Celebrant: Christ suffered
and died so that we might become sons and daughters of God. As such, we can
now pray to the Father.
Deacon/Lector:
That those to be baptized
and received into the Church this Easter may be kept safe from doubt and
strong against all temptation, we pray to the Lord...
That those who have never
heard of Jesus may come to know how much he suffered for them, and may
believe in his resurrection, we pray to the Lord...
That the saving death of
Jesus may restore in us a deep reverence and respect for every human life,
for which He sacrificed His own life, we pray to the Lord...
That during this Holy Week,
those in our families and parish who no longer practice the Faith may hear
God's call and return, we pray to the Lord...
That travelers may
experience protection, strength, and the joy of friends and family, we pray
to the Lord...
That the sick may be healed
and the departed welcomed into the joy of everlasting life, we pray to the
Lord...
Celebrant:
Father,
keep before our eyes
the suffering and death of your Son.
May we find in him
strength for our journey
and victory over every evil.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jesus’ Death is Our
Example
“Jesus, who upon entering
into the world said: "I have come, O God, to do your will" (cf. Heb 10:9),
made himself obedient to the Father in everything and, "having loved his own
who were in the world, he loved them to the end" (Jn 13:1), giving himself
completely for them. He who had come "not to be served but to serve, and to
give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45), attains on the Cross the
heights of love: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). And he died for us while we were yet
sinners (cf. Rom 5:8).In this way Jesus proclaims that life finds its
center, its meaning and its fulfillment when it is given up. At this point
our meditation becomes praise and thanksgiving, and at the same time urges
us to imitate Christ and follow in his footsteps (cf. 1 Pt 2:21). We too are
called to give our lives for our brothers and sisters, and thus to realize
in the fullness of truth the meaning and destiny of our existence.” -- John
Paul II (The Gospel of Life, n. 51)
Mt 21:1-11
Is 50:4-7
Phil 2:6-11
Mt 26:14—27:66 or 27:11-54
We come today to the start
of a week which brings us to the center and climax of the entire liturgical
year and the very heart of the Gospel in which we believe: Christ has died,
Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
We have been preparing for
all of Lent to celebrate the events of these days – events that are so
crucial to human history and to our own lives, that they require a whole
season of repentance and preparation to celebrate them worthily. We are
blessed and privileged to be able to say that we believe that through the
events related in the Passion narrative, God has revealed his love for us,
he has opened the way for the forgiveness of all our sins, and he has placed
in our hands the gift of eternal life.
1. God has revealed his
love for us. St. Paul tells the Romans that God demonstrated his love for us
precisely in that Christ laid down his life for us sinners. By his decision
to go to Jerusalem, he decides at the same time to give his life for us. He
knew exactly what was going to happen to him and consented to it fully.
His entry into the city is
triumphant. The acclaim that greeted him is in stark contrast to the shouts
of the crowd on Friday saying, “Crucify him!” At the same time, the triumph
of Palm Sunday represents the fact that by coming to Jerusalem, he is in
fact bringing about the triumph of grace over sin and life over death. His
being lifted up on the cross is in fact a lifting up in glory. What we see
there is not weakness, but strength – the strength to give one’s life for
others who need to be saved. What we see there is the triumphant victory of
obedience over rebellion. Christ is obedient to the Father, even to death,
to undo our disobedience which led to death.
We can say that those who
acclaimed Christ as he entered Jerusalem didn’t realize how right they were.
There was more to celebrate than met the eye or that could meet their minds.
Love was about to be revealed in a way that would change human history and
usher in the Kingdom of salvation.
At the beginning of
Christianity, some claimed wrongly that Jesus did not really suffer in his
passion, but only appeared to suffer. The Church teaches, however, that “he
suffered, died and was buried.” This is an article of faith. His suffering
and death were real – and that makes his love all the more clear.
2. God has opened the way
for the forgiveness of our sins. What came upon the shoulders of Jesus when
the cross was laid upon him? What came upon his head when the crown of
thorns was placed upon him? What came upon his body when the lashes were
carried out against him? Our sins came upon him. As a Holy Week hymn says,
“Who was the guilty?
Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason,
Jesus, has undone Thee.
I am the guilty.
I it was denied Thee.
I crucified Thee.”
This is the day, and this
is the Mass, in which we all reaffirm, with utter conviction and profound
gratitude, that the forgiveness of our sins flows from the blood of His
cross, and that we are to run to the cross yet again as the only place from
which we can find that forgiveness.
3. The events of this day
bring eternal life to the world. God is in the business of destroying death.
He submits to it and then robs it of his power through his resurrection. Our
entire faith is centered on these events. All the sacraments and all our
prayers derive their effectiveness from these events. Every teaching of the
Church and all the preaching throughout the world is for the purpose of
announcing these events. The whole purpose of the Church and all its
ministries is to apply the fruits of these events to every human being and
to society itself.
God destroys death, and he
continues to do so through us. The events related this day make us the
People of Life. They renew our conviction that God cares about human life,
and that we must as well. In the light of the passion and death of Christ,
which is the passion and death of God himself, no human being can be
indifferent to violence. In the light of what Christ did to rescue us from
death, we realize our call to rescue others from death. This rescue
starts with the most vulnerable human beings in our midst, the children
still living within their mothers’ wombs, and deprived of the right to life
by abortion. Some are tempted to take life rather than sacrifice themselves
to protect and nurture it. Yet when we see what God has done for us, we find
that the very meaning of life is to give ourselves for the good of the
other. In the light of Palm Sunday, it makes no sense to hold back on our
love, or our sacrifice on behalf of human life.
And it is that simple truth
that the palm branches we carry home today are meant to remind us of
throughout the year. Let us run to the cross of Christ, thanking him for the
eternal life he brings, and resolving to be the People of Life in the world.
