Lesson for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (B)

Joy Amidst Suffering - The Paradox of Palm Sunday

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Today we celebrate the Palm Sunday, and we are in the middle of a paradox. On the one hand, we are filled with joy. As Jesus enters Jerusalem, throngs of people rejoice. The promised Savior has finally come! The Messiah is here! Redemption is at hand!

But then, on the other hand, we turn towards the sorrowful narrative of our Lord's rejection, suffering, and death - with his passion. Palm Sunday is also Passion Sunday. It is a solemn, silent moment.

How can a day of triumph be filled with both joy and sorrow? Because what seems to be Christ's defeat is actually his victory, the victory of everlasting love."A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

That's what Jesus taught, and that's what he did in his passion, to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that his love for us has no limits. The angels sang "Glory to God in the Highest" when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and now the people sing, "Hosanna in the Highest" as Jesus enters Jerusalem.

Both entrances were motivated by God's love, the same love that led him to be obedient to the Father even to the point of death, so as to reverse the disobedience of Adam, pay the price of our sins, and rescue fallen mankind from hopelessness and injustice.

We have solved our paradox. The source of our sorrow is sin, our sins, the cause of Christ's suffering. But the source of our joy is Christ's love, the very reason Jesus was willing to suffer, and the very power that, through his sacrifice on the cross, conquers our sins.

And so Christians can always live inside the paradox of Palm Sunday, can always find joy, the joy of Christ's limitless love, even amidst the profoundest sorrows. 

St Polycarp's Victory

In Christian art, the martyrs are almost always shown holding palm branches as symbols of victory over temptation and suffering. These martyrs are our older brothers and sisters in the faith - God wants us to learn from and be encouraged by them.

Take the example of St Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. In the year 155, Polycarp was condemned to death for refusing to give idolatrous worship to the Roman Emperor. As he was a well-known Christian leader, and so, even though he was already in his 80s, his execution was made into a large public spectacle. He was burned to death in the city stadium.

Normally, criminals executed that way were actually fastened to the pile of wood, so that they wouldn't climb out of the fire. But not Polycarp. He told his guards: "He who gives me strength to endure the fire will also grant me to stay on the pyre unflinching even without your making sure of it with nails."

According to eyewitnesses, his last words were a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving to God for giving him the honour of sharing Christ's cup of suffering.

Those same eyewitnesses tell us that when the fire was lit, a great flame blazed up, but instead of burning Polycarp right away, it surrounded him like a fiery force field; his face was serene and his body glowed like gold being refined in a furnace. As he peacefully breathed his last, the onlookers perceived a fragrant smell, as if incense were being offered.

This is the paradox of Palm Sunday, which God wants us all to experience: that Christ's limitless love can strengthen us to resist even the greatest temptations, and fill us with interior peace and joy even amidst the flames of suffering that torment us here on earth.

Bringing Christ's Victory to Others

During these days, the Holy Spirit wants to teach how to live this paradox more deeply. He will do so as we spend more time with Christ in personal prayer and come together for the special liturgies during the week.

If we live this week well, seven days from now we will know Christ's love for us better, and so we will be better able to experience true Christian joy, even in the midst of life's trials.

We should be grateful for the freedom we have in this country to celebrate Holy Week, a freedom not all Catholics enjoy, and we should also be grateful for our faith, that precious gift which is the key to living these days fruitfully.

But there are many people around us who do not have this faith. Each of us knows some of them: neighbours, colleagues, even family members. Maybe no one ever told them about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer.

Maybe life's challenges made them fall into temptation, trading in their true Christian faith for some other, more fashionable world view. Whatever the reason, the fact remains: they don't have palm branches in their hands today.

They are not sharing in Christ's victory, not even a little bit. They are like the people in the Gospel who came up to the rejoicing crowds and asked, "Who is this? What's going on?"

Is there any better way for us to celebrate this holiest week of the year than by answering that question? By telling them who Jesus is and who he wants to be for them?

Pope John Paul II used to say that the best way to grow in our own faith was by giving it away to others. This week, strengthened by our celebration today, let's put that theory to the test. Christ's victory is too precious to keep to ourselves.