Homily: Palm Sunday

April 13, 2025

My dear brothers and sisters, we begin the Holy Week today with the Palm Sunday celebrations. This week in the tradition of the Church is regarded as holy because in it we commemorate the most sacred and significant events in the life of Jesus especially His suffering, death and resurrection which are at the heart of our Christian salvation. Beginning today with Palm Sunday, the two parts of the liturgy of today give us a picture of how Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and what happened inside Jerusalem, we single out Jesus and the crowd for a brief reflection.

First On Jesus, Jesus knew too well that crucifixion and death awaited Him in Jerusalem. He was not unaware that there was already a prize on His head. By human logic, he supposed to have gone hiding far away from Jerusalem, if at all he would have entered Jerusalem, he would have sneaked in through the county roads at night and hidden Himself in the woods. However, Jesus chose to ride into Jerusalem as a victorious king, a superlative act of courage. From this gospel narrative, we could see that He planned everything very well. He chose a colt, an animal known for peace and not a horse meant for war. What is Jesus telling us? Even at the face of death, Jesus used every possible apparatus to tell the world that He is the king, there is no other and what type of king, a king of peace. The kingdom that He has come to establish in the world would come only through His victory on the cross of Calvary. He did not hide away from it. No matter the hostility and opposition he did not shy away from it. We too should strive all the days of our lives not to distance ourselves from the message of the cross of Calvary. It remains the cross of victory, there is no other. Then on the Crowd of People, as Jesus was entering Jerusalem, this crowd were singing His praises and hailing Him as their king and throwing their cloths on the ground for Jesus to ride on. However, when the atmosphere changed before Pilate, this same people turned and started shouting crucify Him, crucify Him. Characterizing this crowd of people is indeed difficult. Do we call them confused set of people or do we see them as chameleonic, in white background they became white and in black background, they turn black. May be when Jesus gave them hope as a worldly political Messiah and conqueror, they hailed Him but when they are faced with the real meaning and cost of His divine kingship and our discipleship, the denied Jesus and spat on Him. However, we see them, their actions challenge us not to be confused Christians, we should not maintain a chameleonic attitude to our Christian calling. We are called to remain focused on this path of salvation shown to us by Jesus.

One of the major ways of remaining focused is by being near and participating in the different celebrations of reenacting these Christ’s events. I invite everybody to be part of this Holy Week ceremonies. Here in our parish, we continue the Holy Week with having the sacrament of reconciliation and purification this Sunday afternoon by 2:00 pm. On Tuesday by 10:30 am at St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Archbishop will lead the entire Archdiocese in Chrism Mass, where the priests will renew their priestly commitment, and holy oils will be blessed. We will gather here at Blessed Sacrament by 7:00 pm on Thursday evening for the Mass of the institution of Holy Eucharist and service which Jesus laid down for us, after which we all will go down to the hall for one hour adoration that Jesus requested from his disciples. On Friday by 11:00 am, we will follow Jesus through his journey on Calvary in the Stations of the Cross and then by 3:00 pm same day, will gather again to celebrate His brutal killing. We will cap up the Triduum celebrations by 7:30 pm on Saturday with the mother of all vigils in the Church; the Easter vigil of the resurrection of Jesus, and then the Easter Sunday Mass will be as usual. Brothers and sisters, we can do it for Christ. It is preeminently for our own sanctification. By following these ceremonies, we are brought closer to the cross of Calvary and the glorious resurrection of Jesus our Lord.