Weekly HOMILY for April 1, 2012: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Cycle B -- Palm Speaks of Journeying and How to Journey

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Cycle B

Terranuova Hermitage

April 1, 2012

 

Palm Speaks of Journeying and How to Journey

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

 

The Palm

This is the 42^nd year that I as a priest have celebrated Palm Sunday.

I think it is fair to say that each year, I see these passages from Scripture a bit differently.  This year, I am focusing on just one thing, one item, and that is the palm.

The palm captures for me the heart of what today is all about.  Here is what I am thinking.

The Palm = Journey

The palm that we bless in the back of church at the beginning of Mass speaks of journey – Jesus’ journey, and then our journey. 

This is why we have a procession with palm at the beginning of Mass.  The palm first points to the journey that comprises Jesus’ entire life. 

Jesus is always travelling throughout Galilee and Judea, always on the move, always bringing the light and love of the Father to more and more people.  He also realizes that his journey will come to its completion in Jerusalem.

And so, the entrance into Jerusalem takes on special significance.  The palms that the people use to greet him here point to the journey of his entire life.

These palms also call us to see our lives as a journey.  We are to be on the move spiritually and personally.

We are never finished products and are always to be growing.  And this journey for us will also involve an entrance, in fact many entrances into Jerusalem.

We have to die to self and let go repeatedly of different things within ourselves.  We will have to do this so as to live more and more fully in the light and love of God.     

The Palm and Patience

Now with this awareness of our own lifelong journey, we are also to be aware of the journey of others – of each human being.

And in this way, the palm calls us to patience – a patience based on empathy.  If we are unfinished and on a journey, then so are others.

This means that we cannot expect others – members of our family, friends, co-workers, fellow parishioners, priests, elected officials, whomever – we cannot expect others to be perfect either.  All remain on the journey.

All of us are in need of entering Jerusalem time after time again.  All of us are in need of letting go, dying to self in various ways so that we can live more fully in the light and love of God.

The account of Jesus’ passion so clearly shows his patience – even when he was suffering.  He was patient with both his followers and opponents – with Peter, James and John, with Pilate and the High Priest, with the soldiers and the crowd.

Conclusion

So the palm today reminds us of Jesus’ journey and calls us to see our lives and the lives of others as a journey. 

And it calls us to have the empathetic, thoughtful, sensitive patience that we see in Jesus himself.