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The Messiah Finally Reveals Himself Palm Sunday of the Lord´s Passion Mark 11:1 – 10 Introductory Prayer: Help me, Jesus, Son of David and King of Israel. Teach me to listen to you alone and recognize you as my King and Messiah. May I experience, love and please you more as I meditate on the triumph of your entry into Jerusalem. Petition: Lord, Jesus, grant me the grace to proclaim you as Messiah and Savior. I want to follow you all the days of my life. 1. A Different Kind of Messiah. Up until now, Jesus has never publicly accepted the title of Messiah. He has confirmed privately to his apostles that he is the Messiah, but he has commanded them to tell no one. When people have called him the Messiah, he has never accepted the title and most often has tried to get away from them as quickly as possible. He has reasoned that the Jews don’t understand what the Messiah is really about. Knowing the Messiah is to be a great descendent of King David, they expect the Messiah to appear, raise an army and lead an uprising against the Romans that will drive them from the country and re-establish David’s kingdom. Several times we read of Jesus having to slip away because the people intend to make him king. He is not going to be what they expect and he cannot let their expectations get in the way of his mission. 2. A Suffering, Not a Political, Messiah. Yet today, Jesus allows them to proclaim him Messiah. His entry into Jerusalem is exactly what the prophet predicted for the Messiah. He enters riding a donkey, for the Hebrews the traditional mount of royalty. Therefore, his riding a donkey is a claim on kingship, a claim on being the Messiah, and everyone realizes it. Another thing that was supposed to happen when the Messiah entered Jerusalem, was that boys were supposed to be the first to begin to shout, “Hosanna, son of David.” This is exactly what happens. People were supposed to throw down branches and cloaks to pave his way into Jerusalem and this happens too. The Pharisees see all this and complain to him because they see that it is a fulfillment of the prophecy. They want him to tell people he is not the Messiah. Jesus refuses to do so. The time has come for him to be recognized by all as the Messiah because events are now in motion such that they will be unable to make him into the Messiah that they expect; rather he will be the Messiah that was prophesied – the Suffering Servant of Yahweh. 3. The Messiah Rejected by the Experts. The chief priests, scribes and Pharisees are angry. They have already decided they don’t want to accept Jesus as the Messiah. Why do they wish to reject him? Is it because he doesn’t show the signs that the Messiah should show? No, he has fulfilled all the prophecies. Instead, they see that Jesus as Messiah will threaten their social and political positions. Jesus will be more important than they. They don’t want that to happen. They don’t want to lose power. In the end they allow themselves to be convinced that he cannot be the Messiah. Rather than consider all the evidence in his favor, they reject him because they don’t want a Messiah like that. Dialogue with Christ: Jesus, you are my king and my savior. You don’t have to convince me. I want to follow you with all my heart, but sometimes I fear the modern ‘Pharisees’ who don’t want to accept you. Only love for you can overcome this fear, since love overcomes all obstacles. Fill my heart with a love that knows no limits, the love that drew you from heaven to die on the cross for me. Fill also the hearts of all those who feel threatened by the modern Pharisees who reject you and want to erase your name from the world, so that they will witness bravely to you and to your sacrifice for us. Resolution: Today, with the courage of my conviction that Jesus is the savior of the world, I will proclaim in some way that he is my Lord and God, especially through the living of charity towards everyone I meet. |
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This homily was given by Pope John Paul II on Palm Sunday, 2003. