Blessed Palm Sunday! As usual, Sunday's will be a reflection on the readings and especially the gospel, of the Sunday. Palm Sunday has two gospels, when the longer form of the Procession is used. The Readings of the mass are the same for all three liturgical cycle's, but the Gospel, which is the long passion gospel, does change based on the Liturgical Cycle used.
Nonetheless, I like where our priest went with his homily. And I will try to sum it up and put it in my own words as well.
He begins by talking about how we are so used to how Palm Sunday goes. We pick Palms, we have a blessing, and we have the long passion readings. For me, this season is one I remember very well. I remember the Red Vestments, the picking of the Palms, and the priest who would walk around the parish church and Bless us and our palms with the Holy Water. I remember the hymn, "The King of Glory", as well. For the priest who gave the homily, he remembers picking the best palm, (as he said, as if all other palms were worse), and during the homily, trying to make little palm crosses.
He then said how this can become to routine. This can become just another thing we go along doing on year to the next. But, this is a poor attitude. On this day, the church invites us to join into the Passion of our Lord, to start first with his entrance into Jerusalem. As the crowds acclaimed him carrying palms, with shouts of "Hosanna, to the Son of David."
Hosanna means "save us, we beseech you". But in this same breath that we acclaim, "save us", we also proclaim, "crucify him, crucify him". How can we reconcile these two phrases. The answer is, no, we cannot. But Christ can.
In this time, Christ asks us to follow him, to cry out to him, "save us". For, by his death, out of this time, out of all this seemingly ugliness and evil, Christ brings the greatest of goodness, that is, our salvation. Palm Sunday, is anything but routine. It is a time for us, to allow Christ to enter into our hearts, just as he entered into Jerusalem.
Special Thanks to Rev. Fr. Brian Geary - MJS
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