MATTHEW 21:1-11
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP,
BEFORE VATICAN II, BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE REVISED COMMON
LECTIONARY WHICH IS USED FOR THE MOST PART BY THE CATHOLIC AND MANY
PROTESTANT CHURCHES, WE CELEBRATED PASSION SUNDAY ON THE FIFTH SUNDAY
OF LENT, AND PALM SUNDAY ON THE SIXTH. IN 1970 THE TWO SUNDAYS WERE
COMBINED. BEFORE THAT, PASSION SUNDAY MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE
“PASSIONTIDE” SEASON – NOT QUITE LENT, BUT MAYBE A MORE INTENSE
VERSION. EVEN THE WEEKDAY READINGS HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE
PASSION OF CHRIST, OR PREDICTIONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT OF HIS
SUFFERING. IT WAS ON PASSION SUNDAY THAT THE STATUES AND PICTURES
AND CRUCIFIXES WERE DRAPED IN PURPLE, TO BE COVERED FOR A FULL TWO
WEEKS. THEN ON PALM SUNDAY WE HAD A LITURGY MUCH LIKE TODAY'S. THE
FIRST READING WAS THE GOSPEL TALKING ABOUT JESUS' TRIUMPHANT ENTRY
INTO JERUSALEM; AND THEN DURING THE MASS ITSELF, THE PASSION OF
MATTHEW WAS READ.
THE EMPHASIS DURING THOSE
TWO WEEKS, UP UNTIL EASTER SUNDAY, WAS ON THE SUFFERING AND DEATH OF
JESUS. WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO FORGET THAT JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS.
AND I HAD A POWERFUL IMAGINATION. I KNEW MY SINS. I TEASED MY
SISTER UNMERCIFULLY. THERE WERE TIMES WHEN I DIDN'T DO WHAT MY
MOTHER TOLD ME TO DO. WHEN I WOULD GO TO CONFESSION, I WOULD
CAREFULLY LIST ALL THE TIMES I HAD DONE SOMETHING THAT I CONSIDERED
A SIN, KNOWING THAT IF I FORGOT ONE OF THEM, I WOULD HAVE MADE A BAD
CONFESSION, WHICH IN ITSELF WAS A SERIOUS SIN. AND GOD STOOD THERE
LOOKING AT ME WITH HIS ARMS FOLDED, WAITING FOR ME TO SLIP UP, AND
REMINDING ME THAT THE TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS JESUS WAS UNDERGOING WERE
MY FAULT, ALL MY FAULT.
BUT WE MAKE A MISTAKE
WHEN WE IMAGINE GOD AS A BIGGER, MORE POWERFUL, SMARTER VERSION OF
OURSELVES; SOMEONE WHO WOULD SADISTICALLY TORTURE US IN HELL IF HIS
SON DIDN'T OFFER TO TAKE THE PUNISHMENT ON HIS OWN SHOULDERS. THE
WORST OF US MIGHT DO THAT; THE WORST OF US MIGHT DEMAND THAT SOMEONE
WHO OFFENDED US BE MADE TO PAY THE LAST PENNY. THE WORST OF US MIGHT
TAKE DELIGHT IN THE SUFFERINGS OF SOMEONE SO THAT NOT ONLY DO WE GET
EVEN, WE GET EVEN MORE EVEN. BUT THAT IS NOT WHO GOD IS.
WE OFTEN FORGET, IT IS
NOT GOD WHO IS UP THERE IN HEAVEN SCOWLING DOWN ON US, WATCHING JESUS
BREATH HIS LAST BREATH. NO, IT IS GOD WHO IS HANGING ON THE CROSS.
THERE IS GOD, WHO KNOWS YOUR SINS AND MINE; HE KNOWS ABOUT ALL MY
SINS, LITTLE ONES, MIDDLE ONES, REALLY BIG ONES. HE KNOWS THAT I AM
NOT AS SORRY AS I COULD BE FOR COMMITTING THEM; AFTER ALL, IF THEY
ARE SINS, I HAD TO DO THEM KNOWINGLY, AND AT THE TIME I DID THEM,
THERE WAS SOMETHING AWFULLY ATTRACTIVE ABOUT WHAT I WAS ABOUT TO DO.
