Bishop Vincents Homily for Palm Sunday
Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47
Following the humble suffering and yet trustful and fearless Messiah
Dear friends,
This year, we celebrate Palm Sunday in a context of large-scale wars and conflicts the likes of which the world has not seen for some time. There is a sense of helplessness as we watch the war in Ukraine entering the third straight year and the Israel-Palestine conflict unfolding with deadly consequences for innocent children. We are horrified and unsure of how to respond. The shock and scope of these events are overwhelming.
Palm Sunday provides us with a true antidote to the reciprocal violence. We begin Holy Week with the celebration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. It is a symbolic gesture that subverts power and domination. In him, we are called to witness to a different way of being in the world, a different way of being in community with one another, and a different way of being siblings to one another.
The Word of God that we have heard testifies to the kind of Messiah Jesus was. He was not the triumphant ruler or the military strongman that many of his own Jewish contemporaries had longed for, especially on account of the waves of imperial conquest and subjugation. Instead, he identified with the Suffering Servant that Isaiah foretold. He epitomizes the faithful remnants of Israel who persevered in goodness and righteousness despite the trials and tribulations.
Similarly, Paul describes Jesus in the second reading as humbling himself to the point of dying on the cross and embodying the self-emptying God. This path of kenosis or total giving of self for the sake of others characterizes the life of the Saviour which in turn becomes the means of his vindication and glorification. He is raised on the highest for having lowered himself to the lowest.
This year, the Passion narrative is taken from Mark who stresses that Jesus is totally silent during the trial. In the face of insults, lies and provocations, he makes no reply. There is a silence that is a sign of weakness such as that of those who do not take action to denounce injustices; those who refuse to speak truth to power. But there is a silence that is a sign of strength of character: that of someone who does not lose heart in the face of arrogance, insult or slander. It is the noble silence of those who are certain that the just cause for which they are fighting will eventually triumph. Silent suffering is at times the most eloquent witness to justice.
Mark tells us that at the moment of Jesus’ death, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. This is not an insignificant detail. This means that his supreme act of love has removed all barriers that separate us from God. The Holy of Holies that was once veiled and kept hidden and totally inaccessible to the people is now revealed in Jesus. He is the true temple and abode of God. The fact that the pagan centurion who declared Jesus to be the Son of God means that faith alone matters and not any other human attributes like race, ethnicity, culture, social status etc.
Dear friends,
Palm Sunday galvanizes us to transformative action, for it gives us a glimpse of the victory of love over hatred and life over death. It was not evil that had the upper hand. It was not injustice, violence and death that had the last word. It was God’s unflinching fidelity, his unconditional love in Jesus that brought about the victory of shalom.
Our celebration today calls us to renew our commitment to follow the humble suffering and yet trustful and fearless Messiah. God is involved with the pain and suffering of our world. God is involved in our quest for justice, peace and the flourishing of all creation. The victory of shalom is won by the awesome power of compassionate love, in and through solidarity with those who suffer.
The work of the cross is the work of a transcendent God, breaking into a cycle we could not change alone. To believe in the crucified one is to want no other victims. To depend on the blood of Jesus is to refuse to depend on the sacrificial blood of anyone else. It is to refuse to play the mob that makes a scapegoat out of the victim who may be the weak, the marginalized and the minoritized among us. The Church, as a new community formed through identification with the crucified one, is dedicated both to the innocent victim whom God has vindicated by resurrection and to a new life in Christ that overcomes conflict.
May we follow the example of the Suffering Servant who shows us the way of disarming hatred with love, evil with goodness, violence with benevolence, indifference with compassion. May our commitment to heal and transform our wounded humanity and our broken earth be brought to fruition in accordance with God’s plan in Christ.
