy Week liturgies. In doing so, we are
allowing Jesus to forgive us our sins, heal the wounds in us caused
by our sins and the sins of others and transform us more completely
into the image and likeness of God. This Mysterious Sunday which has
Joy and Suffering together invites us to ponder about Who really
Jesus is, What He has done to us and Who we really are and ought to
be?
Who
Jesus is and who we really are?
Jesus,
the King of Peace, the Ark of the Covenant
In
those days Kings used to ride a donkey in times of Peace. Jesus
entered the Holy City as a king of peace, fulfilling the prophecy of
Zechariah. The gospel specifically mentions that the colt Jesus
selected for the procession was one that had not been
ridden before, reminding us of a stipulation given in I Samuel: 6:7
concerning the animal that was to carry the Ark of the Covenant. We,
the religious who take the part of Jesus, who continue His mission,
who give His value to others, who really give Him to others must and
should be promoters of peace here in this soil of chaos and
confusion. We should really be the hope of the people, who would save
these people from their misery by laying our lives for the promotion
of peace.
Jesus,
the true Paschal Lamb
During
the feast of the "Pass Over," the lamb which has to
sacrificed by the High Priest should be taken to the Temple in a
procession four days before the main feast day. On Palm Sunday,
Jesus, the true Paschal Lamb, was also taken to the Temple in a large
procession. The Lamb that offered Himself on the cross as a sin
offering to God, to wash our sins and heal our wounds, must make us
to deny ourselves fully and to offer ourselves at the service of
offering forgiveness and reconciliation. We need to bring people
together to reconcile with one another and to receive the mercy of
the Lord on the Cross.
Jesus,
the Bread of Life (Lk 22: 14-20)
The
unconditional love of the Father was unveiled in the incarnation of
Jesus. The same love was proved by Jesus by His self offering at the
table by giving His own Body and Blood for us as everlasting food. It
is the Love meal that we share at every Eucharistic celebration. It
is a pure sacrifice of a divine person that we offer every day. It is
the true bread of life that we eat every day. Does he make any change
in us, to break and offer ourselves fully for others leaving our
selfish motives behind?
Jesus,
the True Leader
Jesus
not only preached but showed his disciples who is the true leader by
being their servant. He insisted his apostles to be servant leader in
order to be highest in the kingdom. He did not receive any service,
neither from people nor from his disciples. But we, who are his
followers, seek positions, powers and service wherever we go. We lack
in serving people, rather we always want to be served and to be kept
little higher than others.
Jesus,
the Gentle Warning Friend
Jesus
foretold his disciples about their flight, betrayal and denial in a
gentle and loving way. He gave them opportunity to turn back from
their ways. Even when they failed Jesus looked them gently (Lk 22:
61) and asked them to strengthen their brothers who are undergoing
the same crisis. There is a vast gap between the correction Jesus did
and what we are doing now. Our correction is harsh and burdening
rather than gentle and compassionate. Instead of showing the merciful
face of Jesus, we often show the revengeful, angry face of God.
Jesus,
the Man of Prayer
In
His temptation and suffering, Jesus always prayed to his Father and
asked his disciples to pray in order to avoid temptation and trials.
He always insisted his disciples to pray earnestly to keep away or
chase evil. He always discerned the will of the Father through
prayer. We many times lack in prayer or we lack in bringing people to
pray. We failed to insist people to pray in the times of suffering
and difficulties.
Jesus,
who relied on God
Though
Jesus was God, he emptied himself and relied always on the protective
care of the Father. He always willed that the will of the Father to
be done and he offered His breath to God the Father. But many times
we believe in the things and money that we have, authority that we
hold and the strength and security that we have. We have never
insisted people to erase the trust that they have in guns and men. We
have not strongly preached them to submit themselves to God always.
Jesus,
a Non-Violent Messiah
The
arrest of Jesus clearly shows the non-violent attitude of Jesus. He
teaches us to have the weapon of love and forgiveness. But we rather
prefer to have sword and gun, anger and revenge, hatred and betrayal.
We see, everywhere blood and hunger but no where the attitude of
acceptance and patience is found. We never insist this on people;
rather we support their understanding and way of life.
Jesus,
the Suffering Servant
Today’s
gospel clearly emphasizes the agony he underwent, the betrayal he
suffered, the denial he received, the scorching he accepted, the
mocking he heard, the thorns that wounded, the nails that pierced and
mainly the condemnation he received from the people whom he loved.
Yet he was a gentle Lamb for the slaughter, underwent all pain and
offered himself on the cross for us. But we are not able to bear some
criticism, some accusation and some disapproval from the people in
our ministry places. We are not ready to suffer with the suffering
humanity and comfort them.
Jesus,
the True Consoler
Though
his pain was unimaginable, his suffering was so horrible; Jesus
considered the sorrow of the women who were crying for him. He
foresaw the pain that they are going to suffer because of their
children and for their children and He comforted them. He felt the
suffering of His mother beyond his suffering and offered His beloved
disciple her son. We are also called to go beyond ourselves, our pain
and suffering to see the pain of others and to console them. Many
times we are struck with our own problems and difficulties and we
never see the pain of others who are hungry,
poor, sick, homeless, lonely and displaced.
Jesus,
the Highest Form of Forgiveness
Though
many times we are not able to forgive our community members and our
fellow brethren in mission due to various reasons whether it is small
or big, He could forgive people who tortured him, mocked him and
crucified him like a scoundrel and worst criminal, saying, ‘Father
forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’. In his
worst and highest form of punishment, he showed the highest form of
forgiveness. But we lack this kind of mercy and compassion even in
small matters, rather we develop grudge against people and take
revenge in men and matters.
Jesus
offered himself for us but we still hesitate to offer ourselves fully
to him and for the people. We behave many times as the people who
were found in the gospel. We often forget that we are the donkeys
carrying Christ, unfortunately we always boast that we are Christ. We
betray our own companions for our sake, name, fame and power; we deny
the good works of our fellow companions and their goodness; we long
to have position and authority; we find happiness in men and matters
rather than in God in Prayer; we rely on our own ability and talents
and in weapons rather than in God’s unconditional love; we try to
lose any number of lives for our sake rather than loosing ourselves
for the sake of others; we enjoy in the suffering of others rather we
never want to share in the sufferings of others like Simeon who
carried the cross along with Jesus; we heap up hatred towards others
to the point of destroying them like the people who said, ‘crucify
him’; we never feel sorry for our mistakes like the good thief
rather we find always fault with others and finally we never have the
heart to forgive others. Hence this Holy Week invites us to journey
along with Jesus to become like him and to die to our sins to
resurrect to the new way of life where we care our brothers while
they are living. One
flower in life is worth all the wreaths in the world in death; one
word of love and praise and thanks in life is worth all the
panegyrics in the world when life is gone. Let us suffer with Christ
in order to part take in the sufferings of others. Let us rise with
Christ in order to resurrect the lives of others. May this Holy Week
make us Holy and Living Sacrifices to God.
fr. Valan Ashok MMI
