Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Osmond Anike

Readings:

First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7 – I did not cover my face against insult: I know I shall not be shamed./em>

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 21(22):8-9,17-20,23-24 – My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11 – Christ humbled himself but God raised him high.

Gospel: Mark 14:1-15:47 – The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark

Today marks the beginning of the Holy Week – the most important week in the Christian calendar. Traditionally, we refer to today as Palm Sunday. Because of this, it gives the impression that the focus of today’s liturgy is on the palms. Many cultures have also traditionally attached so much importance to the palms that there is always scramble among the populace to have a bit of the “cake”. Even people, who, ordinarily, do not attend Sunday masses regularly, storm churches on Palm Sundays either to have their palms blessed or to take home the ones that have been blessed. This scramble for palms, together with the traditional name given to today’s Sunday, tends to make people lose focus on the real emphases of the liturgy of today, namely, the fulfillment of the destiny of Jesus through his passion and death. It is because of this that today is also referred to as Passion Sunday. The Gospel readings on Palm Sundays always come from one of the passion narratives of the synoptic gospels. Yes, there is the re-enactment of the palms and branches used to usher Jesus triumphantly into the Holy City of Jerusalem. Yes, there is the shout of Hosanna from the people who saw Jesus’ triumphal entry as the beginning of the long-awaited restoration of the Kingdom. But soon, that conquering shout and the fanfare that went with it turned into disappointment when Jesus was arrested, tried, convicted, and killed. Sure, the Kingdom was restored; but not in a way anticipated by the people who awaited its restoration. And so, the Holy Week began with fanfare – the pomp and pageantry that ushered Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday; continued with his dramatic betrayal, trial and execution on Holy Thursday and Good Friday respectively; and finally climaxed with his resurrection on Easter Sunday – an event that restored the Kingdom in a way not imagined by those who awaited its restoration.

The pomp and pageantry that ushered Jesus into Jerusalem made his followers lose focus on the real reason for such entry. It was not, as they believed, to be crowned king by force. It was rather to fulfill his destiny namely, to suffer and to die for the sake of humanity. Many who sang the Hosanna songs were only interested in the “flamboyant” aspect of Jesus. They did not bargain for the “suffering servant” aspect. When the flamboyance quickly disappeared and the suffering servant took the centre stage, those followers disappeared too. Poor folks! They had already imagined positions of honour they would occupy in the anticipated new kingdom. They were ready to spread their garments and branches along the road in the hope that Jesus would notice them and appoint them to high positions in the soon-to-be established kingdom. They were so fanatical in their course of marching over to Jerusalem and taking it by force that they drowned the entire city with their “noise”. I am sure that even the authorities shuddered at the prospect of this man overrunning Jerusalem with his fanatical followers. But despite his encouraging this type of public ostentation (the only time he encouraged such), only Jesus knew the real reason for his entry into Jerusalem. He did not allow such public display to becloud his vision and mission. Surely, it was the Passover week, and celebrations were in the air. But he knew that this particular Passover celebration was not going to be like the former ones celebrated in the past years. They were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for sure. But even in the midst of the fanfare and the celebration, he was already predicting his own death. Contrary to the popular belief and expectation that he would live to bring about the kingdom, it was rather through his death that the kingdom would come.

In choosing to read today the third of the four “Songs of the Servant of the Lord”, of Isaiah, the Church positions Jesus to assume and identified him to be, the Servant of the Lord who must bear sufferings and humiliations because of the message that he must announce. This assumption was actually fulfilled when Jesus was scourged, tortured, insulted and spat upon. By dying on the cross, Jesus has fulfilled the prophecy that the Messiah was not to be a victor but a loser, not one who kills but one who gives up his life. By this he has taught us that greatness is achieved by making oneself small, and that one can only claim to have won if one allows oneself to be defeated by love. Although Jesus would utter the Messianic psalm of lamentation (today’s responsorial psalm) as he hung upon the cross, expressing the anguish of a person who feels totally forsaken by God, that expression of anguish soon turned into confidence that through his suffering the whole nation will  benefit from God’s grace and mercy.

Brethren, the liturgy of Palm Sunday also proposes to us that Christianity is not just all about the pomp and pageantry that accompanied Jesus into Jerusalem. When people desire the fanfares that go with Christianity, it is strange to note how many of them refuse to identify with the passions that go with it as well. This is what I call “Fair-weather Christianity”; and unfortunately a lot of us are “fair weather Christians”. When there is “Hosanna” renting the air, we troop out en masse and even spread our garments along the road in the hope that we will be noticed and elevated to positions of honour. However, once there is a “crucify him” chant, then it is “to your tents oh Israel”. People will disappear and go home to wait for another time when the “Hosanna” songs will return. This was the attitude of those early followers of Jesus; and this has continued to be the attitude of many of us present-day Christians. (Very soon a new priest will arrive and you will understand what I am talking about. People will literally spread their garments on the road in the hope that the priest will notice them and appoint them to positions of authority. But wait for a couple of years when the priest settles down for business and the music will change from ‘Hosanna’ to ‘crucify’. You know I had my own “Hosanna moment” that lasted even far longer than I expected. “Hosanna moment” generally lasts for two to three years. But my own unusually lasted for more than six-year probably because it took a longer time for the “crucify chant” against the former priest to die down. I was secretly amused when I was having the “Hosanna moment” because I knew what people were telling me about the former priests, and I was conscious that sooner or later mine would follow. And I knew that generally, it is the same “Hosanna people” who always eventually transform into the “crucify him, warriors”.)

It is not just priests; everybody has had or will have one form of “Hosanna moment” in life or the other. The liturgy of Palm Sunday teaches us not to be carried away by the “Hosanna moments” because what follows is always the “crucify chant”. In as much as Jesus tolerated the “Hosanna”, he did not allow that to fool him into compromising his mission which he knew must attract the “crucify chant”. Having allowed the “Hosanna moment” he was ready to accept the “crucify him chant” in order for his mission to be completed. We, as Christians should also realize that if there is a “Hosanna moment” in our lives, we must also be ready to embrace the “crucify chant”. There is no way we can pick and choose between the two. They go hand in hand.