AND MAYBE EVEN LONG AFTER RECEIVING THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION,
LONG AFTER I'VE GOTTEN OLDER AND WISER, I CAN LOOK BACK ON THAT SIN
AND STILL SEE THAT THERE IS SOMETHING THERE THAT I WANTED, AND I'M
NOT SURE THAT IF THE CIRCUMSTANCES WERE THE SAME, I WOULDN'T FALL
AGAIN? I'M SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FIRM PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT, THE
INTENTION TO NOT DO THAT SIN I CONFESSED. BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT THE
SAME THINGS KEEP POPPING UP IN THE CONFESSIONAL. AND JESUS KNOWS
THAT.
JESUS KNOWS THAT IF I HAD
BEEN THERE DURING THE PASSION, I MIGHT WELL HAVE DENIED HIM, LIKE
PETER; I MIGHT WELL HAVE TURNED MY BACK AND IGNORED THE WHOLE THING,
LIKE MANY IN THE CROWD. I MIGHT HAVE BEEN ONE OF THOSE YELLING FOR
HIS BLOOD, OR LAUGHING AT HIS NAKEDNESS AS HE HUNG ON THE CROSS.
AFTER ALL, THOSE WERE ORDINARY PEOPLE, NOT REALLY DIFFERENT THAN YOU
AND I. MANY WERE CONVINCED THAT HE WAS A CRIMINAL – AFTER ALL, THE
ROMANS AND THE JEWISH LEADERS SAID SO -- AND HE DID NOT DESERVE TO
LIVE.
IT IS GOD WHO HANGS ON
THE CROSS, GOD WHO JUDGES EACH OF US, GOD WHO WITH PERFECT JUSTICE
ASSIGNS THE PENANCE WE DESERVE FOR OUR SINS – AND THEN FORGIVES US,
TOTALLY, COMPLETELY, SO MUCH SO THAT HE DIES, CARRYING WITH HIM INTO
DEATH MY SINS AND THE PUNISHMENT THOSE SINS DESERVE. THAT IS THE
MYSTERY OF THE CROSS. IT IS ABOUT A GOD WHO BECAME ONE OF US, WHO
EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT SO THAT HE COULD TAKE OUR SINS UPON HIMSELF, SO
THAT HE COULD EVEN GO INTO THE GRAVE WITH US, BECAUSE HIS LOVE
EXTENDS EVEN THERE. GRACE IS NOT BEING DISPENSED FROM ABOVE LIKE
ZEUS WITH LIGHTNING BOLTS; GRACE IS COMING FROM THE BROKEN FRAGILE
WORLD WE LIVE IN, WHICH IS THE SAME WORLD THAT JESUS ENTERS IN TO.
THE PALMS WE HOLD REMIND
US THAT EACH OF US HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE
WELCOMING JESUS INTO JERUSALEM, DANCING, SINGING, THROWING OUR CLOAKS
ON THE GROUND, WAVING PALMS IN THE AIR. AND THEY REMIND US THAT
BEFORE THE PALMS HAVE EVEN STARTED TO TURN BROWN AND STIFF, WE HAVE
THE POTENTIAL TO BE IN THE CROWD THAT CALLS FOR HIS DEATH, FOR HIS
CRUCIFIXION – THAT SHOUT, “AWAY WITH HIM!”. AND IF WE TAKE OUR
PALM HOME AND PLACE IT BEHIND A CRUCIFIX, WHICH IS WHAT WE DID WHEN I
WAS GROWING UP, WE ARE ALWAYS REMINDED THAT WE CAN GO EITHER WAY –
WELCOMING JESUS INTO OUR LIVES OR SHOUTING “AWAY WITH HIM!” MAY
THE PALM ALSO BE A REMINDER FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR THAT WHEN WE
THINK ABOUT GOD, WE THINK ABOUT THE CROSS – BECAUSE THAT IS GOD ON
THE CROSS, GOD WHO SAYS, “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT
WHAT THEY DO.”
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