Homily for Palm Sunday 2020

This truly is a Sunday unlike any other. For so many of us, the thought of not being able to begin Holy Week with palm branches in hand crying “Hosanna, to the Son of David” is a source of frustration and sadness. But, dear brothers and sisters, there is a great opportunity here to reflect on what happens when we are able to wave our palms once more. You see, there’s more here than simply not having the license to roam about as we like and do what we want; if we let ourselves truly dwell in this moment of being apart from our parish churches, Jesus wishes to use our hearts bowed like palms and cloaks laid low to seek entry as the humble King of our homes once more.

When the Jews cried “Hosanna to the Son of David” they were echoing Psalm 118: “Save Us! (Hosanna!) We beseech you O Lord! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.  We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.”

With this Palm Sunday, the Hosanna that we cry from our homes is very much a “Save Us O Lord!” “Save us from this house arrest!  Save us from illness! Save us from the unknown! Save us from fear!” We join this to the ultimate cry of humanity, “Save Us, O Lord, from the oppression of sin and death!”  That is ultimately the cry of salvation we make, for we know that there is more at work here than a pandemic — an admittedly brief moment in our lives.  We do not want to be oppressed by sin any longer.

As the Jews cry out quoting the Psalm, they recognize that the new King (The Son of David) is also a priest since the palms are laid out for Jesus to are to go “up to the horns of the altar.” When the Messiah comes, he will rule the people in righteousness, but he will also go to offer sacrifice on behalf of the people to atone for their sins.

This is precisely what Jesus comes to do today as He makes this final entry into Jerusalem. Jesus is true prophet as he fulfills all the prophecies of the Old Testament; He is true King because He is descended from David’s line and as God will fulfill the promise of a never-ending Kingdom for those who believe in Him; He is true priest because He goes to the altar of the cross offering Himself as the lamb of sacrifice, not only to atone but to deliver us from sin. In the exercise of triple office, He comes to save us.

The account of the passion of Jesus that we read in the Gospel today focuses the microscope on all that Jesus willingly encounters to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suffering Servant and all of the Psalms and prophets who anticipate Him. Matthew wishes to make abundantly clear that in every moment and action, Jesus is the Son of God and there is no other. The world will always seek to release Bar-Abbas, a false prophet with a name similar Our Lord’s, who brings only earthly revolution, frenzy, and a cult of personality to follow. Jesus of Nazareth, the true king, brings revolution by silently enduring the scourging at the pillar, the crown of thorns, the mockery and spitting, and the weight of the beams of the cross. Finally, he mounts this great altar — the cross hoisted upon Calvary and lets loose a cry of agony that collects every prayer from the fall of Adam until that very moment: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Rather than an admit of defeat, of dereliction from His Father, Jesus in breathing his last leaves us to finish Psalm 22:(28-32):  “All the ends of the earth/will remember and turn to the LORD;/All the families of nations/will bow low before him./For kingship belongs to the LORD,/the ruler over the nations./All who sleep in the earth/will bow low before God;/All who have gone down into the dust/will kneel in homage./And I will live for the LORD;/my descendants will serve you./The generation to come will be told of the Lord,/that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn/the deliverance you have brought.”

You see, the exclamation of our Lord in suffocating pain is a cry of victory! It is his answer to the Hosannas! That we cry this Palm Sunday. “Save Us! O King!”

In making the Way of the Cross with Jesus this Holiest of Weeks, you and I from our homes are able to reflect with great intensity and focus on how Jesus wishes to renew His saving work in us. In the looming days of Paschal Triduum, reflect upon how you have cried “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” How have you cried out “Hosanna! Save Us!”

Allow yourself to walk along with Jesus. Do not turn away from him as the disciples flee. Keep your gaze fixed on him as he goes to Pilate. Choose not Barabbas, the convenient messiah. Console His heart as others mock, spit, and beat him. Help to carry his cross by bearing your own with Him to Calvary. Look longingly into His eyes as The Lamb sacrifices Himself willingly for you.  Weep as He gives His Spirit up to The Father. Hope as Psalm 22 is finished in your heart.

If you allow this week to truly penetrate your heart and your home, you will also be the first to cry with the centurion, “Truly this was the Son of God!” on Easter morning.