Homily for Palm Sunday
April 10, 2022
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx
St.
Francis Xavier, Bronx
Sometimes people joke that on Palm Sunday we see the A & P Catholics—people who come to church when something’s being given away: ashes or palms. It’s certainly good that people come to church, whatever their reason. We pray that the symbolism of ashes or palms will register in their hearts, that the grace of God may touch them—not only them but all of us because all of us need God’s grace. We need to repent of our sins, which the ashes symbolize. We need to claim Jesus as our Savior, which the palms symbolize.
But every Sunday the Church is giving away something else
free of charge, something far more precious than ashes or palms. Every Sunday—at every Mass, in fact, the Body
and Blood of Jesus Christ is offered to us.
Ashes and palms are only symbols. The Body and Blood of Jesus are real. Hidden under the appearance of bread and
wine, Jesus Christ comes to our altar and offers himself to us as the food of
eternal life. Isn’t that worth coming
for every week? What a blessing! What a grace, that the Son of God comes to us
to take away our sins and to make us part of God’s family, God’s beloved
children, destined to live with him forever.
Come every Sunday, beloved sons and daughters of God, to be
given this wonderful gift: the Body and
Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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