March 20, 2005

Pointers

The Palm Sunday liturgy shows us how to bring the salvation of Jesus to the world.

March 20, Palm Sunday
Matthew 21:1-11
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11
Matthew 26:14–27:66

Palm Sunday does more than start Holy Week, the most solemn time of the church’s liturgical year. It also demonstrates the meaning of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection by means of Scripture and choreography.

Only on this Sunday and Holy Saturday does the church direct the whole congregation to begin Mass outside the church. Two things happen there. First, the congregation can notice something different and special is about to begin. Second, as we receive blessed palms, the liturgy involves us in our Lord’s saving action. The paschal event, which includes Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection, is not merely a fact of history. Jesus is the second person of the Blessed Trinity incarnate. His offering of himself to God, the Father, for us on the cross and his subsequent resurrection transcend history. They are eternal events and therefore remain continually present. That is why the church can invite us to enter this mystery more deeply every day at Mass.

How should we celebrate Holy Week and, for that matter, every Mass we celebrate? Palm Sunday’s Scripture readings point us to the proper attitude. In the first reading Isaiah poetically predicts Jesus’ attitude: “I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” Isaiah’s suffering servant of God hears the Almighty calling him to go through pain and punishment. Jesus, with full assurance of the Father’s infinite love, fulfills this prophecy.

Paul reminds the Philippians and us that Jesus’ attitude should be ours as well. That is, we should be willing to empty ourselves, fully knowing God is with us. This is the narrow way to eternal joy. As with our Lord, whatever pain and humiliation we might feel is insignificant when we keep in mind the reward we receive when the Father responds to our trust. We can experience ourselves rising above the limits of sin and death to the realm of eternal life.

That’s why a Gospel reading precedes the procession with palms. Jesus’ preparations for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem tell us we must start confronting the world with the same resolute attitude Christ had. The Palm Sunday liturgy invites us to start walking boldly and faithfully in the Lord’s footsteps. It points us toward a life of bringing salvation to our world while achieving eternal life in the process.

The rest of the story

Easter will not end until we enter eternal life through Christ.

March 27, Easter Sunday
Acts 10:34, 37-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Colossians 3:1-4
John 20:1-9

As is usual with breaking news stories, the Easter story unfolds gradually. The news came in sporadically in the early morning, just before daybreak. Reliable information was hard to get, despite the magnitude of the occurrence.

First, Mary Magdalene said she discovered the stone had been removed from Jesus’ tomb. She reported to Peter that Jesus’ body had been taken from the tomb. Immediately Peter and the beloved disciple ran to the tomb. Their experience surpassed what Mary had reported. It had to be awesome. By the time the other disciple entered the tomb, he saw and believed. If the site was only an empty burial chamber, why would he not enter immediately, and why would his entrance cause him to believe? It was now a holy place, and he could feel it.

Nevertheless, the amazing story continues. Peter summarizes the rest of the story in a sermon quoted in Acts. The disciples actually saw Jesus. They even ate and drank with the risen Lord. Peter reports this group of believers received a commission to testify to the world that Christ is the judge of the living and the dead.

Why is Easter such a slow-moving event? One would think that an occurrence of such magnitude should be played for all it was worth. An instant flash of blinding light from heaven with a triumphal Lord overcoming all his accusers and executioners seems to be in order. But no.

The Lord’s way of revealing himself is congruent with his confrontation with the devil in the desert. Jesus dismissed as a diabolic temptation the idea of winning the world by resorting to miraculous feats such as jumping from the Temple parapet to be caught in the air by angels.

The method our savior chose was to win the world slowly, one person at a time. He lets us choose to relate to him. Performers of spectacular deeds are just that—performers. Jesus is the real thing and sincerely wants us to be incorporated into his risen body. He wants us to join him with a deep commitment to sharing his life. Shock and awe reduce our freedom. Our gentle, merciful Lord respects it.

Thus the Easter story isn’t complete. It won’t be over until each of us has the opportunity to recognize his presence and enter through him into eternal life.

A mission of mercy

The skepticism of Thomas can help us discover the Lord’s presence.

April 3, Divine Mercy Sunday
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31

The Thomas incident does more than convince us that Christ is our Lord and God. Certainly Thomas’s experience of the risen Christ, despite his skepticism, confirms our belief that Jesus truly and bodily rose from the dead.

As significant as that insight is, there is more. What might ultimately be a more profound reality is also exposed. On Easter night Jesus, according to John’s Gospel, visited his disciples in the Upper Room, breathed on them, and commissioned them to forgive sins. They put that power to action right away as they responded to Thomas’s cynicism. They could have argued with him. They could have harped on his disbelief in them. They could have thrown him out. On the other hand, Thomas could have walked out. He wasn’t getting through to these men who, he probably thought, were delusional. Why did he stay around, and why did the others let him stay?

Could it be because the gift of Christ’s peace was alive and working? In the seven days between Easter and Thomas’s declaration of faith, the reconciliation Jesus demanded of his disciples was working. Thomas remained welcome among his brethren, with conversation and prayer flowing freely. Likely the peace Jesus conferred on Easter was producing overwhelming and redeeming love. Eventually it became so intense that Jesus became visible again.

The Thomas incident models the way we should be church. The first reading from Acts records that the early Christian community kept the spirit of the Upper Room alive. Luke recounts the evidence of total love for one another. The members lived together, held all material things in common, met every day, and broke bread together in their homes. The healing, inviting presence of the Lord must have been tangible. That presence could not help but give the disciples the knowledge of God’s mercy.

By means of that mercy we can do wondrous deeds even today. Mercy, more than any other virtue, has the power to penetrate the human heart and soul, like lubricating oil on rusted machinery. That’s Jesus’ method of bringing more people to him. He uses the church to anoint people with the balm of his mercy. We need to find more skeptics and make “believing Thomases” out of them. We’ll all be rewarded by seeing the presence of our Lord and our God.

Father Brando is pastor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish in Cleveland.

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