Friday 3 April 2020


April 5th 2020. Palm Sunday
GOSPEL: Mt 21:1-11
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

PROCESSIONAL GOSPEL: Mt 21:1-11
When they were near Jerusalem and had come in sight of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village facing you, and you will immediately find a tethered donkey and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, “The Master needs them and will send them back directly”.’ This took place to fulfil the prophecy:
‘Say to the daughter of Zion:
Look, your king comes to you;
he is humble, he rides on a donkey
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’
So the disciples went out and did as Jesus had told them. They brought the donkey and the colt, then they laid their cloaks on their backs and he sat on them. Great crowds of people spread their cloaks on the road, while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in his path. The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed were all shouting:
 ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heavens!’
 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil. ‘Who is this?’ people asked, and the crowds answered, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee’.
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . .  Matthew is constantly citing the Old Testament, showing how Jesus fulfils the Scriptures. Why? Is it a way of defending the authenticity of Christ? But Scripture doesn’t need to certify itself! The main reason for these citations is to show that Christ is following the plan laid out for him long ago by the Father. He is not just improvising as he goes along. Christ doesn’t come in his own name but in the name of the Lord. As the people said when Jesus entered Jerusalem, “Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!” All of the sufferings that Jesus undergoes were foreseen by the Father and it was ordained that he would accept them. This does not mean that the evil that was inflicted on Jesus was willed by God. Sin is never God’s will. But the response that we make to evil is something that is desired by God. Jesus is faced with great evil, but he responds to it with the Father, in the Father, according to the Father.  In our lives too, a plan of salvation is unfolding. But we spoil that plan unless, like Jesus, we live as children of the Father. Since the Garden of Eden we have tried to be like God and act with complete autonomy. The coronavirus is an evil, but we have the choice to follow Jesus and respond to this evil with the Father, in the Father, according to the Father. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, if we manage to live the events of our lives according to the Father, then the path of our lives becomes the plan of God, the story of our salvation. If I respond to the evil of the coronavirus with faith in God, hope in God and love for God and others, then the situation becomes an occasion of salvation. Don’t forget, the greatest evil in history, the killing of Christ, the most innocent of all people, became through faith the springboard of salvation. In these desolate days, if I can choose to make acts of faith, acts of abandonment  to God, acts of fraternity with others, then all of this darkness can be transformed into light.

Matthew is constantly citing the Old Testament, showing how Jesus fulfils the Scriptures. Why? Is it a way of defending the authenticity of Christ? But Scripture doesn’t need to certify itself. The main reason for these citations is to show that Christ is following the plan laid out for him long ago by the Father. In our lives too, a plan of salvation is unfolding   
If we try to listen in a united way to the Passion of Jesus according to Matthew, we note that many times, explicitly or implicitly, the scriptures are quoted. This feature pervades almost every paragraph of the story. In the other evangelists this element is also present, but in Matthew it is very pronounced. Why? Perhaps the evangelist wants to emphasize: "Have you seen? Jesus fulfilled exactly what was written. He was in the right and our testimony is confirmed by Scripture". No, the Word of God is not so trivial. It does not need to certify itself. It is not on the defensive, but it is proactive, creative. So why does Matthew make all of these citations to the Old Testament? Because they demonstrate that Jesus is not merely improvising. Like a musician he is following a score. He is carrying out the Father's plan. According to Matthew, the last word that Jesus says is the quotation from Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This is not only an expression of his pain but the key to everything. In fact, if we go to read that psalm, we will see the entirety of his passion expressed as a prayer, right up to the glory of the resurrection. To understand where his pain is leading, you must read that psalm. It is quite true what Saint Jerome said: "Ignoring the Scriptures means ignoring Christ". But how does this perspective help us? When salvation enters our existence, it begins to reveal that our history is not just a succession of human acts, There is, inexplicably, a plan of God unfolding in our lives. And this plan is always a plan of salvation. Human responsibilities exist, our faults exist, injustices exist, and evil must not be done, and those who commit injustices will account for it to God. Pain must be alleviated, cured and, if possible, avoided. But there is a plan that God, despite the evil that we do or suffer, still carries out.

The current passion that we are experiencing can become an occasion of salvation if we can unite ourselves to Christ and live it in love.
God knows how to draw good out of evil. And he has only one project, as St. Paul says: "He wants all people to be saved" (1 Tim 2: 4). Salvation is being offered to us always, in all the things that happen to us, even in those of which he will then ask for an account.
Where does Covid-19 come from? We may never know. But the hidden pathway towards our salvation can also be found in this situation. If God has saved the world by means of the greatest of crimes, the cross of Christ, then our faith announces that even in the immense pain of our present world, salvation can be won. The evil that is being suffered by many people is reversed by God when this painful situation becomes an occasion for a person’s conversion and salvation. But this disaster for health and the economy is not an automatic mechanism that leads to salvation. It is an offer from God and the choice is ours. The cross in itself is only a gallows, Christ made it an act of love. This is the opportunity being presented to each one of us now. We are undergoing a passion, but it can be lived in love. Ours always remains a salvation story.

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