Homily – Palm Sunday

We begin this weekend reading two Gospels and the contrast between the two narratives is striking.  Initially, Jesus arrives triumphantly into Jerusalem followed by the account of his cruel passion.  Humanity’s mood rapidly swings screaming out in the first, “hosanna in the highest” and then screaming a few days later “away with him, away with him, crucify him.”  Today, they lay palms, branches and cloths before Him and in a few days, they will nail him to a tree, stripping him of his own cloths and casting lots on them.

Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week involving the drama of Jesus’ paschal mystery including his passion, death and resurrection.  Similar to many dramas in cinema and theatre, we will observe the scenes unfold, watching the highs and lows of the main character Jesus, with a magnificent plot twist at the end overcoming death.  However, unlike any other show, this holds a unique genre of a theo-drama or God’s drama.  Our Holy Week liturgies offer us a chance to partake in this spectacle, not simply by observing from the outside as a viewer but entering into the mystery as participants.  We do this in the liturgy by remembering the past event of Jesus’ saving actions, bringing it forward to the present with our participation, while leading us towards the future of the eternal Jerusalem.  The history of His-story also becomes a part of our story.

Our involvement in Jesus’ story begins with the procession or solemn entrance of Palm Sunday.  The entrance antiphon calling out “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he comes in the name of the Lord,” along with the blessing of the palms is reminiscent of the crowd’s jubilation of welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem with a donkey.  It is our way of remembering and witnessing the victory and triumph of Jesus conquering with peace and humility, compared to the image of a victorious figure riding on a powerful warhorse.

Each week the Mass or the liturgy remembers the events of Jesus’ past, brings it into the present while leading us towards our future.  During Holy Week, our liturgies are more moving, spectacular and dramatic filled with greater solemnity.  I invite you all to approach this sacred time of the of year with the same intensity allowing the drama of Jesus’ paschal mystery to unfold but to also be immersed and deeply enfolded in it.

By Fr Ian Vergel