Here is my homily for this weekend. God bless us all as we enter Holy Week!
Audio: Palm Sunday – Cycle C, 2013
Text:
Palm Sunday – Cycle C
March 18/19, 2013
Isaiah 50: 4-7; Phil 2: 6-11; Lk 22: 14 – 23: 56
Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem riding on the back of a colt. He rides through the people of his time, on their road and byways, trying to inch his way forward toward the gates of the city. It isn’t smooth going for him in some sense because there are so many people, so many men and women who lived out there; there were so many people who lived on the roads and in the country because they didn’t have the means to live inside the city. They didn’t have the money or the prestige.
Yes, the Old Testament told them that the Messiah would ride on a donkey; not a horse, or a prancing stallion, just a donkey. Even though the Scriptures were clear about this, many people inside the city walls didn’t understand or maybe they thought God was just teasing them a bit because they thought that the Messiah would come with great worldly power, in a chariot or on a splendid white horse.
The people outside the walls could see though that the Messiah was riding a donkey.
The Pharisees scolded Jesus telling him to quiet the people down. “The very stones will cry out if the people do not.” He said. Yes, even the stones were ready to cry out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Then Jesus entered the city walls, the walls of influence and power in society and Church. Everything changed within a week. Now Jesus was in the presence of people who counted, the rich and the powerful. These people do not cheer and acclaim him, but they complain about him. They accuse him of blasphemy and sedition. The rich and the powerful saw him as a threat and they sought to kill him. And they did.
Where will you find our Lord today? Look for him in the lives of the mentally ill, the addicted and the homeless. Look for him in the victims of injustice. Do you want to see Jesus? Look for him not in the halls of power and influence but in the backstreets and in the neighborhoods where the powerless live. Look for him with the people who do not count, who are ignored and looked down upon. When you find him, follow him.
Meditate on the cross and the crucifixion. Jesus is in the presence of criminals, foreigners, women, and soldiers. The rich and the powerful have left him to die. Follow him to Golgotha. Follow him to the cross.
Yes, the cross received him. The repentant thief received him. The centurion received him. His mother Messiah and King.received him. God the Father received him.
The place for Jesus is out on the streets of our world, in the byways of the people. This is where we are to be also, on the streets sharing his Word with a hungry world, a world that yearns for him. We are not to keep his Word lock up inside the walls of our lives.
Let us walk with Jesus this Holy Week to his glorious Resurrection. Let us welcome him and acclaim him our Messiah and King!
