Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion C
March 28, 2010

At the Procession with Palms: Luke 19:28-40

Isaiah 50:4-7   Psalm:   Phil 2:6-11   Luke 22:14 – 23:56

Many of you have seen the TV Show: Road Antiques Show. It is the TV programme that goes on the Road with experts who look at the old articles and tell you whether they are valuable or not. Sometimes you get real surprise, when things you got for a few dollars are worth 1000 of dollars. Many of you have been saying the Rosary each day, and during the season of Lent, you have been making the stations of the cross. Sometimes as we say the rosary, we think, “how boring!” did you realise that when we say the Sorrowful mysteries, we are remembering prophecies that are over 2000 years old? We remember in a special way  the scene from the 11^th Station of the Cross, and the last four of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.

 In the first reading we have the description of a good man who is scourged, spat upon, insulted and mocked just as Jesus was after Pilate ordered Jesus to be scourged. This is just before the famous scene where Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd with the words: “Ecce Homo” Behold the Man.

In the Responsorial Psalm, we have a detailed description of the 11^th Station of the Cross. Jesus is stripped of his garments. The soldiers throw dice to see who will get his tunic, and finally, we hear the despairing cry of Jesus on the Cross:  “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me”. Eli, Eli, Lamach sabatani.

In the second reading from St. Paul, we have the story of torture and death. Jesus is God and has all the glory and power of God, but he will give it up, because as John tells us in the 3 chapter: God so loved us in this world.  And so, Jesus will be humble. Jesus will be obedient. Jesus will suffer death on the cross for our sakes.

However this is not the end. Jesus will rise from the dead. On the 24^th we celebrated the memory of Archbishop Oscar Romero. He said,   “I have to say, as a Christian, that I don't believe in death without resurrection: if they kill me, I will rise again in the Salvadoran people.   You can say, if they come to kill me, that I forgive and bless those who do it.  Hopefully they may realise that they will be wasting their time.  A bishop will die, but the Church of God, which is the people, will never perish."

And so as we celebrate Passion Sunday, we grieve for a while. We thank God for all God has done for us, but we know that Jesus will rise again. And that is all that we need to know, and all that is worth knowning.