HOMILY FOR PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION. (3)

HOMILY FOR PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION.

THEME: A PASSION FOR THE PASSION

BY: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong,

1. Riddle. Movies are always not as good as the books that they are based on, except…? Answer: “The Passion of

HOMILY FOR PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION.

THEME: A PASSION FOR THE PASSION

BY: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong,

 

1. Riddle. Movies are always not as good as the books that they are based on, except…? Answer: “The Passion of the Christ.” Of course, Mel Gibson’s 2004 film, “The Passion of the Christ” was meant to present on the big screen, what we re-enact during Holy Week. Interestingly, its follow-up is coming next year, 2024 with the title: “The Passion of the Christ 2: Resurrection”. The official trailer is out. And Palm Sunday liturgy is like a trailer, a preview of the entire Holy Week events. Today’s Gospel reading (Mt 26:14-27:66) is an inspired account of part of the most decisive event in human history. No wonder even outside Scripture, the event is indubitably recorded in non-Christian works. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, Cornelius Tacitus, the Roman orator, and historian, etc, all have details of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, all essentially agreeing with what we just read and heard. Let us now meditate and contemplate the Passion of the Christ.

RELATED: HOMILY FOR PALM SUNDAY

2. The Passion. In it, the God-man, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, experienced the evils that plague humanity: injustice, betrayal, doubt, fear, pain and, ultimately, degrading death. Yet, it ended in victory over death. By accepting these evils out of love for us, out of self-emptying humility as described in today’s 2nd reading (Phil 2:6-11), Christ drew out the highest good for mankind, from the worst evils by mankind. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) reminds us: “From the greatest moral evil ever committed – the rejection and murder of God’s only Son, caused by the sins of all men – God, by his grace that ‘abounded all the more’, brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of Christ and our redemption.” (CCC 312). Only God can do this. Thus: “One may never do evil so that good may result from it” (CCC 1789). All 117 billion humans who have ever lived (according to Live Science estimates), including the 8 billion currently alive, can find in the Passion of the Christ, a model for handling their own sufferings. Every passion for good is implicitly a passion for the Passion of the Christ, the path to final victory over evil.

3. Passion for the Passion. The estimated 8 billion human beings on earth share many good passions including ending poverty, insecurity, war and violence, protecting the planet, etc. Commonly used for powerful feelings, ‘passion’ has Latin roots: ‘pati’, ‘passio’, meaning suffering, or enduring. At its core, passion is a strong desire that demands to be fulfilled, a pain that demands to be quenched. Imagine the deep yearning we ‘all’ have now to end mass killings. Imagine the deep pain we feel over its effects on our lives, and you get a fresh grasp of the Passion of Christ, the suffering of Christ, to end the suffering of mankind. Our passion to end all that threatens our lives thus thrusts us even more deeply into the mystery of redemption: that it takes suffering to end suffering. The Passion (Suffering) of Christ in today’s Gospel reading relates details that enhance our appropriation of the redemption it brought us. Why then are we still suffering if Christ has already done so for us? To share in the effects of Christ’s Passion (victory over sin and eternal death), we must share in the Passion itself by taking up our crosses and following Him (Matt 16:24). Some people even feel how our Lord felt during His Passion, when He said: “My soul is sorrowful even to death” (Mt 26:28). Yet He gave us a pattern for handling such moments. He prayed: “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!” (Mt 26:42). This leaves you and me with a passion for the Passion of Christ. How I wish I can say every time I am in pain while trying to reduce or end the sufferings of others: “Father, thy will be done”. Assured of a share in the victory of Christ even in the midst of setbacks, how I wish I can “set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame” using the inspired imagery of today’s 1st reading (Is 50:4-7). May our passion for the Passion of Christ, lead us to a share in the victory of Christ, a share in the Resurrection. Amen.

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