April 9^th 2017. PALM SUNDAY

Gospel: Matthew 21:1-11

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Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading...

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GOSPEL (at the procession with palms): Matthew 21:1-11.

When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem
and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, 
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 
"Go into the village opposite you, 
and immediately you will find an ass tethered,
and a colt with her.
Untie them and bring them here to me.
And if anyone should say anything to you, reply, 
'The master has need of them.'
Then he will send them at once."
This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet 
might be fulfilled:
Say to daughter Zion,
"Behold, your king comes to you,
meek and riding on an ass,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."
The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them.
They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them, 
and he sat upon them.
The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, 
while others cut branches from the trees 
and strewed them on the road.
The crowds preceding him and those following
kept crying out and saying:
"Hosanna to the Son of David;
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord;
hosanna in the highest."
And when he entered Jerusalem 
the whole city was shaken and asked, "Who is this?"
And the crowds replied, 
"This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . .  Palm Sunday has two contrasting parts. It begins with a joyful procession and then goes on to contemplate the full story of the passion of Christ. The joy is appropriate, though, because we are celebrating the events that are the source of new life for us. During the original entry into Jerusalem, Jesus was carried on a humble donkey whilst the poor people waved palms and threw their mantles – symbols of everything they had - before Christ. Christ is always carried by humble donkeys! Each of us gets to know Christ through the humble, poor and joyful people in our lives who bring Jesus to us. Christ is not brought to us by pomp or by fashion! He is not imposed on us by rules, reproaches or scolding! How often we try to turn Christianity into a series of reproaches, a ritualism of imposed rules and reactions. What the world needs to see is our humility and joy. Why are we joyful? Because we have met someone who has given everything for us, who has undergone insults, scourging and death just for you and me. We can bring this life and joy to others if we too become humble donkeys and carry the Lord in our lives.

Palm Sunday might seem strange: we reflect on the passion of Jesus, but we begin the liturgy with a happy procession! This joy is very appropriate because the entry into Jerusalem was the beginning of the events (passion, death and resurrection) which are the source of our life and joy. And these events will be perfectly celebrated later in the Mass

This Sunday’s liturgy is unusual. It begins with the Gospel reading from Matthew 21 describing Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Then we have the readings from the Mass leading up to the proclamation of the passion of Our Lord in the Gospel of Matthew. The theme of the Mass is very serious indeed: we are considering the first part of the events of Easter - the passion, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus. But the procession which begins Mass on Palm Sunday is something happy and cheerful! It really is a liturgy with a double flavour, and in that sense it is fully in keeping with Easter. There is a tradition of processions in the Church, but the Palm Sunday version is the procession par excellence. It recalls the entry procession of Jesus into Jerusalem for the events of his passion. In parishes, the procession is often done just from the entrance of the church to the altar, but ideally it should be done along the roads and streets of the neighbourhood. It is a curious thing, but a vivacious, lively, procession is entirely appropriate on this occasion. Why is a public procession important? Because the Church is proclaiming publicly in the procession something that it will fulfil perfectly later in the liturgy. The procession lauds Christ who dies for us and gives meaning to our lives.

Christ is always borne by humble donkeys, by poor joyful people who know that their blessings come from God alone. Christ does not come to us through pomp or through the fashionable things of this world

This particular witness of the Palm Sunday procession is important because Christ always arrives like this, borne by a humble beast of burden. The carrying of a king on a donkey’s back was the fulfilment of a prophetic citation and was used in the rite of coronation by the descendants of David. Jesus is always borne by a vessel that is poor! In the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem, Jesus is borne by believers who wave palm branches, symbols of creation. They throw their mantles – symbolic of everything they own -  on the ground before him. We always encounter Christ through others, almost never in a direct way. It is other believers who have introduced Christ to us. The Lord is brought to us by means of a humble donkey, a poor, cheerful person who takes the things of his life (the palms, the mantles) and praises God with them. These people know that their relationship with God is more important than what other people think of them. The world needs to see this enthusiasm. It doesn’t need to see pomp or fashionable parades. In the Palm Sunday procession the protagonists are poor, joyful people. We Christians are these simple donkeys, these cheerful souls. We are the crowd that cries, “How beautiful that the Lord has come into my life! How wonderful that he has entered into my existence. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise to God in the highest heaven!”

Christ is carried to others by humility and joy. It is not carried by reproaches, by ritualism, by the imposition of rules. People are attracted to join us when they see our humility and experience our joy.

We are poor. We have severe limitations, but the Lord comes into the world though us. We may be fragile but the Lord comes if we open ourselves to him. On this Palm Sunday we reflect on the sufferings of Jesus, but these sufferings need to be sung and announced aloud. They need to be proclaimed by us with whatever means we can muster, by waving our palms, by throwing down our mantles. In doing so we confess, “I have met someone who loves me much, who visits me, who does not leave me alone, who does not abandon me to myself.” This Sunday we make our faith visible, but it is not a public visibility that imposes itself on others. We are not looking to overwhelm or defeat others but to joyfully announce what we believe. We do not seek to constrain others to join us. Rather we invite those to join us who find us joyful. How often we have reduced Christianity to a series of reproaches, to a bitter ritualism composed of imposed rules and reactions. Christianity is naturally suffused with incredulous joy! How can it be that the Lord comes to me, to me, and takes my side? That joy alone has some chance of attracting others to the Lord.

What is the source of our joy? We are joyful because we have met someone who gives everything for us, who suffers to the end for our sake, who loves and values us. We can carry this source of life to others, not borne along by our capacities and perfections, but by our poverty and humility

This Sunday we are called to exude cheerfulness and joy. We must also contemplate the source and root of our joy – someone who is willing to give everything for us. He undergoes insults, scourging, derision, and death, and he does so readily for you and me. There is no need to try to drag ourselves along through life depending solely on our own miserable abilities. There is someone who loves us! I am loved! I am valued! I can shout aloud to the world that my life is illuminated by the Passion of Christ and by his Resurrection. The time of Easter is the most beautiful time in the life of the Christian community because it is the time of the year that we celebrate the true source of life. What does that life spring from! From our capacities and perfections? Hardly! We are donkeys, but we carry the Lord. We are poor but the Lord is with us.