Tragedy turned into Triumph

Homily for Lent – Palm Sunday Year B 2015

 Isaiah 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47

Introduction

Today’s feast of Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday might seem like a case of multiple personality disorder.  For this feast evokes mixed emotions.

We began the Mass with the procession of Palms in which we recalled the victorious entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  But we have just read the long gospel of the Lord’s Passion, in which this time he makes his way to Calvary.  We have felt both triumph and tragedy, both joy and sadness, both victory and failure.

Scripture and Theology

But there is method to this madness.  There is an explanation for these mixed emotions.  Palm Sunday is a case, not of multiple personality disorder, but of two different persons.

On the one hand we have Jesus who even when things seem utterly desperate always remains triumphant, victorious and the source of our joy.  On the other hand it is human beings who cause the tragedy, sadness and apparent failure. 

For example in the passion story we have just heard five different groups of people all rejecting Jesus in their different ways.

·        Judas Iscariot rejects Jesus by betraying him.

·        Then the disciples of Jesus reject him by abandoning him.

·        Simon Peter rejects Jesus by denying him.

·        The crowds reject Jesus by condemning him to be crucified.

·        And the passers-by, soldiers and criminals crucified alongside him reject Jesus by mocking him.

Although these rejections take five different forms, they are all inspired by just three human vices: greed, cowardice and contempt.

Judas rejects Jesus because he wants money.  For a miserly 30 pieces of silver, he hands him over to be arrested.

The next two groups, the disciples and Peter, are cowards.  Fear is a natural human emotion and it was natural for the disciples and for Peter to be afraid, especially after they saw what those goons had done to Jesus.  But in the face of fear, one can go either in the direction of courage or that of cowardice.  When the disciples all left him and fled, they tapped into their emotion of cowardice.  So did Peter, when he said: "I do not know this man about whom you are talking."

The fourth and fifth groups, the crowds and soldiers and criminals, tap rather into the human vice of disdain or contempt.  Encouraged up by the chief priests, the crowd chooses the thief Barabbas over Jesus, shouting "Crucify him."  Without really knowing him, they condemn him to death.  Remember crowds had shouted “Hosanna to the King of David” a few days earlier when the same Jesus had entered Jerusalem; how fickle crowds can be.

The contempt continues all the way to the cross.  Those passing by and seeing Jesus on the cross reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross."  Even the chief priests and scribes mocked him saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself."  Even a criminal condemned for his criminal activity, out of contempt abused the innocent Son of God.

And so if there is any sadness, tragedy and failure in our celebration of Palm Sunday it is a reminder of the sin of human beings.

Christian Life

When we sin, we too reject Jesus.  And we often reject him for the same reasons these groups rejected him.

·        Like Judas Iscariot our greed for the things of this world may lead us to betray Jesus and his teachings.  Just think of the sins against life, most of which we commit because we prefer comfort and convenience over the preservation of life.

·        Like the disciples and Peter our cowardice in the face of adversity may lead us to reject Jesus.  Have we not found ourselves in situations where, instead of speaking up for the Lord and his ways, we have chosen to keep quiet or worse like Peter we have chosen to deny him outright?

·        Finally like the crowds who choose Barabbas over Jesus and those groups that mock him on the cross, don’t we sometimes also reject Jesus by showing contempt for the Lord and his teachings?

Conclusion

But there is hope at the end of the tunnel.  Despite the tragedy of our sins, despite what appears to be the failure of the cross, in the end it all works out.  Holy Week is a celebration of how it all works out.  Let this Holy Week be an opportunity to experience the reversal of fortunes that Jesus brings about.

·        On Tuesday the priests will gather at the Cathedral to celebrate the priesthood that Jesus established at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday.

·        On Holy Thursday itself we shall gather here for a special Mass, to remember the Last Supper in which Jesus instituted the Eucharist, and so left for us a concrete means of sharing in the sacrifice that saves us.

·        On Good Friday we shall gather for a service in which we shall read the passion story again, this time from the gospel of John, and we shall venerate the cross, which is the cause of our salvation.

·        And finally at the Easter Vigil, we shall round up all these events and they will finally make sense; for in the resurrection of Jesus, he will turn our rejection into acceptance, our betrayal into loyalty and our denial into communion with him and the Father, in the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.