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Mk 11: 9). The liturgy of Palm Sunday is like a formal entrance into Holy Week. It combines two contrasting moments: the welcome of Jesus in Jerusalem and the drama of the Passion; the festive "Hosanna" and the repeated cry: "Crucify him!"; the triumphal entry and the apparent defeat through death on the Cross. The liturgy thus anticipates the "hour" in which the Messiah was to suffer greatly, to be put to death, and on the third day to rise again (cf. Mt 16: 21), and prepares us to live fully the paschal mystery. Rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem! / Behold, your king comes to you" (Zec 9: 9). In welcoming Jesus, the city with the vivid memory of David rejoices; the city of the prophets, many of whom were to suffer martyrdom for the truth; the city of peace, which, down through the ages, has known violence, war and deportation. In a certain way, Jerusalem can be considered the city-symbol of humanity, especially at this dramatic beginning of the third millennium that we are living. The Palm Sunday rites thus acquire a special eloquence of their own. The words of the Prophet Zechariah ring out as a consolation: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! / Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! / Behold, your king comes to you; /triumphant and victorious is he, / humble and riding on an ass, / ...the battle bow shall be cut off, / and he shall command peace to the nations" (Zec 9: 9-10). Today we are celebrating, for today Jesus, the King of peace, enters Jerusalem. Then, on the descent from the Mount of Olives, the children and young people of Jerusalem ran to meet Christ, acclaiming him and waving festive branches of olive and palm. Meeting him today are the young people of the whole world, who are celebrating the 18th World Youth Day in every diocesan community. I greet you with great affection, dear young people of Rome, and also you, who have come on pilgrimage from various countries. I greet the many people in charge of youth ministry who are taking part in the Convention on the World Youth Days, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity. And how could we fail to express our fraternal solidarity to your peers who are so sorely tried by war and violence in Iraq, in the Holy Land and in various other regions of the world? Today, with faith and joy, we acclaim Christ who is our "King": the King of truth, freedom, justice and love. These are the four "pillars" on which it is possible to build true peace, just as Bl. Pope John XXIII wrote 40 years ago in his Encyclical Pacem in Terris. In spirit, I present to you, young people of the whole world, this historical Document, which is more timely than ever: read it, meditate on it, strive to put it into practice. Then you will be "blessed", because you will be true children of the God of peace (cf. Mt 5: 9). Peace is the gift of Christ, which he obtained for us with the sacrifice of the Cross. To achieve it effectively it is necessary to climb with the divine Teacher up to Calvary. And who can guide us better in this ascent than Mary who, as she stood at the foot of the Cross, was given to us as our mother through the faithful apostle, St John? To help the young discover this marvellous spiritual reality, I chose as the theme of my Message for World Youth Day this year the words of the dying Christ: "Behold, your mother!" (Jn 19: 27). Accepting this testament of love, John opened his home to Mary (cf. Jn 19: 27), that is, he welcomed her into his life, sharing with her a completely new spiritual closeness. The intimate bond with the Mother of the Lord will lead the "beloved disciple" to become the apostle of that Love that he drew from the Heart of Christ through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. "Behold, your mother!" Jesus addresses these words to each of you, dear friends. He also asks you to take Mary as your mother "into your home", to welcome her "as one of yours", because "she will discharge her ministry as a mother and train you and mould you until Christ is fully formed in you" (Message for WYD, n. 3; ORE, 19 March 2003, p. 6). May Mary make it so that you respond generously to the Lord's call, and persevere with joy and fidelity in the Christian mission! Down through the centuries, how many young people have heard this invitation and how many continue to hear it in our time, too. Young people of the third millennium, do not be afraid to offer your lives as a total response to Christ! It is he, he alone who changes life and the history of the world. "Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Mk 15: 39). We have once again listened to the clear profession of faith expressed by the centurion, who "saw that he thus breathed his last" (ibid.). What he had seen prompted the surprising witness of the Roman soldier, the first to proclaim that this crucified man "was the Son of God". Lord Jesus, we too have "seen" how you suffered and died for us. Faithful until the last, you rescued us from death with your death. With your Cross you have redeemed us. O Mary, sorrowful Mother, you are a silent witness of these decisive moments for the history of salvation. Give us your eyes so that on the face of the crucified One, disfigured by pain, we may recognize the image of the glorious Risen One. Help us to embrace him and entrust ourselves to him, so that we be made worthy of his promises. Help us to be faithful today and throughout our lives. Amen! |