Reflection for Palm Sunday

In the old liturgical calendar there were two distinctive. Celebrations focusing on Christ’s solemn entrance into Jerusalem and his passion. Since the revision of the Roman calendar both have been merged together – more commonly called Palm Sunday. Today’s observance has more to do with passion than palms.
         Passion signifies being totally engulfed or overcome by something. In recent times, the word ” passion ” has been linked to the sometimes uncontrollable sexual appetite of the flesh. To be on fire. To lose all sense of rationality in the desire to another. The Passion we celebrate today is not one that appeases a carnal desire, or is turned inward. The Passion that is celebrated today is rooted completely in the sufferings of Jesus Christ and directed toward our liberation from sin an eternal loss of paradise.
       Christ was so passionately in love with the human race, that he came to earth to model for us the way to paradise. He endured many sufferings through his earthly ministry. He was misunderstood , ran out of his own city, betrayed and denied by his disciples. Yet in all of this silent internal anguish he uttered not one word of slander or desire for revenge. He continued to offer love in exchange for injury. Christ’s life and obedience to the Father led naturally to his passion and death. Thi ultimate sacrifice is the pattern left behind for us and the only way to paradise.
        In recent times suffering has become something to flee from as opposed to embrace. Our society finds absolutely no value in it, and encourages its abolition. Christians are reminded that Jesus Christ offered his sufferings for us, and we are called to do no less. By embracing suffering we take upon our own cross and follow our Savior, and we are granted salvation.
         God did not create suffering. Suffering, sickness, and death were not God’s original intention for the human race. Through the mystery of Adam and Eve’s sin these entered the world, and we have inherited them as their children. But through suffering and death of jesu Christ, suffering can have meaning and can be directed to aid others. Let this sacred celebration of Christ suffering  serve as a reminder to all of us that he has won the Victory for us by shedding his blood. Let us beg Jesus Christ, who suffered that we might have life, to give us a share in his sacred passion and the courage to embrace the cross.
     Have a blessed Holy Week !
     Fr. Dominic
     Your brother in Christ