Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton
HOMILY
Palm Sunday – April 17, 2011
As it does every year, today the Church invites us into a journey – the journey of Holy Week – during which we are given the opportunity to reflect upon the painful sequence of events in the life of Jesus – beginning with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem that we commemorate today through the events of the Last Supper, his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and betrayal to his crucifixion and death – sobering events, each of which must take place for God to glorify Jesus – and to bring salvation to a broken world – through his resurrection.
We begin with the gospel for the Blessing of Palms that sets the stage for the journey. It’s noteworthy to begin this reflection by taking a look at the role of the crowds in Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday, they cried out: “Hosanna! Blest is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Yet, the Passion narrative that we just concluded reminds us that on Good Friday, they cried out a different message: “Crucify him!”
The same people – changing their minds? Perhaps some are the same. But before we chastise them for their fickle ways, let’s take some care to assess where we stand along the way – for therein can be found the real blessing of the journey and the hope that is given to us, through faith.
One of the more remarkable aspects of the gospel narrative of the Passion that we just heard today is the WAY in which we heard it. Holy Week is the only time that the gospel is proclaimed by someone besides a bishop, priest or deacon. Every individual in this church takes part. It’s a great privilege. It gives us a role in Christ’s passion. But what do we say? Listen to the lines that we are given: “Not this one! Give us Barabbas!” “Hail, King of the Jews!” “Take him away. Crucify him.”
We’re the mob. And we assist in condemning Christ to death. And the great irony, of course, is that we do it while clutching palm branches. We might take offense at this statement, but we’re really no different than the crowds in Jerusalem. We start out acting like angels, singing “Hosanna.” And we end up just being the mob.
No – we’re not the worst people who ever lived – far from it. Yet for the journey of this Holy Week to have meaning, we must own our place within it. To be a part of the Body of Christ is to be with him on the cross. To be a member of the church is to both acknowledge our sinfulness and the potential for good within us.
The Church, you and me, this gathering of God’s people on Palm Sunday, 2011 with Jesus in our midst, is no different than an earlier gathering – at the crucifixion when Jesus hung in the midst of two thieves – two broken, sinful men, still maintaining – at the very end – a potential for good within themselves. One of those thieves, in another passion narrative, taps that potential through faith and gives us words to live by: “Jesus, remember me.”
Isn’t that what this journey – the journey of Holy Week and the journey of our lives as Christians – is all about? “Jesus, remember me as I carry my cross. Let my cross – because of your cross – become life-giving, transforming and redemptive.”
Indeed, the cross of Calvary has the power to speak to every cross that finds its way to our shoulders – mine and yours. It speaks to crosses that we create as a result of our abuse and lack of respect of others, our greed, pride and selfishness. The cross of Calvary speaks to the crosses that emerge as we worry for loved ones, wait for lab results, cope with loss and estrangement, as we try to figure out what to do in the wake of a job loss or financial catastrophe, as we find ourselves burdened with the frailty of age.
As the cross of Calvary speaks to us in our brokenness, and sinfulness, we ask that Jesus remember us. We pray that we may be better than we are, and receive better than we deserve. We pray that we, who often deserve to be forgotten, may be remembered.
And, my sisters and brothers, we will find the strength to open our lives to Jesus and the cross of Calvary through the Eucharist that we celebrate this day. For in this sacrament, the passion, death and resurrection that Jesus experienced is made present time and again in our lives. This presence enables us to share in the benefits of Jesus’ cross. Because of it, we CAN speak of seeing through our crosses and of our dying to sin and rising to new life because we participate in the very mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
With faith, then, may we begin the journey of this Holy Week with the recognition that the crosses that we carry are not empty burdens with little value. When embraced with faith and the recognition of the need in our lives for a power bigger than ourselves through which we find meaning and hope, every cross – because of Jesus’ cross – can be carried into a the world of God’s redeeming love and embracing grace.
This is the world that Jesus proclaimed as he entered Jerusalem in triumph on Palm Sunday, fully aware that his cross was a prelude – not only to his death but also to his glorious resurrection.
