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Saturday, 15 March 2008 |
Today is Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Most of us grew up calling it simply “Palm Sunday”. Today, we use the words “palm” and “passion” to describe this day. Why so? Maybe, it’s where your focus is: on the externals or on the internals.
The crowds had heard the stories: persistent stories of healings and exorcisms; tales of many miraculous feedings of the hungry crowds that listened to him; even rumors of the raising of his friend Lazarus. The Passover crowds, already excited about the great festival and full of spiritual longing, saw this charismatic preacher coming into the holy city; and the crowds witnessed the joy and fervor of his disciples. Some began to sing the psalms of David, the psalms that spoke of a coming Messiah, an anointed servant of God (Christus). Clothing and branches were set across his path, as he rode into Jerusalem…on a donkey.
Why did they cheer? Why was there so much excitement? What were the crowds hoping for? And why, within one week of that extraordinary scene, did the entire people turn against this “son of David”?
Today, St. John Neumann will recall some of the externals of that day. Palms will be blessed and given to the faithful as a remembrance. But after “Palm Sunday”, they are not thrown away. Instead, many Catholics place the palm behind their crucifix, keeping it there until the palms are collected for the next Ash Wednesday. Why? The externals…the palms…are meant to point to the internals…the Passion.
We are entering Holy Week, the center of our liturgical calendar; and beginning with the Mass on Holy Thursday, the sacred Triduum is upon us: three days that serve as the heart of Holy Week.
Holy Thursday: The High Priest who offers us the gift of participating in his sacrifice (holy Mass) shows us the depth of the love of a Servant, as he washes the feet of his disciples.
Good Friday: How can a death be “good”? How can we call an instrument of death (a Roman cross) “good”? Come and take part in his Stations, in his cross.
The Vigil of the Lord: The very heart of our faith… is seen and experienced… as we wait in vigil… from death to life.
It’s so easy to stay on the surface of things: of friendships, of work, of love, of faith. We are comfortable with the externals of things. The Lord invites each us to come inside, to experience the power of what has been given… through Him.
AMDG
Msgr. David Talley |
