It’s easy to say Hosanna, it’s hard to stand under the cross

We really are thrown by the liturgy. Is this a triumphal celebration or a remembrance of the Cross? The Church catches this contrast even in its naming of the day. It is no longer just “Palm Sunday.” Nor is it “Passion Sunday.” No, the proper name of today’s celebration is Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.

Mar 23, 2018

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (Year B)
Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Gospel: Mark 14:1-15, 47

This liturgy contains a huge contrast. We began with the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. We joined the crowds in proclaiming, “Hosanna.” We marched into the Church singing “All Glory Praise and Honour,” and then, suddenly, the mood darkens. We see the priest take off the white cloak and put on red vestments. We heard the reading about the suffering servant. We heard how Christ emptied himself, accepting death on a cross. And then we proclaimed the Passion.

We really are thrown by the liturgy. Is this a triumphal celebration or a remembrance of the Cross? The Church catches this contrast even in its naming of the day. It is no longer just “Palm Sunday.” Nor is it “Passion Sunday.” No, the proper name of today’s celebration is Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Today, exaltation and suffering are intertwined.

Perhaps this weekend, as in the past, a thoughtful parishioner, many times a child, will make a cross out of palm for me. I like to keep one in my suit pocket. I also like to put palms around the pictures in my house. I want to remember what took place and what takes place. I want to remember the events of 2000 years ago and my own participation in these events today. I want to remember the times that I am upbeat and full of enthusiasm in my faith, and I want to remember the times that I run from the challenges the faith demands, the challenges of the cross. Where were the crowds on Calvary? Where am I when confronted with the challenges of life? Where are you? Can we climb Golgotha and unite our difficulties to his cross, or do we only want to be in the presence of the Lord when we can say “Hosanna?” Is our faith a matter of good feelings, or are we committed to the Lord?

We have many choices in life. The most important of these is our decision to accept Jesus Christ. But accepting the Lord means being united to him both in his glory and in his passion. Accepting the Lord means being united to him in the joyful times of our lives and through the challenges of our lives.

We celebrate Holy Week this week. The holiest week of the year is given to us to remember the past and allow it to be a reality in our present. And so we approach the sacrament of penance if we have not already done so during Lent, and we ask forgiveness for the times we have turned from the Lord, perhaps even run from the Lord. We attend the Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday and we pray that we might be faithful to the new and eternal covenant of the Blood. We venerate the cross on Good Friday and enter into a deep meditation on its wondrous power. And, finally, we celebrate the resurrection on Easter Sunday, exalting in the gift of the eternal life of Christ.

Come and pray with your parish this week. May this be a holy week for you and your families. -- By Msgr Joseph A Pellegrino

Thoughts From the Early Church

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
When Jesus entered Jerusalem like a triumphant conqueror, many were astonished at the majesty of his bearing; but when a short while afterward he entered upon his passion, his appearance was ignoble, an object of derision.

If today’s procession and passion are considered together, in the one Jesus appears as sublime and glorious, in the other as lowly and suffering. The procession makes us think of the honour reserved for a king, whereas the passion shows us the punishment due to a thief.

In the one Jesus is surrounded by glory and honour, in the other “he has neither dignity nor beauty.” In the one he is the joy of all and the glory of the people, in the other “the butt of men and the laughing stock of the people.”

In the one he receives the acclamation: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes as the king of Israel”; in the other there are shouts that he is guilty of death and he is reviled for having set himself up as king of Israel.

In the procession the people meet Jesus with palm branches, in the passion they slap him in the face and strike his head with a rod. In the one they extol him with praises, in the other they heap insults upon him.

In the one they compete to lay their clothes in his path, in the other he is stripped of his own clothes. In the one he is welcomed to Jerusalem as a just king and saviour, in the other he is thrown out of the city as a criminal, condemned as an impostor.

In the one he is mounted on an ass and accorded every mark of honour; in the other he hangs on the wood of the cross, torn by whips, pierced with wounds, and abandoned by his own.

If, then, we want to follow our leader without stumbling through prosperity and through adversity, let us keep our eyes upon him, honored in the procession, undergoing ignominy and suffering in the passion, yet unshakably steadfast in all such changes of fortune.

Lord Jesus, you are the joy and salvation of the whole world; whether we see you seated on an ass or hanging on the cross, let each one of us bless and praise you, so that when we see you reigning on high we may praise you forever and ever, for to you belong praise and honor throughout all ages. Amen. -- Guerric of Igny (c. 1070/80-1157)

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