Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This Word today is the Passion of Jesus Christ; the red liturgical color is passionate, bright, beautiful and attracts attention. The Passion of Jesus Christ shows by far the greatest love that the Lord has for you. The readings manifest that love. To love passionately is to love with all your life, with everything that you have, and this is what is proclaimed today. The gospel of the Lord’s passion if for you and for me, for each one of us. It is so full of love for you that is seen in every little sentence, in every phrase. Today’s gospel is a love affair for you. I don’t know if you sensed that, if you experienced this infatuation today listening to the gospel. It is a declaration of love.
This declaration of love is the best one you have ever heard. Have you written a love letter where you said, I love you very, very much; you are the love of my life; you are everything to me. This doesn’t compare to the love Jesus shows us today. This declaration is not just some sweet little words; these are facts, a concrete fact that Christ has allowed himself to be killed for you and for me because of his passionate love for us. This is a great good news for us today! I hope that it fills you with joy.
How many people during Holy Week will say poor Jesus, little Jesus, how much he suffered for me, how beautiful, how precious what he did for me. And would he say the same thing about his wife? Or would he keep her as a slave without loving or caring for her or for him? I hope we are not stuck in that warmed-over spirituality. Holy Week is not a series of hot flashes, a spiritual high, a spiritual marijuana. Many live it this way and they probably have many tingles this week. But Easter comes and goes, but their life does not change. This Easter can be truly life changing for you.
I hope you find yourself in the midst of this love proclaimed in this assembly, a love without limits, a love that does not demand anything, a silent love, since Christ says nothing. When questioned by Pilate if he is the king of the Jews, he has no answer. He says nothing. Pilate says they accused you of many things so tell me something so that you can defend yourself and your life can be saved; Jesus does not respond. Pilate was amazed. How beautiful this is because humility is love. Red is the color for the passion, and it is the color of blood. If there is no blood, there is no love. If you don’t see the death of one person in the marriage, there is no love. To be married is to give your life for the other. Also, in your job. They will persecute you, maybe not kill you physically but they will mark you and try to get you fired; they will laugh at you and try to get rid of you. In all things they will persecute you, even your family, perhaps. Christian love is to give your life.
Today Christ has given his life for you and me. Barabbas is a hateful, disgusting man. Do you remember him in the Mel Gibson movie. He is dirty, half dressed, almost naked but he was loved by the people, why? Because he defended them from the Romans. He was a guy who stood up for their rights. He took the law into his own hands, especially in the face of injustice. He is like all of us here who seek justice in all we do. If something unfair happens to you, you explode, true? How is it that people kill for money? How is it possible to hurt innocent ones, to sell them into slavery? How is it possible for some to have more and some less? How can this happen? Barabbas was a guerilla fighter. He would gather people around him, and they would kill Romans. He defended the rights of the people of God, and they loved him for that.
Who do you want to be released Jesus or Barabbas? Some here, including myself, would say that I always choose Jesus. Baloney! We always choose Barabbas. Every day you are screaming at the kids or your spouse or cursing your boss, under your breath, of course. We want justice, justice, justice! How dare they make me work more than the others. How dare they not let my son play in the game or get a bad grade? Crucify him, crucify him; we choose Barabbas; we want justice. Jesus Christ is a fool; he does not even speak. He does not defend our rights. He is worth nothing. We prefer the one who will defend us. He will fight for us. Jesus is like a little lamb; he is stupid. He allows himself to be killed. He is not useful to us. He, the Messiah??
If you are the Messiah, come down from the cross, they say during his agony, in the last moments of his life. The devil is looking to destroy him. The same happened when he was born. Herod wanted to kill him and so he slaughtered all the boys under two years of age in Bethlehem. The slaughter of the innocents! The devil comes to tempt him in the desert before he begins his public life, but he is not able to trick him. And finally at this moment of the cross: if you are the son of God, come down from the cross. Christ could have done so since he was God, but he didn’t do it for love of you. What a declaration of love, how powerful. What an impact it has on us, brothers and sisters.
We on the other hand always want justice. We want the things done the way we say. I would have shouted also: crucify him, crucify him; he doesn’t help me or defend me, away with him. When driving the car we are crucifying him all the time. Get out of my way! Hurry up! Where did you get your license? This is not fair. I want justice. What would you do to the rapist or the thief? Oh, boy, you don’t want to know. But Christ gives his life for them. What would we do to the murderer, the adulterer? We would destroy them, but he gave his life for them. We should be on the cross, brothers, not him. What a wonderful good news it is today.
Look at this gospel again, knowing how we are justice seekers. It is you who are giving him the scourging; it is you who is putting him on the cross, you are dividing his clothes, you are the one who is mocking him, spitting at him. Every time you despise the other, you spit on Christ, every time you think you are better than the other, you are beating Christ, every adultery and every time you look at pornography, you destroy the Lord and it also destroys you. I hope you have this sensibility today so you can reach Easter and the Lord will act. He acts today by his resurrection.
The gospel that started the Palm Sunday Eucharist today is Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, which is a symbol of heaven. Jesus will enter on a donkey, not a horse. The kings came on horses, not donkeys. But Jesus needs a donkey, and you are that donkey, a burro. He tells the disciples that you will find a donkey tethered at a gate. If they ask you why you are taking the donkey, you can say the Master has need of it. The Master has need of you; Christ needs you.
You are the donkey. And by untying you he will lead you to heaven. This gospel account is so beautiful. Christ will be riding on you; he goes with you. This is Christianity; Christ is with you, and he brings everyone and everything to heaven. He cannot show his glory without you. He cannot love without you or give himself without you. The Master has need of you. But first we must be untied.
This is what we will experience this Easter: to be untied. We are donkeys, not horses and we are tied up. But the Lord will come to ride us and take us to heaven, this heavenly Jerusalem. May the Lord do this in each one of us and make of us true Christians. This love is profound. When you experience this love, then you can love the other. I hope that today you will experience this love. The passion of the Lord is like arrows being aimed at your heart and you realize there is someone who loves you. And he loves you more than your husband or wife or your girlfriend or your children or you parents. No one loves you like the Lord. He will be with you no matter what you do.