Un-Quiet Word for Today, Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
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“The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them….he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back."
Isaiah 50: 4-5
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The Un-Quiet Word for Today, April 10th, 2022.
Let us be frank, who are those who finish first in daily life? Who are those who make it ? and who are those who lag behind?
Finishing First
Do conscientious people finish first? Do dedicated little people in ordinary life make it to the top? Does devotion pay off? Who finish first in reality and who finish last?
The shocking surprise of Palm Sunday is that, yes it is the little, the devoted, the conscientious, the ‘nice guys’ who finish first – this is what pays off in the kingdom to come.
The stumbling block to the above conviction is suffering and pain. For example, when devotedness seems to yield dishonor, pain or distortion, we give up. The messiah who is to come in the first reading to restore the nation of Israel is not your ideal savior according to worldly standards. He is a ‘suffering servant. One who lives for more than self, one who has been given the gift of speech to rouse up the weary. He will be a good listener for others. He will sacrifice self-preservation for bringing worth to others. He endures all this however with a deep confidence that devotion pays off, that humiliation does not have the last word. His self-renunciation will be an inspiration for others. Yes, he might seem to be a loser, but he is in fact a winner, a victor.
What is it that motivates my daily behavior? What are my principles of living? What does it mean for you to be at the top? What does endure for others' wellbeing? (Others beyond family and relatives). How might we cultivate in our society the responsibility of others? To heal a broken world means to have the responsibility of others re-taught to the world.
Saint Paul seems to ask, by what standard does the Christian, a disciple, measure their life? The answer is – imitate Christ’s behavior:“Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Renunciation and self-sacrifice are the DNA of true Christian discipleship.
What have you recently renounced for others? (I will have less, so others may have better or some too.)
Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?
Try to imagine Pilate and Jesus standing face to face. If anybody knew about how to have and exercise authority and power, it was the Romans. They are masters at projecting confidence and dominating space. We observe this in the architecture of their courts and palaces. So, I imagine it is with a little sarcasm that Pilate asks Jesus where He is King? (You??)
Jesus on the other hand is probably sweaty and smelly, bruised and weak. He has a mock crown of thorns on his head and is clad in torn clothes and is in chains, bare foot! (What sort of King is this?). Yet, if Pilate only knew, who is standing next to him? If only, he realized that God is here, but how appearances can be very deceptive. (Pilate believes he is first)“The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them
and those in authority over them are addressed as ‘Benefactors’;
but among you it shall not be so.
Rather, let the greatest among you be as the youngest,
and the leader as the servant.
I am among you as the one who serves” (Luke 23: 25-27)
Jesus does not exploit his divine status to self-serve, rather he gives up himself. Devotedness will pay off.
How often we exploit situations, to get ahead, to deny another their rightful place or simply keep silent (do nothing) when we would have saved a situation.
Let Christian parents find fulfillment in serving others and teaching their young to do so, they will be winners. To be a person of career for the believer means to meet the needs of others, this is what success is for us. Bear pain and suffering when it comes your way and offer it up as hope for others. Find and accompany the neglected and the poor, you will be a high finisher in the kingdom to come.
The Cross is our symbol, it is a symbol of self-giving, our challenge is to confront society by the way we live, the mentality and vice of self service. Teach self-giving as the way to ‘finishing first’.
Fr. Anthony Mpagi
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Readings of the Mass
LISTEN HEREto the Audio Recordings of the Readings of April 10th, 2022, Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion.
SELECT HERE for the Readings of April 10th, 2022, Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion.
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Reflections
Homily from Fr. Leo of Saint Mary, Fourth Sunday of Lent
(look for this post shortly) -
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Celebrate Palm Sunday, April 10th
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Palm Sunday recalls Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem.
Palm Sunday is known as such because the faithful will receive palm fronds which they use to participate in the reenactment of Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem with a procession.
In the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey to the praise of the townspeople who laid palms or small branches, in front of him as a sign of homage. This was a customary practice for people of great respect.
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Holy Week at Saint James
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SELECT HERE for the Holy Week Schedule at Saint James
No better days!
If there were ever three days that Catholics should want to go to church to pray, it would be the Sacred Paschal Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil)
These days rank at the head of the liturgical calendar. They celebrate the most sacred mysteries of our faith, and they ought to be celebrated with the community at liturgy.
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