Homily for Palm Sunday

Homily for Palm Sunday

Mar. 24, 2024
Mark 11: 10-10
Mark 15: 1-39
Phil 2: 6-11
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem
(Benjamin Robert Haydon) 

“Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mark 11: 9), the crowd “kept crying out” as Jesus entered Jerusalem.  5 days later, the crowd cried out, “Crucify him!” (15:13-14).

The mark of a person of integrity is that he or she is consistent in word and action.  The crowds in Jerusalem weren’t consistent in their following of Jesus, 1st acclaiming him as a messiah, then shouting for his blood.

Even Jesus’ closest friends deserted him.  On Thursday nite, Simon Peter bravely asserted that he was ready to go to prison and death with Jesus, and a few hours later he denied even knowing him.

Do you ever wonder how you would’ve acted if you’d been there?  How we act now as Jesus’ followers can be assessed.

We began this liturgy of Palm Sunday by noting that during Lent we’d been preparing our hearts “by penance and charitable works” to celebrate “our Lord’s Paschal Mystery”:  his passion and death on the cross and his resurrection for our redemption.

Part of the preparation of our hearts was to examine ourselves:  our thoughts, words, and actions, and to commit ourselves to ongoing conversion, toward a more faithful following of Jesus, toward becoming men and women of Christian integrity.

St. Paul tells us that Jesus “emptied himself.”  The Son of God descended from his glorious place in heaven and became a lowly human being.  In that condition he suffered the most painful and ignominious death that the Roman government could inflict on rebels, slaves, pirates, and bandits.  Can we humbly empty ourselves by enduring insults without seeking revenge, by serving others without seeking recognition for our efforts?  How do we handle the sufferings of life—physical or mental pain, grief, and loss?

We expect priests, sisters, and brothers to be men and women of integrity, to be the persons they profess to be, to practice what they teach.

All of us—are we consistent in honoring the dignity of other people in how we speak to them, how we speak about them, how we treat them, how we assist society’s unfortunates:  the sick, the homeless, the migrant, the victims of famine and other natural disasters?

Are we persons of integrity who observe the Church’s teaching regarding human life:  that every life is sacred, in the womb and in the sickroom; that in vitro fertilization (recently in the news) is gravely immoral because it separates the creation of human life from personal intercourse and makes people into manufactured products; and it destroys tens of thousands of human lives in that manufacturing process.

Are we persons of integrity regarding the Church’s teaching on sexuality, on what we watch and how we see other people, on our interactions with others, on our openness to life in every sexual act?

Does our integrity as Christians extend to honesty in our dealing with employers, employees, the places where we shop?  to truthfulness in our speech?

During Lent we’ve had the opportunity to look at our faithfulness in following Jesus, our personal integrity as Christians.  We’ve tried to recommit ourselves to him who comes to us in the name of the Lord, who redeems us from our sins, who gave his life for us so that he might give us eternal life.  Actually, we have to renew our commitment every day.  God’s grace assists us day by day.