A Palm Sunday Reflection: Truth Lies in Being Faithful to Your Vocation
The account of the Passion we have heard today invites us to silence, prayer and reflection. In Matthew's Gospel, we find aspects that can help us let the Word of God enter our hearts. The liturgy of this Palm Sunday is made up of contrasts: it moves from the celebration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and the cry from the Cross. This Passion narrative is not an event of the past, but an ever-present occurrence that must help us live our faith better. Let us briefly see how.
Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem with celebration and joy, but immediately after, the evangelist Matthew presents Judas' betrayal; we move from the celebration of the crowd to the betrayal of the disciple. Today, things haven't changed much; we often behave like the crowd: we applaud today and condemn tomorrow.
In fact, ours is a society of "likes," and with great ease on social media, we pass from the exaltation of someone to insult and slander. What does Jesus teach us with his actions? In the face of the noise of the celebrating crowd, He chooses to remain silent and be faithful to His mission. Jesus teaches us, that truth does not lie in applause or the “likes” we receive, but in giving one’s self and being faithful to one's vocation and mission.
Judas sells the Master by asking the chief priests: "What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?" (Mt 26,15). Judas, therefore, puts a price on the Lord's life. Do we not also put a price on everything today? On friendship, love, the dignity of people, and peace? Today, money is worth more than a friend, family, or honesty... Remember: every time we put money before people, we sell Jesus just as Judas did. From the cross, Jesus invites us to ask ourselves: ‘What value do I give to those close to me: parents, grandparents, my wife, husband, children and friends?’
From Calvary, Jesus' cry still reaches us today: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt 27:46). On the Cross, Jesus does not hide His suffering but shares his human fragility with us. Today, that cry is heard throughout the world: it is the cry of war victims, the cry of mothers weeping for their children, of young people without hope, of the poor crushed by indifference, of children dying of hunger and thirst, and of those who suffer in silence. Jesus chooses to remain on the Cross to manifest His love for us; to be within our pain, and to tell us that we are not alone and that He never abandons us.
At the beginning of Passion Week, the Cross of Jesus towers over everything. But today, the modern world, including Christians, want a "Christ without a Cross"— that is, a sentimental and comfortable faith — a "Cross without Christ" — that is, pain and suffering without the hope and meaning given by the Lord Jesus.
Let us ask ourselves: in this world, in our lives, what meaning does the Cross have for me? How can the Cross of Jesus change the fate of the world and my life? Throughout his life, Archbishop Fulton Sheen shouted an essential truth to the world: "Tell the world there is a Man on the Cross." But what does that Man on the Cross say to us today? What answer does He give to our questions about evil, wars, and injustices; about the loneliness and sadness of the world? The answer to the world's evils is not politics, economy, or finance...but a Person; it is that Man on the Cross, who makes us understand that God does not look at our pain from above, but dwells within it; that God is inside and beside us, even in the darkness of our hearts. To shout to the world that there is a Man on the Cross means to shake humanity out of the indifference that kills, more than do missiles and drones. To shout to the world that there is a Man on the Cross means to "look on Him whom they have pierced"(Gv 19,3; cfr. Zc 12,10) and let our hearts be touched, to weep with those who suffer, struggle, and hope. To shout to the world that there is a Man on the Cross means telling humanity that "suffering is a failure if it is not shared with Christ" (Archbishop Sheen), because the Man on the Cross transforms pain into salvation and, suffering into redemption.
“Today, the world tries to hide suffering or numb it. To shout that 'there is a Man on the Cross' means remembering that fragility is not shameful; but it is the place where God meets us. It is a message of extreme hope: if that Man is there, then no person is ever truly alone in their pain."
The above text is an excerpt from Deacon Francesco Armenti’s homily for Sunday, March 29, preached at Holy Angels Parish in Etobicoke, Ont. Visiting from Italy, Deacon Armenti is the postulator of the Causes of Saints at the Vatican. Since 2005, he has been visiting the Archdiocese of Toronto, where he's been invited to preach missions and retreats in Italian, English and French.
