Homily Palm Sunday A: The Passion: a symphony of sin and an orchestra of sinners

Homily for 5th Sunday of Lent Year A 2017 

Isaiah 50:4-7 Philippians 2:6-11 Matthew 26:14-27:66

Introduction 

We have just heard a long, sad and sombre story.  It is sad, not only because at the end of it all an innocent man, Jesus the Son of God dies; it is also sad because, the story is full of sin and sinners.  In fact, Jesus is even crucified between two criminals, two sinners. 

Scripture and Tradition 

On this Palm Sunday, I would like to meditate on ten sins committed right in the Passion story itself, what Bishop Barron calls a symphony of sin, put on by an orchestra of sinners. 

Betrayal is the first sin we encounter.  For a miserly 30 pieces of silver, Judas betrays his friend and master to his enemies.  How often we too betray friends, climb over them, throw them under the bus, for material success? 

The second sin or tune is indifference and sloth.  After the Last Supper, when Jesus takes a few of the disciples to the garden of Gethsemane to pray, what do they do?  They are sleeping, they are indifferent and slothful.  How often do we also not care enough to stay awake and pray, to care enough about the things of God? 

And then Judas comes into the garden, "accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs," to arrest the prince of peace.  That is the third sin – the sin violence.  And since violence begets violence, one of Jesus' disciples "struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear."  Today, you cannot turn on the Television news without hearing about wars, murders, riots - violence!  But closer to home is the violence in our hearts, in our speech, even in our social media, that comes as easily as breathing. 

The fourth sin, cowardice, is committed by the close disciples of Jesus, after Jesus was arrested.  The gospel puts it plainly saying: "Then all the disciples left him and fled."  Peter even had the chance to redeem himself, when later he was asked if he was a follower of Jesus.  Despite his earlier insistence that he would never deny Jesus, he denies him, not once, not twice, but three times.  How many times have we failed to stand up for a friend, for the truth, for Jesus, for the Church out of cowardice? 

A fifth contribution to our symphony of sin is made by the false witnesses whose tune is the false testimony they give against Jesus, who is the Truth himself.  Do we always speak the truth or do we subscribe to the notion of alternative truths?  Do we abandon objective facts for the sake of achieving our goals? 

Or perhaps our knowledge comes from prejudice, the sixth sin in our orchestra.  This sin is committed by the bystanders who approach Peter accusing of him of being a follower of Jesus, saying: "Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away."  Peter came from Galilee and his accent must have stood out among the Jews of Judea.  How often do we also discriminate and accuse because of accent, race, colour, religion and nationality?  How much we too love to unite in hating those who are different from us! 

Judas makes a second contribution to our symphony of sin, playing the tune of despair, the seventh sin.  Judas and Peter were really not that different in their sin; they both betrayed the Lord, albeit in different ways.  But while Peter sought forgiveness, Judas succumbed to the temptation of despair.  And as we heard, he hanged himself.  How often we too suffer from despair, giving up the hope that Jesus has come to give us? 

At this point a new player joins the orchestra, and that is Pontius Pilate.  And his contribution, the eighth sin, is the abuse of power.  He knows very well that Jesus is innocent, but he washes his hands off the whole affair and hands him over to be killed, despite the urging from his wife to do the right thing.  His indifference is especially wicked, since unlike the disciples, he can do something about this situation. How often do we misuse our power, not using for good, but to save our skin? 

We have two more instruments we have not heard yet from.  The ninth sin is the mocking of Jesus, first by the soldiers who dress him as a king and then torture him, then by the passersby who teasingly urge him to come down from the cross, even by the criminals crucified by him.  How many times have we mocked others for their looks, clothes or status, perhaps even bullying them, just because we could? 

The tenth and final sin, the really big one, is the crucifixion, the killing of Jesus.  They killed the King of the World, in the same manner they killed the two common criminals crucified alongside him.  We continue to kill people today in the same way, with our support of the death penalty!  We do to others what was done to our Lord and Saviour. 

And so, in this passion story we have heard a dysfunctional symphony of ten sins: betrayal and indifference, violence and cowardice, lying and prejudice, despair and abuse of power, mockery and killing. 

Christian Application  and Conclusion 

But fortunately, this symphony does not end on a sad note.  At the end of it all is good news we shall hear on Easter Sunday, that Jesus conquers each and every one of these sins and opens to us the door to life. 

All we are asked to do is open our hearts to his invitation.  And especially as we prepare for Easter, we should examine our consciences and see if we have in any way contributed to the symphony of sin.  And then go to the fountain of mercy, the sacrament of penance, which the Lord left us, as a way of tapping into the fruits of his passion, death and resurrection. 

Let us not leave this symphony like Judas, brought down by the discordant notes of sin; rather let us like Peter be lifted up the harmonious ending, the victory of Jesus.