Readings
of the day: At the procession with palm branches: Matthew 21:1-11.
During the Mass: Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24;
Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66
Who among us is ready for Holy Week? So
Holy Week begins with this, our Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.
I could ask this same question every
time we gather for Mass. Are we ready to celebrate the Eucharist? I suspect
that, if we thought carefully, most of us would wonder if it is even possible
to be ready for such a magnificent celebration as the Mass. Many of us try to
overcome the distractions and worries of our everyday lives when we prepare
ourselves for Mass. We are fortunate if we have managed not to become upset at
another driver who has cut us off on our way to Mass (Oops!); if we have gotten
everybody up and to Mass on time, without any complaining; if before Mass
started someone in the next pew or at the back of the church were not disrupting
our silent and prayerful preparation by speaking too loudly…
I sometimes find it
difficult to be as ready for Mass as I should. Now magnify this difficulty in
preparing prayerfully for Mass by the intensity of Holy Week. It may be
impossible for any of us to be ready for Holy Week! Fortunately, Jesus does not
ask us to be fully ready to encounter him. This would be an impossible task for
us. Instead, especially in our Eucharist; our Holy Week; our Palm Sunday of the
Lord’s Passion, Jesus meets us as we are; as unprepared as we are to encounter
him.
The first Holy Week, almost two thousand
years ago, and every Holy Week since Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly, was
and has been about people who are not ready to encounter our Lord Jesus; and
Jesus who knows our lack of readiness to encounter him and yet meets us as we
are.
We begin Palm Sunday by receiving palm
branches. While it is true that the palm branches we hold are a symbol of
royalty (we welcome a king, Jesus Christ, into Jerusalem; into our midst) and
also of martyrdom (notice how icons and statues of those who died for their
faith, St. Cecilia for example, often include a palm branch), our palm branches
also remind us that we are not yet ready to encounter our Lord Jesus.
The crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem
waving palm branches crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord.” Within just one week, the crowds would be
crying out, “Let him be crucified!” The crowds in Jesus’ time were not ready to
encounter their Lord.
Among Jesus’ closest friends, Peter
would deny him. Judas Iscariot would betray him. Most of the others would flee the
scene. They were not ready to encounter their friend; their Lord.
And here we are. We have begun our
celebration of Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion; our Holy Week by hearing,
“Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Within this same Mass, we have joined the cry of the crowds of Jesus’ time:
“Let him be crucified!” We are sinners. We are as frail as Jesus’ first
apostles. We are not fully ready to encounter our Lord.
Yet Jesus meets us
where we are. We experience forgiveness of sin through Christ’s passion and
death; through our celebration of Holy Week that begins today: “Hosanna to the
Son of David.” By being lifted up on the cross, Jesus lifts us up to eternal
life. Are we ready?
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