HOMILY FOR PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF OUR LORD YEAR B

HOMILY FOR PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF OUR LORD YEAR B

(MARK 11:1-10, ISAIAH 50:4-7, PHILIPPIANS 2:6-11, MARK 14:1-15:49)

THEME: THIS IS HOLY WEEK, MAKE YOUR LIFE HOLY!

BY: Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara

Today is a unique Sunday in Lent because it marks the beginning of the Holy Week and the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ the son of God and our Lord. Palm Sunday celebrates the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem the royal city. Christ needed to go to Jerusalem because he was truly both the king of heaven and earth. So, his entry into the royal city is highly symbolic of fulfilling what the prophets long foretold. The door of the Holy Week is open for us to march with the Lord to his suffering and death as we look forward to the resurrection.

ALSO RECOMMENDED:YEAR B: HOMILY FOR PALM/PASSION SUNDAY

I wouldn’t know your disposition since the beginning of Lent. Would you say, “It has been a great experience for me” or would you have regrets? These few days could make a significant change in your life. This is Holy Week. Try to keep it as a Holy Week
The ultimate purpose of the entrance was for our Lord to suffer the mockery of the devil and the brutality of men in order to conquer sin and death. The celebration of this Sunday is full of symbols. Some of the most important symbols today include the palms, the donkey and the colt, the bystanders, and other characters. The Palms represent the royalty of Christ and his peaceful reign; the donkey is a symbol of the humility of Christ the King as our first and second readings presented him.
As we look at the Passion of Jesus, many events also take on new meaning for us. The donkey and the colt point to our sinful souls tied to the tree of sin which reminds us of the tree in the middle of the garden in the book of Genesis where the first sin of disobedience was committed (Gen.3:3). Once we realize that it was our sins that crucified Jesus, we can see these different characters in the Passion representing our sins which caused Jesus to die. Think of Judas. When he met Jesus in Gethsemane, he kissed Jesus, but it was a deceitful and treacherous kiss. We can see some of ourselves in Judas. When we come to Mass, we kiss the Lord, especially when we receive him in Holy Communion and as Mass ends, we are invited to “Go and serve the Lord” yet how often we sin. We can also see this in a very big way when public figures claim they are Christians but do not defend their faith.
Peter denied Jesus three times when he was put under pressure. Listen to what Peter said, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about”. Some lies are normalized in our world today with the words; Does it matter, or everyone is doing it. Some say now they did not know it is a serious sin to miss Mass on Sundays and Holy days, and some even say they did not know it is a serious sin to have intimate relations outside marriage, even some contraceptive kinds of stuff I wouldn’t want to mention, are shared in public youth functions. However, just as Peter was forgiven and restored by Jesus we too would be forgiven and restored by Jesus when we repent.
The bystanders around Jesus heaped insults on him. These episodes simply reflect the reality of life. They also reflect how unfaithful and unpredictable we can sometimes be in our relationships with God, and others. Today, we are for Christ, tomorrow we are against him. Christ is our friend when we are in difficulty, but our enemy when we are comfortable. It also shows how we relate to one another. Today we are friends, and tomorrow we are archenemies.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, it is important that we ask God for the grace to remain steadfast to him and our brothers and sisters at all moments of our lives. As we show solidarity to Christ today, let us also extend it to others. This is because in others there is both Christ the humble king, and Christ the suffering servant of God. This is also because this is the most practical way of expressing our solidarity with Christ. May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts on Jesus’ Passion this week encourage us to renew our lives with Jesus and leave sin behind to rise with his new life at Easter.

FOR SIMILAR HOMILY, CLICK HERE https://www.catholicforlife.com/year-b-homily-for-palm-passion-sunday