Thoughts & Homilies

Palm Sunday, 2002 - The Passion of Christ's Body Today
March 24, 2002

God of justice, you do not abandon those whom the world forsakes. Hear our prayers, heal our church, comfort all who suffer, all who feel betrayed and give us hope.

Each Church year,
by the time we have reached Spring,
we have traveled far,
Back to Bethlehem where Jesus was born
To Nazareth where he grew up
To the Jordan where he was baptized
To Galilee where he preached and healed
To Jerusalem and the upper room where he celebrated his final Passover
and gave his body and blood as nourishment, food and drink.

It was also in Jerusalem where he was hailed and cheered,
then accused,
tried and convicted for sins and crimes he did not commit.

It was in Jerusalem where he was mocked, slapped, whipped and spit upon.

It was through the narrow streets of Jerusalem
that he was forced to carry the instrument of his own execution.

Saddest of all, it was in Jerusalem, the holy city,
where he was betrayed, denied, abandoned and left to die.

This was a very long Gospel,
the longest in the whole lectionary,
but one that we must listen to year after year.

We know the story.

There were no surprises in anything we heard today.

We knew what happened, and we know how it will end,
but we need to proclaim it,
to hear it,
to feel it again
lest we forget,
lest we forget what kind of world we live in.

Lest we forget what people are capable of doing to one another.

Lest we forget what God is willing to go through for love of us.

If you felt a little tired from standing so long, it is probably good,
a small taste of the pain, the weariness, the exhaustion he endured for us.

If your mind wandered about half way through,
it only makes it more clear to us how easy it is
to tune out the suffering of others.

If we felt some sort of emotion,
sadness, horror at what we could put God's own Son through,
that is good.

It shows that we have a heart.

We have a conscience.

We have the gift of compassion.

But if we think of this passion event as something that happened
only long ago and is now over,
we are sadly mistaken.

The Body of Christ, the people of God, still suffer.

You read the papers, you watch TV.

We know that what happened to Christ is still happening to people this very day.

There are still betrayals
even by God's chosen ones,
even within his church,
even by some of his own priests.

There are still those who deny him in word, thought, action and life style.

There are still those who, like the Sanhedrin,
would use any crisis, any tragedy to further their own agenda and purposes.

There are still leaders, religious and otherwise, and even some Bishops and Cardinals,
who clumsily and even callously handle someone else's pain or safety.

There are still those who infer guilt by association, as happened to Peter at the fire,
and there are those
who are falsely accused,
many whose faith is shaken,
a multitude who weep bitterly,
some who lose hope,
and there are those who cry out for Barabas, when they could have Jesus.

Yes, the Passion still happens today and every day.

People suffer and people still die cruel deaths,
but there are also still people, those like Simon of Cyrene, Joseph of Arimethia,
who try to make a bad situation better,
And there are still so many who try to remain faithful and courageous,
like the beloved disciple and the woman at the cross.

The passion still plays out in our lives,
in our church, in our world.

So many innocent victims.

So many challenges.

So much pain.

This week is called holy
the holiest week of the year.

Time to remember
to reflect on what we believe
and to celebrate the power of God.

To turn things around
to bring joy out of sorrow
light out of darkness
life out of death.

Have a holy week.

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