Sunday Homily 4-17-11, Palm Sunday
Readings: Entry Reading, Matthew 21, 1-11; Isaiah 50, 4-7; Psalm 22, My God, My God, why have You abandoned me?; Philippians 2, 6-11; Passion, Matthew 26.
Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday 2011
Intro to the Readings
Today we will be celebrating both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday – two extremes – the one an occasion of great joy and celebration with the palms, when Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem being hailed as King, the other is our reading of the Passion of Jesus from Matthew’s Gospel. Each of the evangelists gives us an account of Jesus’ last days. It might help to put it into perspective by considering, particularly for those of you who were alive and can remember the assassination of President John Kennedy, the time lapse between the event and the writing of the gospel narratives. Our views of president Kennedy have been affected by time. So too the account of Jesus’ death is influenced by the events taking place when these accounts were written.
In brief, Matthew and Mark are very similar and present a Jesus who has been abandoned by all! The disciples do not come off too well, they fall asleep on him three times, Peter denies him three times, and Jesus’ last words from the cross are “My God, why have you abandoned me.
For Luke, Jesus is not abandoned, the disciples appear in a much more sympathetic light. The people are not against Jesus, three times Pilate declares Jesus innocent, and in Luke, Jesus heals the soldier whose ear is cut off. He prays for the women of Jerusalem, he forgives those who persecute him, promising the good thief heaven and finally prays, ”Into your hands I commend my spirit”.
John has a Jesus who is able to declare “I lay down my life and I take it up again, no one takes it from me”. On the cross his royalty is proclaimed in three languages, Pilate declares him King of the Jews, his Mother and beloved disciple are with him at the foot of the cross, and his final words are “it is finished”.
How are we to understand these different presentations? Not as contradictions but as different sides of a diamond, because we will need Jesus differently in our different circumstances, at different times in our lives. Sometimes we will feel abandoned, sometimes in need of comfort and other times assured of God’s infinite power.
Homily
I want to use this time for the homily, very briefly. A question I would have you consider as we listen to the gospel reading today – who are you in those readings?
Are you one of the crowd on Palm Sunday cheering wildly as Jesus rides into Jerusalem? Are you one of the disciples who abandoned Jesus when things got tough, or Peter who denied him three times, or Judas who betrayed him? Are you Pilate, who declares his own innocence by washing his hands of the whole thing?
This may seem a bit of an extreme question, but remember, the way the gospel story is presented by each of the evangelists is colored by the circumstances in which their account has been written.
Picture 1: The Passion with Claire Occhipinti helping
Picture 2: The Kiddos, Georgie, Natalie, J.E., and Kendall
Picture 3: Offertory, Tom & Teresa Quinn
Picture 4: Communion helpers, Rob & Beth Robinson and Mike Carrell
Picture 5: Communion helpers, Joanne, Tom & Lynda Fleming
