PALM SUNDAY: Homily I and II

PALM SUNDAY : Homily I & II

Homily  I

Since we will not be able to go to Israel, our parish church must become for us the Holy Land. Within these walls we shall find Jerusalem, the Upper Room, Gethsamane, Calvary and the Tomb. Our focus this week will be the Christ, in the words of the poet Tennyson, “The Lord from Heaven, born of a village girl, carpenter’s son, Wonderful, Prince of Peace, the Mighty God.”

Today the vestibule of our church must become the town of Bethany situated just outside Jerusalem. There will be a hero’s welcome for the “anti-establishment” figure. The centre isle of our church must become for us the long dusty road surrounded by cheers. You can watch the man on the donkey pass by, wordless and swordless.

HOMILY   II

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were relatively quiet days for Jesus. He spent them largely in reflection and prayer in the great Temple of Jerusalem. For us, this church must become the great Temple. On Holy Thursday, this sanctuary become the Upper Room. The altar becomes the long narrow table where sat. On the night of Holy Thursday, the church becomes the Garden of Gethsemane. Here Jesus undergoes the dark night of the soul. Before him is a cruel death. Our thoughts might be those of the poet Joseph M. Plunkett:

            “I see his blood upon the rose

            And in the stars the glory of his eyes.

            His body gleams amid eternal snows

            His tears fall from the skies.”

Good Friday will see us crowding into the church which will be changed in the Way of the Cross. On Holy Saturday, we will come mourning to church but full of hope. As the poet Francis Thompson wrote:

            “Look up, O most sorrowful of daughters,

            For his feet are coming to thee on the waters.”

Finally coming out of church on Easter Sunday we will shout with Gerard Manley Hopkins:   

                        “Let him easter in us

                        Be a dayspring to the dimness in us

                        Be a crimson crested East.”

PRAYER

Jesus, Lord of the Journey, we thank you

that you set your face firmly towards Jerusalem,

with a single eye and pure intention,

knowing what lay ahead but never turning aside.

Jesus, Lord of the Palms, we thank you

that you enjoyed the Hallelujahs of ordinary people,

living full in that moment of delight

and accepting their praise.

Jesus, Lord of the Cross, we thank you

that you went into the heart of our evil and pain,

along a way that was both terrible and wonderful,

as your kingship became your brokenness

and your dying became love’s triumph.