“Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.” (Mt 21:9). On Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we are called to join with our Lord, Jesus Christ, as he makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and then suffers derision and mockery, scourging and finally crucifixion because he comes to offer a new way of life and claims to be who he truly is – the Son of God. This week is, indeed, what we Christians call it: Holy Week. Throughout this week, we are reminded that God the Father, who is holy, has called us to follow his son as he leads us from a life of sin to a life of holiness. Today, we join our Lord in Jerusalem, where he goes to accomplish work for which his Father had sent him. We hear about his triumphant entry into Jerusalem as well as his humiliating passion and death on the cross. The palm that is blessed at Mass and we usually take home to drape around our crucifixes unites us with the crowd that welcomed Jesus, proclaiming him to be the “Son of David.” The celebrant wears a red chasuble today, symbolic of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. The Gospel, ordinarily proclaimed by a priest or deacon, is today proclaimed through the active participation of the entire congregation – this year, remotely through the internet. All of this draws us into this most important week, when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is betrayed and abandoned by his followers as he accomplishes the work that his heavenly Father has sent him to do. We, who have come to recognize our sinfulness and Jesus’ saving power during this Lenten Season, are now called to decide whether or not we want to stay with the fickle crowd, that one day acclaims Jesus as their savior and on another day calls for his death, or with the Christ, who is willing to suffer humiliation, abandonment, agony and even death in obedience to the Father’s will and for the good of his people.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the liturgical year last December, this is the year that features The Gospel of Matthew. Today’s Gospel reading is taken from that gospel. Regardless of the Gospel from which it is taken, however, no part of the life of Jesus is related with as much detail as his passion and death. This is God’s great saving act, the climax of his saving acts throughout human history. It is the liturgical act, and it calls for our careful attention and active participation. Let me remind you about the definition of the word liturgy; it comes from the Greek word λιτυργειν and means a public service for the benefit of the entire people. Certainly, our Lord’s offering himself at the Last Supper and on the cross at Calvary is the supreme public service for the benefit of all people, as he offers himself to his heavenly Father for our sins and offers himself to us for our spiritual nourishment!
There are many opportunities this week to participate in this great liturgical event. On Holy Thursday, the only Masses permitted are the Chrism Mass, which is celebrated at the Cathedral of every (arch)diocese, and the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. We will live stream our Mass of the Lord’s Supper here at the parish when we participate in the celebration of the institution of the Eucharistic Celebration. And, on Good Friday, we will live stream the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 3:00pm.
Although commonly understood as lasting until before the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, Lent officially ends before evening prayer of Holy Thursday. At this time, the Easter Triduum begins, which lasts until the conclusion of evening prayer on Easter Sunday. Christ redeemed us all and gave perfect glory to God principally through his paschal mystery: “dying he destroyed our death and rising he restored our life.” Therefore, the Easter Triduum of the passion and resurrection of Christ is the culmination of the entire liturgical year. The Easter Triduum begins with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday and closes with evening prayer on Easter Sunday. The Easter Vigil will be celebrated at 7:00pm next Saturday. This change in time for the Vigil Mass follows Church directives that the Easter Vigil not be celebrated at the time of day that it is customary to celebrate the Sunday Vigil Mass, thus setting it apart from every other Sunday. We will live stream both the Easter Vigil and the 9:30am Easter Sunday Mass.
All of these liturgies provide us with the opportunity to share in this salvific event. It is important to recognize, however, that we are not just recalling what Jesus did for us in Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. We are not just spectators of his great sacrifice. The liturgies of these days do not just take us back to the Upper Room or on the path to Calvary. The purpose of our celebrations is not to merely retrace or relive the last hours of Jesus’ life. Nor do we prepare for that chance to catch sight of Jesus emerging from the tomb at Easter’s dawning. These liturgies celebrate not only what once happened to Jesus but also what is happening among us now as a people called to conversion, called in faith and gifted with the Spirit of holiness. That is why it is so important that we all participate in these liturgies. It is not like attending a sports event, where a team will win or lose whether we are there or not. Nor is it like going to a concert, where others perform for our entertainment. Rather, we are all the people God has created through his Word and now recreates through the Word made Flesh as a community, broken like bread for the world, offered for the sins of humanity, and raised to new life in our savior, Jesus Christ. This good news takes on new significance for us now as we all face the fragility of our lives here on earth and take great hope in the eternal life that God promises his faithful, where there will be no more suffering or pain, worry or anxiety, but only unending, unimaginable joy in our loving Father’s heavenly embrace. Come, let us die with Jesus so that we will also rise with him!