Fr. Chris - Palm Sunday - Homily

" The Life Of Jesus"
​In a sermon St Bernard once gave on Palm Passion Sunday he said, “How different the cries, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him,’ and then, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest!’ How different the cries are that now are calling him ‘King of Israel’ and then in a few days time will be saying, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’ What a contrast between the green branches and the dry, wooden cross, between the flowers and the thorns!”
 
Why this strange juxtaposition of positive and negative stories? Is it meant purely as a historical accounting for why Christ’s crucifixion happened; to explain the threat Christ’s popularity posed the Jewish and Roman authorities, for which the response was to execute him? Or are the two stories simply a clear illustration of the grave fickleness of human-kind? Or perhaps these two stories presented on this one single Sunday celebration of our Saviour are meant to illustrate something much broader, but in brief terms like Reader’s Digest or Condensed Classics on Silverscreen TV. Perhaps today’s readings are a kind of biography, a summary of the ‘Life of Christ’.
 
Like anyone whose death might be imminent, certainly Jesus also saw in his mind’s eye his whole life passing before him: his youthful exploits in the temples, his ministerial travels from town to town, healing and teaching thousands his gospel, his triumphant reception at the gates of Jerusalem, in essence, the culmination of his career – his loving ascent into our lives, all the events crowding into his thoughts. But then his memories take him to his final hour, his bitter descent, his freedom taken from him by the forces of an ignorant, fearful, confused, and jealous world.
 
We may not think of it this way, but in very simple terms, Jesus experienced in his short life what every one of us will and is perhaps already experiencing: our ascent and descent in life which all revolves around freedom. These are the stories of our own acquiring of freedom from dependence on others, the freedom to do what we wish, go where we want, make our own way. But as time moves on, and pain and suffering inevitably become a part of our physical and mental life, our freedom tends to be slowly taken away from us.
 
We grew up, travelled from town to town like Jesus, hopefully doing the work God called us to, but old age and infirmity beckons us at the end of the road, a road where we need someone like Simon to help us carry our crosses, someone like Veronica to dry our tears, people like the women to listen to us. We will be taken where we may not want to go, fed, bathed, groomed, and dressed by people we do not know. In the words of the great, humanitarian playwright, Tennessee Williams, there will come a time when we must all “depend on the kindness of strangers”.
 
Front-line workers live this everyday: bathe, dress and feed the sick and frail; listen to every word; read the fear and alarm in patients’ eyes; hold their hands as they grasp for breath; provide kindness and care to give them hope.  
 
As we grow older and begin to suffer, losing our freedom as Christ did, will we compound the work of our caregivers? Or like Christ, will we forgive them and still love them when they may not know what they’re doing? Endure without complaint, pray for them, and especially learn to accept our suffering as just part of the cycle of life which is taking us to our crosses at the top of Golgotha? Christ teaches us today how to navigate that journey. Christ accepted his freedom was taken away, but he freely and willingly accepted it, especially to show to all human-kind that a glorious resurrection awaits us after the hard work of this life. All we need do is believe and live the gospel. At whatever stage of life we may be in, dependence on God is a very good, productive, pleasing, holy, loving, and blessed thing.             
      
** In our Lenten Project many have been deeply examining themselves by asking: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I now? Where am I going? Where do I want to go? This week we ask: “Where does God want me to go?” **
 
– Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario ​