Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Palm Sunday begins Holy Week or Passion Week. Jesus shows us the crazy, passionate love of the Father for us. How he longs to eat the Passover with us; he who is the true Passover, the true Paschal lamb who comes to die for us. Imagine if your friend suffered a tiny piece of what Christ suffered for love of you. Would you ever forget what they did?
In the passion account Pilate says, “Behold the man!” In the movie The Passion of the Christ even Pilate is shocked to see the condition of Christ after the scourging. He is disfigured, bloody, tortured so that he can resemble us who are disfigured because of our sins. He came to be one with us. We are like two pieces of a puzzle that complete one another. We need a little humility to see this, and to realize what he has done for us.
Who are we like in this gospel? Are we Judas, or Peter, or the soldiers? Are we like Barabbas who is a justice maker? Are we always fighting for respect and recognition, and unable to take the last place?
Perhaps we are like the donkey who is tied up. Only the preaching and the sacraments untie us. The Lord needs this donkey, and not a horse. He needs something very simple. The donkey has to be untied in order to carry Christ. We can be this donkey that takes Christ to others, if we allow him to climb up on us. The donkey takes him to persons who are in need of him. It is a beautiful task, and not so difficult.
Christ is the Coming One. He continues to come in our age. He wants to come to us today. It is the Church that leads us to him. Let us pray that the Lord will take away our darkness, our slavery and bring us eternal life.