Triumph and Tragedy

It is common to hear the presider on Palm Sunday say something to the effect that because of the long reading of the Passion story, his homily will be brief.  While this practice is understandable, it is also regrettable because Palm Sunday is the beginning of the most sacred week of our liturgical year leading up to the celebration of the most important of feasts, Easter Sunday.  For many reasons, many of them commercial, many people celebrate Christmas more elaborately.  However, when it comes to our faith, Easter Sunday has primacy of place.

On Palm Sunday, we celebrate both the triumph and the tragedy of Jesus’ life.  His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem is commemorated with the blessing of palm branches and the procession into the Church as we sing praises to our King.  However, when we settle into the Liturgy of the Word, sentiments of triumph quickly morph into tragedy as we listen to the story of Jesus’ passion and dying.  If we stop to think about it, all of our lives can be characterized in a similar way.  Most of us have experienced triumph in our lives as we reach our goals and successfully navigate the straits and narrows of human life.  However, there is also tragedy in our lives as we mourn the loss of a loved one, experience a chronic disease or endure a physical or mental disability.  Life is a series of triumphs and tragedies.

As we gather on Palm Sunday to celebrate both the triumph and tragedy of Jesus’ passion and dying, it is important to try to do more than simply remember what Jesus has done for us.  To be sure, it is important to remember.  However, if we truly want to experience the fullness of the graces offered to us through Jesus’ dying and rising, we must enter into the mystery ourselves.  We must learn to carry the cross as Simon of Cyrene carried it with Jesus.  For only when we carry our own cross can we hope to experience the triumph of the Resurrection!  If all we do is remember, there is a danger that the meaning of this celebration will be lost on us. 

When we enter into the mystery that we call Paschal, we learn what it means to love like Jesus who taught us that the fullest measure of love is found in laying down one’s life for others.  When we enter into this mystery, we can bond with the crucified King who suffered the agony of the crucifixion by offering up our own suffering and frustration.  When we enter into the mystery, we can learn the meaning of the words, not my will but yours be done.  Jesus teaches us that God has a plan; our task is to make God’s plan our own.

Holy Week is more than a simple exercise in memory.  It is a mystery into which we need to enter in order to experience the peace and joy that Easter morning will bring.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator