PALM SUNDAY C
2019
Today begins the most sacred week of the Church’s entire
liturgical year. We will walk with Jesus through Holy Week in
the pattern of his death and resurrection, to renew our baptismal
commitment. The week we call holy
invites us to enter into the heart of our faith.
Traditionally during Holy Week we focus on the
sufferings of Jesus. We have prayed the
Stations of the Cross each Friday of the Lenten season. But it is not suffering, not even the
sufferings of Jesus that makes this week holy.
Rather it is holy because of love -- the reconciling love of God who has
come to live among us in the person of Jesus Christ. God’s love is the only thing that stands
between utter chaos and an attempt to stand whole and complete in the middle of
crisis. God’s love is the only thing
that makes sense out of suffering, conflict and tragedy. God’s love does not do
away with suffering; the very fact of the cross should teach us that. God’s love makes it possible to hear it, to
remember it, to share in it, and, yes, even to celebrate it. God’s love brings meaning to this week of
dueling emotions; God’s love is the essence of the story of salvation.
This week is holy because of love, but it is love
misunderstood. Jesus is a hero, but not
in the traditional pattern of heroism.
He actually looks more like a victim.
He is not triumphant as we understand triumph. Instead he appears to be a failure. Judging by one set of standards, Jesus has
not met our expectations. But according
to another standard – the standard of unconditional love –he has far surpassed
our expectations. At once regal and
lowly, he brought healing and holiness to others through his own pain and
brokenness. He would claim victory by
being defeated; he would establish his reign by serving and by dying. His crown would be a weave of thorns.
Palm Sunday is not about ancient history. It is about NOW. Jesus still refuses to save the world by what
we recognize as power. He still does not
use divine power to wipe out disease, poverty, crime, oppression, injustice or
error. He still tries to convert instead
of control. He still chooses to love
rather than punish. He still chooses
meekness over might, simplicity over plenty, service over sovereignty and
suffering over strong-arm tactics.
When our servant king returns, will he recognize in his
Church the policies that he established so long ago? Do the following questions resonate with the
life and ministry of our parish community?
Are the members of our parish staff the
servants of all?
Will the poor be welcomed as honored guests at the banquet tables of the
rich or will they still be the hired help who are relegated to the leftovers in
the kitchen? Will the sick and the
elderly experience healing through the compassion and caring of others or will
they languish alone and unattended? Will
Christ still find members of his body still willing to turn the other cheek,
walk the extra mile and forgive seventy times seven times? Will the followers of Jesus evoke from their
contemporaries a comment like that was paid to their ancestors in faith, “See
how they love one another.”?
Will we the parishioners of Holy Spirit, the disciples
of Jesus, be recognized as witnesses of the unconditional love of Jesus? Will you pastor be seen as the servant of
all? Will our parish community be a
beacon of God’s merciful love in the community of Webster and Penfield?
Have a Blessed Holy Week.
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