Father Riley's homily for Palm Sunday 2020

PALM SUNDAY - A - 20   The Passion According To St. Matthew

“It is just unreal,” I have heard people saying in reference to the present crisis. Who would have thought it would continue to impact our lives? Life will never be the same again.

I can only begin to imagine that somewhat similar words were used by Jesus’ disciples and friends to express their feelings after having witnessed his crucifixion as well as in the days following his death and burial. The story of Jesus’ Passion is all too familiar. It is a tale of two stories.

It begins with a triumphal entry into the Holy City where Christ is greeted with shouts of Hosanna and blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. The people seemed more than willing to welcome him as their Savior as he rode humbly into Jerusalem on a donkey.

By the time of Christ, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political messiah to deliver them from Roman control and to reestablish David’s kingdom. In humility, Jesus shows that he has not come to establish an earthly kingdom. He does not ride on a horse or in a chariot, but on a donkey - a sign of humility and peace (Zech. 9.9).

How quickly the scene changes from a triumphal entry to one of betrayal, abandonment, arrest, and cries of crucify him from the very people he had come to rescue and who only days before had welcomed him. It is just unreal, his disciples must have said to themselves.

Who would have thought that Jesus would be handed over by his own people to be crucified as a common criminal? Life will never be the same again, and it has not. If we say we know the story and read over it quickly without giving it any real thought, we miss the depth of its meaning.

If we read it without putting ourselves into it somewhere, then, we do not see it as our story. It is so important to us that the Church in her wisdom confronts us with Christ’ Passion twice each Holy Week; Palm Sunday and Good Friday. It is our story for it has impacted our lives as well as the life of the world. The world has never been the same since.

It is interesting that it begins in a garden. Jesus is praying, and the Tempter comes to him during his prayer to the Father as he did to Adam and Eve in the garden as they awaited the presence of God. The temptation is the same as it was in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry. Jesus struggles with his human will over against that of the divine will of God.

He prays that the cup of his passion might pass him by, but surrenders his humanity to the Father’s will becoming obedient to the death that has enslaved humanity. Three times, he prays that the cup might pass while the disciples sleep unaware of the spiritual struggle he is undergoing.

The hour is near as Judas approaches. Jesus is betrayed by one he calls “friend,” and the disciples abandon him. Arrested, he is taken to the high priest where a mock trial takes place. When asks if he is the Messiah, Jesus says that he is. For his answer, he is condemned for blasphemy and led away to Pilate for execution.

After questioning him, Pilate finds no crime in him and desires to release him. But the people insist that he be crucified. They chose a murderer over Jesus. Pilate relents and gives in to the crowd’s demand that he release Barabbas and have Jesus crucified.

He has Jesus scourged in preparation for his death on the cross. Weakened by his scourging, Jesus is unable to carry his cross through the narrow and winding streets of Jerusalem to the place of his execution. The streets are lined with Pilgrims who have come from all over the empire to celebrate Passover and now find themselves witnessing this horrific event.

One of the soldiers detailed to escort Jesus to Calvary, picks Simon of Cyrene out of the crowd to carry the cross of Christ to the place of his execution. There Jesus is nailed to the cross between two criminals. A placard is placed over his head that reads: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

As he hung dying on the cross the tempter returns through the voices of the passersby and those who stood near watching him die. “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

The chief priests also mocked him and tempted him. “If he is the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.” Even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing.

Jesus willingly gives up his spirit. Immediately the veil of the Temple is torn in two from top to bottom. An earthquake split the rocks and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the Old Testament saints were raised, and went into the Holy City and appeared too many. What a strange sight that must have been.

The Passion of Jesus is a tale of two stories, Triumph and Tragedy. It is a story that carries within it two themes, suffering and glory. It is a story that continues to impact the lives of those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that by His life, death and resurrection salvation has come into the world.

Accepting Christ in his suffering and glory has changed us. We are not the same as we were before we accepted him. In baptism, we were buried with Christ and raised to new life in him. The difference the story makes to our life is that through baptism and faith, we are living in Jesus and he is living in us. Our lives, as St. Paul says, are now hidden in Christ.

The story of Jesus’ Passion is our story. Do we not see ourselves in it? Welcoming him into our lives on the one hand and rejecting him at times on the other by our words and deeds. Do we not see ourselves in the crowd that lined the narrow streets?

Not wanting to get involved or to intervene yet pulled from the crowd by the love of God and now find ourselves journeying with him to the cross? It is unreal to think that one would willingly die for so many but he did. And our lives have been changed and directed by Jesus’ death on the cross.

Who would have thought that the Passion of Jesus would continue to impact our lives and the life of the world, but it does, for his death brings life to all who are joined to him.

May God grant us His grace that we may walk in the way of His suffering, and also come to share in His resurrection. AMEN+