“The crowds spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut palm branches from trees and strewed them on the road.” (Mt 21:6)
Palm and Passion Sunday April 17, 2011
Palm Sunday: “Hosanna!”
For the blessing of palms
When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, He sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied up and her colt with her. Untie them and bring them here to me. And if anyone should say anything to you, tell him that the master has need of them. Then he will let them go at once.” This happened so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: “Tell Jerusalem her King is coming to her, riding humbly on a donkey’s colt![1]”
So the disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them. They brought the animals to Him and threw their cloaks over the colt for Him to ride on. And some in the crowds spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut palm branches from trees and strewed them on the road. The crowds preceding Him and those following kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest![2]” As He entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar. “Who is this man?”some asked. “This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee,” the crowds answered.
Passion Sunday: “Crucify Him!”
The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask Pilate to set Barabbas free and have Jesus put to death. But the Governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to set free for you?” They answered, “Barabbas!” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” But he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Crucify Him!” When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.
Introduction
Palm Sunday 2011
On the first day of Lent, we received ashes to remind ourselves that we are dust, and unto dust we shall return. On this last Sunday of Lent, which opens Holy Week, we receive blessed palms at Mass in remembrance of that first Palm Sunday when the Lord rode `triumphantly’ into Jerusalem. The wonderful news that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-45) and had healed two blind men (Mt 20:29-34) had spread far and wide. So when the people heard that He was coming to town, they went eagerly out to welcome Him. Cheering crowds laid palm branches before Him as He rode into Jerusalem, seated upon a donkey -- the animal of simple country folk.
Passover 2011
This week is holy also for the Jewish community. On Tuesday, April 19, it will begin a seven-day celebration commemorating the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The Lord God instructed the enslaved Israelites to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a spring lamb. Then He rained death upon the unmarked homes of the Egyptians, but passed over the homes of the Israelites marked with the blood of the lamb. Hence the Feast of Passover. When the Egyptian Pharaoh repented and let the Israelites go free, they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for the bread to rise. Hence the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. (Ex. 12:11-23) As we remind ourselves that the Passover meal was the very context and substance of the Last Supper, and therefore of the Mass itself, we feel a connectedness with the Jewish community, as it celebrates Passover 2011.
A gnawing question
The notorious and elusive Osama bin Laden, who inspired and master-minded 9/11, was angry at the U. S. for sending thousands of troops into Saudi Arabia to support the oppressive and corrupt regime of the Saudi Kingdom. Bin Laden proceeded to play the religious card: he said the land made holy by Islam’s two most sacred sites of pilgrimage (Mecca and Medina) was desecrated by infidel (American) feet on sacred ground. Bin Laden claimed that 9/11 was “religiously inspired; it was a war against ''unbelief and unbelievers.” This year is the 10th anniversary of “9/11.” That’s an utterly inadequate expression to denote that horrific event, when bin Laden and his fellow conspirators brought down the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan and incinerated 3,000 innocent human beings. This 10th anniversary prompts a gnawing question: Do we feel the same connectedness with the Islamic community that we feel with the Jewish community? If not, why not?
Palm Sunday – celebratory and subversive.
On Palm Sunday the crowds are cheering Jesus as He enters into Jerusalem. For the moment they see beyond the humble appearance of the man riding on a lowly donkey. They’re singing part of psalm 118, vs. 26: “May God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord! From the Temple of the Lord we bless you.” Palm Sunday was not only celebratory; it was also subversive. Jesus subverted the people’s idea of the Messiah: He didn’t come with an army to free their land from Roman occupiers. He came instead with a rag-tag assortment of fishermen, tax-collectors, and disreputable women. He rode into town not as generals or kings do, mounted upon a proud stallion. He entered Jerusalem sitting upon a lowly donkey -- the animal of simple country folk. In fact, the donkey didn’t even belong to Jesus; He had to borrow it for the occasion. (Mt 21:3)
The fickleness of crowds
In the reading of the Passion which follows the blessing of palms, the scene changes dramatically. The cheering crowds of Palm Sunday, waving branches and shouting “Hosanna,” suddenly become the jeering crowds of Good Friday, crying out “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” (Mt. 27:22-23) Were the crowds of Palm Sunday and Good Friday one and the same crowds? They probably weren’t. But if they were, that wouldn’t be the first time Jesus experienced the fickleness of the crowds.
