Palm Sunday 2017
April 9, 2017
A Reflection for Palm Sunday by Rev. Robert Johnnene
OFM
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Order Franciscans
of Mercy, Upton, MA
Based on the Readings from Isaiah 50:4-7, Psalm 22,
Philippians 2:6-11,
Mark 14:1-15:47, Mt. 21:1-11
Today we celebrate
Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem but we must keep in mind it marks
the beginning of the week that details the suffering that Christ was willing to
endure so we could have forgiveness of our sins and achieve everlasting life with
God and all the heavenly elect.
The week highlights what
Christ was willing to GIVE UP in order for us to receive forgiveness of our
sins.
For this reason throughout
all of the history of the church the faithful have been asked to GIVE UP some
of the comforts and luxuries that make our lives pleasurable.
As a Franciscan I and the
members of our Franciscan Community follow the rule of St. Francis who is most often shown surrounded by animals not
just because he respected all of God’s creatures but because they reminded him
of Christ’s teaching found in Matthew 6 :26 “Look at the birds
of the air; they do not sow or
reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
not much more valuable than they?”
St. Francis saw in animals a vision of the poverty of
God, a freedom for life not dependent on possessions, a freedom that lives by
giving and receiving, rather than by possessing.
The hallmark of St.
Francis’ commitment to life with and for the poor is the practice of voluntary
begging. Voluntary begging, for Francis, is the act of intentionally and
publically relying on the charity of others for the sake of one’s livelihood
and a means of caring for those who are in need because of illness, age,
poverty and homelessness.
Item one of the Rule of St. Francis it states “This is the rule and way of living of the
brothers: namely to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in
obedience, without personal possessions”, and Item 6 it states “The brothers shall appropriate nothing to
themselves, neither a house, nor a place, nor anything; but as pilgrims and
strangers in this world, in poverty and humility serving God, they shall
confidently go seeking for alms. Nor need they be ashamed, for the Lord became
poor for us in this world even to giving up His earthly live in order for us to
gain forgiveness
of our sins and achieve everlasting life with God and all the heavenly elect. .”
On this Palm Sunday and the final week of Lent called Holy Week this
reflection will talk about specific ways we can practice self-denial to and in a
small way participate in a very small way in the suffering that Christ endured
during his week of passion.
It is so easy for us to be attracted to material
riches and the creature comforts they often provide but to be true followers of
Christ we need to make a categorical decision not to let them become an idol we
honor more than we honor God.
When Christ was in the garden of Gethsemane he
cried out; “‘Abba (Father)!’ he said ‘Everything is possible for you. Take
this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have it.” These
words cried out by Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane should be a constant
reminder to us that it is alright to ask God to lift a burden from us.
One curious passage in the Gospel of Mark 14 relates
an incident that many choose to overlook and it is just one line long it is
part of the story that tells how the disciples and apostles abandoned Christ. “And
they all deserted him and ran away. A young man who followed him had nothing on
but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the cloth in their
hands and ran away naked.” The
symbolism here is clear to me that we are naked and exposed by our actions. So
many try to hide their dirty laundry with fancy clothes but before God we are
all seen naked for exactly who we are. The
Gospel story today is a telling of the entire passion and a different story
than the celebration we associate Palm Sunday with the triumphant entry into
Jerusalem where we hear the people shouting; “Hosanna! Blesses is He who
comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel” It can be assumed that
many of those same people who were shouting Hosanna, four days later were in
the crowds shouting, “Crucify Him” because he did not meet their expectations
or because they succumbed to greed and accepted bribes from officials of the
temple.
We see cases where it is crystal clear that a bribe
influenced someone, a business leader or an elected official to vote a certain
way.
Often times, as we have seen in recent events in
Washington, the rule or legislation or the vote that occurred because of
financial infusion was not in the best interest of the majority but a select
minority.
When laws are passed that hurt any part of our
population, like the poor, the elderly on low fixed incomes, the homeless, or
the quality of public education of our youth we, as followers of Jesus Christ
must speak out loudly against such actions.
If we are to call ourselves Christians, or
followers of Jesus Christ we are called to care for those in need as Christ
stated in the parable found in Matthew 25 verses 35-40
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to
eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked
after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. “Then the righteous will
answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give
you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or
needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to
visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one
of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
One way we can overcome this constant temptation to
ignore any action that causes anyone suffering, or discrimination is too
constantly seek ways to respond to our neighbor's needs and share with them
what God, in His generosity, has given to us or allowed us to earn.
Make a donation of the cost of what we gave up during
Lent to a charity or your faith community or a ministry that works to assist
the poor, sick, elderly and disenfranchised so they can help others as St.
Francis instructs in his rule one. mentioned above.
Saint Paul, in Romans 15:25-27 speaks of the collection for the Faith Community of Jerusalem which tells us that even in the early church the work of proclaiming the Good News of Salvation required all the faithful to participate and care for each other. It is no different today.
Saint Paul, in Romans 15:25-27 speaks of the collection for the Faith Community of Jerusalem which tells us that even in the early church the work of proclaiming the Good News of Salvation required all the faithful to participate and care for each other. It is no different today.
A Faith Community is only as successful as how many
of the community get involved in doing the work of God by providing the means
to do it.
There
is no better way for us to show our intercommunion and fellowship with the Body
of Christ than to “Do unto others as we would have done unto us.” (John
15:13)
All over the world ministries
and churches are having difficulty meeting the basic needs of their faith
communities. Even here in the United
States many faith Communities have difficulty because of the move by society to
a self-absorbed society only interested in their own comfort and pleasure.
I hear the same story from
pastors all over this country how they are struggling and having difficulties
because collections and donations have dropped drastically
If everyone reading or
listening to this reflection would just give the cost of a daily cup of coffee
at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks for the week to their Church the result would
make a huge impact.
I pray that everyone who this
reflection reaches will reflect on their sharing of the gifts God has given to
them.
The Church from the
earliest times has called on Christ’s followers to give of themselves as Christ
was willing to give for us as we will recall in the Gospel of Christ’s passion
and as we commemorate this Holy week.
Giving up something does
nothing unless it also has a positive result like Christ’s Passion and Death
did, giving us the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of everlasting life..
May Almighty God inspire
you during this last week of Lent to be merciful and generous to the needs of
our brothers and sisters in Christ and neighbors of the world for it is not
what we have given up that will open the gates of heaven, but what we have done
to help others. AMEN
