A Palm Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
As we begin Holy Week, we remind ourselves that this week also brings Passover for the Jewish people. When Passover overlaps Holy Week and/or Easter, it's something special - at least for me.
Reading recently in Deuteronomy about the seven days’ observance of Passover, and the unleavened bread, it reminded me of growing up in an apartment building with Jewish neighbors. On our floor five of the eight families were Jewish. Many of my contemporaries in Catholic school growing up in more religiously homogenized neighborhoods never got to know, understand, or appreciate Jews. We did.
One result of our co-habitation was that I became aware of Jewish holidays and celebrations in addition to our own Christian observances. When Passover rolled around, Mom used to buy Matzoh (unleavened bread). We’d eat it with our meals or as a snack, usually with butter. One or more of our Jewish neighbors would bring something appropriate to their holiday, e.g. gefilte fish, to us. The food connected us in some way. Despite our differences, and the occasional conflict that might arise because of those differences, we all got along; and there was a certain element of respect, even affection in our interactions. Sincere exchanges of "Happy Passover," and "Happy Easter" were commonplace. Not a bad place to grow up, that old apartment building. Being poor in material possessions (which we were), we were rich in our human relationships.
Returning to Palm Sunday, we begin with the gospel describing Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, accompanied by the adulation of the crowd of Jews: "Hossanah!". We all know how quickly that adulation turned against Our Lord. Within less than a week, He would be crucified, and some of those same masses would turn from enthusiastic adulation to outright hatred. But such is the way of "the crowd": easily swayed by the emotions of the moment, this way and that. Jesus knew all this would come to pass as He heard the Hossannas on that first Palm Sunday.
Most of us have a touch of "the crowd" in us. When we're swayed from the True, the Good, and the Beautiful to the ways of the world, the flesh and the devil, we're like the crowd. Hossannas all to easily turn to "Crucify Him!" as we give in to the temptations that buffet us in our daily lives.
That's why we need our Lenten discipline of special prayers, fasting, and almsgiving. If we persisted in our discipline these past weeks, it may have - should have - helped us gain the strength we need to resist temptation, among other benefits. For most of us, we likely won't change dramatically, of course. But while perfection may allude us, improvement shouldn't. The good, sincere effort we've made to observe Lent appropriately will leave us better able to resist the fickle emotions that characterize the crowd. We may even be able to stand with Our Lady, St. John, and the other women who remained with Our Lord beneath His Cross, rather than run away like the rest of His friends. If we simply turn to Him in those moments of temptation begging the grace to resist and overcome our fallen human nature, that grace will flow to us. Nothing that tempts us can be beyond our ability to resist, when we rely on God's grace. At least that's what I've learned both in my study of the Faith and my spiritual reading. It's also what I've occasionally experienced - at least in those times when I really, sincerely trusted in Him.
Would that we could always and everywhere open our souls to His actual grace, that which strengthens us against temptation. But while "always and everywhere" may remain just beyond the grasp of most of us, we know that for those times we come up short, we can head for the Confessional and seek forgiveness, then start all over again. We can do this refreshed by the sanctifying grace Our Lord Himself imparts on us in the person of the priest. (Which may remind some of us to get to Confession before Easter.)
Concluding for this Palm Sunday: We hope and pray that the echo of our "Hossanas" on this Palm Sunday may linger longer with us this year. May they carry us forward to the glory of Easter. May they stay with us the rest of our lives. And may we one day sing "Hossana" with the angels and saints - by His grace.
Reading recently in Deuteronomy about the seven days’ observance of Passover, and the unleavened bread, it reminded me of growing up in an apartment building with Jewish neighbors. On our floor five of the eight families were Jewish. Many of my contemporaries in Catholic school growing up in more religiously homogenized neighborhoods never got to know, understand, or appreciate Jews. We did.
One result of our co-habitation was that I became aware of Jewish holidays and celebrations in addition to our own Christian observances. When Passover rolled around, Mom used to buy Matzoh (unleavened bread). We’d eat it with our meals or as a snack, usually with butter. One or more of our Jewish neighbors would bring something appropriate to their holiday, e.g. gefilte fish, to us. The food connected us in some way. Despite our differences, and the occasional conflict that might arise because of those differences, we all got along; and there was a certain element of respect, even affection in our interactions. Sincere exchanges of "Happy Passover," and "Happy Easter" were commonplace. Not a bad place to grow up, that old apartment building. Being poor in material possessions (which we were), we were rich in our human relationships.
Returning to Palm Sunday, we begin with the gospel describing Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, accompanied by the adulation of the crowd of Jews: "Hossanah!". We all know how quickly that adulation turned against Our Lord. Within less than a week, He would be crucified, and some of those same masses would turn from enthusiastic adulation to outright hatred. But such is the way of "the crowd": easily swayed by the emotions of the moment, this way and that. Jesus knew all this would come to pass as He heard the Hossannas on that first Palm Sunday.
Most of us have a touch of "the crowd" in us. When we're swayed from the True, the Good, and the Beautiful to the ways of the world, the flesh and the devil, we're like the crowd. Hossannas all to easily turn to "Crucify Him!" as we give in to the temptations that buffet us in our daily lives.
That's why we need our Lenten discipline of special prayers, fasting, and almsgiving. If we persisted in our discipline these past weeks, it may have - should have - helped us gain the strength we need to resist temptation, among other benefits. For most of us, we likely won't change dramatically, of course. But while perfection may allude us, improvement shouldn't. The good, sincere effort we've made to observe Lent appropriately will leave us better able to resist the fickle emotions that characterize the crowd. We may even be able to stand with Our Lady, St. John, and the other women who remained with Our Lord beneath His Cross, rather than run away like the rest of His friends. If we simply turn to Him in those moments of temptation begging the grace to resist and overcome our fallen human nature, that grace will flow to us. Nothing that tempts us can be beyond our ability to resist, when we rely on God's grace. At least that's what I've learned both in my study of the Faith and my spiritual reading. It's also what I've occasionally experienced - at least in those times when I really, sincerely trusted in Him.
Would that we could always and everywhere open our souls to His actual grace, that which strengthens us against temptation. But while "always and everywhere" may remain just beyond the grasp of most of us, we know that for those times we come up short, we can head for the Confessional and seek forgiveness, then start all over again. We can do this refreshed by the sanctifying grace Our Lord Himself imparts on us in the person of the priest. (Which may remind some of us to get to Confession before Easter.)
Concluding for this Palm Sunday: We hope and pray that the echo of our "Hossanas" on this Palm Sunday may linger longer with us this year. May they carry us forward to the glory of Easter. May they stay with us the rest of our lives. And may we one day sing "Hossana" with the angels and saints - by His grace.
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee,
Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou Hast Redeemed the world.
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