One Sabbath He was in His hometown synagogue. After reading from the 61st chapter of Isaiah and commenting on the text, Scripture says, “The eyes of all were pealed upon Him, and all marveled at the beautiful words that fell from his lips.”(Lk 4:20-22) But when the Lord remarked that a prophet is never well-received in his own hometown, the congregants of the synagogue “became infuriated at Jesus, grabbed Him by the nape of the neck, dragged Him to the brow of a hill and were going to throw Him over, but He slipped away.”(Lk 4:20-30)
Christ crucified – a stumbling block
In Corinthians Paul writes, “We preach Christ crucified—a stumbling block to Jews, and an absurdity to Gentiles.” (I Cor 1:23) The Greek word for `stumbling block’ is sêáìíäáëïí (scandalon) -– scandal. Christ crucified was a scandal! Not scandal in the sense of something which raises our eyebrows, or which gives us something to gossip about. But scandal in its theological meaning -- as that which causes one to stumble. Christ crucified was a scandal -- “a stumbling block to Jews, and an absurdity to Gentiles.” “Blessed is the man,” says Jesus, “ who does not find me to be a stumbling block.” (Mt 11:6)
The tsunami of March 11 – a stumbling block
On March 11th 2011, a 9.0 magnitude undersea earthquake occurred off the eastern coast of Japan. It was the most powerful earthquake ever to hit Japan and it is one of the five most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. It caused a monumental tsunami with overwhelming statistics: 27,000 dead or missing. 318,000 people left homeless, and 306 billion dollars to haul away millions of tons of debris and to start rebuilding. Ominously topping that heap of horrible statistics are the crippled nuclear reactors in Fukushima Prefecture.The cost in human grief, physical pain, deep despair, irreparable loss and ominous fear of radiation is overwhelming. Christ crucified was a scandal - a stumbling block to belief. The tsunami of March 11th 2011 is also a scandal – a stumbling block to belief. Blessed is the man who does not find the earthquake and tsunami of March 11 a scandal.
Various responses to March 11
Around the world people are trying to deal with March 11, which shook not only tectonic plates below men’s feet but also their very faith itself. They dare to ask themselves, “How can faith survive such an immense test as the tsunami of March 11th? And people with various faiths or no faith at all are answering the question in different ways.
Buddhist priest Tesshu Shaku in Ikeda City, Japan, says “Buddhism is a religion with no god. So we don’t think God caused the earthquake and tsunami of March 11. The earthquake was simply the friction between the North American plate and the Pacific plate.” The Japanese people, he says, are more focused on feeling the pain of others, and at this overwhelming moment they give themselves wholeheartedly to community service, or they become Buddhist monks.
Rabbi Harold Kushner[4] likes to quote the 1st Book of Kings, whenever a disaster like March 11 happens: "And lo, the Lord God passed by. There was a mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind. There was an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake." That’s the key for Rabbi Kushner: The Lord was not in the earthquake and tsunami of March 11. He was and is, instead, in those terribly hurting people whose lives were utterly shattered, when their loved ones and homes were swept away. He was and is in the goodness and generosity of people all over the world who reach out with prayers and gifts to come to the aid of strangers.
Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, writer and activist who founded the Unified Buddhist Church in France, writes: “As we contemplate the great number of people who have died in the tsunami of March 11, we feel very strongly that we ourselves, in some way, have also died. The pain of one part of humankind is the pain of the whole of humankind. What happens to one part of the body happens to the whole body.” That Buddhist monk sounds like St. Paul who writes, “If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it.” (I Cor 12:26)
Conclusion
A very helpful belief
Jesuit Fr. James Martin believes there is no satisfactory answer for the mountainous heap of human suffering caused by the tsunami of March 11. Each person, he says, has to come to grips with that himself. Though there’s no satisfactory answer for human suffering, the Christian belief in a God who “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried” can be a very helpful belief. The gods of ancient Greece and Rome did not suffer, but they did indeed make men suffer. The God of Christians is an utterly brand new God: He makes no one suffer, but He Himself does, indeed, suffer. The God of Christians is a `human God’: He knows suffering, and people who suffer (that’s all of us) can more easily relate to such a God.
[1] Zechariah. 9:9
[2] Psalm 118:26
[3] The full reading of the Passion is Matthew 26:14 – 27:66
[4] An author whose books include When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
