Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
Since I have been back from India after visiting my father who was seriously ill, numerous people have asked me about my trip. As I told them my story, many people shared their similar experiences. They talked about the time their parents were ill or about the time they took care of their parents. Some of them even cried about the time they lost their father or mother. In the strangest way, my story became theirs and their story became mine. It is almost as if by telling each other our stories, we were finding comfort, hope, and peace.
Today is Palm Sunday and with this celebration we are entering Holy Week. This week the church retells another story… the story of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. In the retelling of this story we find peace, hope, and salvation. I want to offer three points for us to reflect upon as we enter the holiest of all weeks.
1. RELIVING the Story of Jesus. Holy Week retells events that happened two thousand years back. However, as we retell these past events in the present, we realize that these past events also connect us to our future with God. This is what is special about us Christians — that we are able to connect the past, the present and the future in a seamless way. Yes, we can retell in the present what Jesus did for us in the past; and we can bring what awaits us in the future into the present. As we enter Holy Week, then, I am suggesting that we do not merely recall or retell what Jesus has done for us. I am suggesting that we RELIVE it. On Holy Thursday, let us be present at the table of the Last supper with Jesus. Let us allow Jesus to wash our feet. On Good Friday, let us feel Jesus’ heartbeat, feel his passion and enter into his death. Let us be like Mary, John, and his few other friends who stood under and cross and loved him. On Holy Saturday, mourn with the family of Jesus and the church. Relive the story of Jesus. If we do this, then at Easter, we will also experience the genuine joy of the resurrection of Jesus.
2. The story of Jesus is My Story/Our Story. Why am I suggesting that we RELIVE an event that happened two thousand years ago? Because on the one hand, the events of Holy Week retell the story of Jesus. On the other hand, however, we realize that this story is OUR story. There are two groups of Christians in the church. The first group of people realizes that Christ’s suffering was actually ours, that his pain was really ours, and that in reality the cross was our destiny. Those for whom Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday makes sense are those for whom the story of Jesus and their story has become ONE. They let their life mingle with the life and death of Jesus. The second group of people will leave church today and then come back for Easter. They forget that to be present at the empty tomb, one must also be at the foot of the cross. Which group of people do we belong to? I invite you to live your story through the story of Jesus. Remember, if we RELIVE the life and death of Jesus then his resurrection will be ours a well.
3. Imaginative Prayer. I want to suggest a very practical way to RELIVE the story of Jesus. Every year, I assume a character in the story of Jesus. This year, I am choosing to relive the story of Jesus from the perspective of the man in whose upper room Jesus celebrated the Passover. May I suggest to you the same? I invite you to read the passion of Jesus in any of the gospels and assume a character. RELIVE the story of Jesus from the perspective of this character. Use your imaginative creativity. Use the gospel as a guide but then create your own story around the story of Jesus. You may even keep a journal and write your experience. This is the best way let your story mingle with the story of Jesus. This is the best way to find meaning in the celebrations of Holy Week. This is the best way to be involved. This is the best way to let your story and the story of Jesus become one.
I would like to invite each one of you to relive the entire story of Holy Week. Please do not absent yourself from the Thursday celebration of the Lord’s Supper, from remembering the passion and death of Jesus on Friday, and the hopeful expectation of Holy Saturday. Do not be a by stander. Let us RELIVE the events of our salvation. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph