Palm Sunday
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Today is Palm Sunday, the day when they brought the donkey to Jesus, and descending the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Luke 19
Jesus is the King, for he said so himself. On Friday, Pilate will ask him if he were a king, and Jesus will reply, 'Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind…Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.' (John 18) Yet they crowned him with thorns that day and mocked him. But they will not mock him when he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead.
We belong to the Kingdom of Jesus – therefore the one thing truly hoped for is His Kingdom which never ends; not happiness in this passing world.
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Half way down the Mt of Olives Jesus stopped, and he wept over Jerusalem saying: “If you in your turn had only understood on this day the message of peace! But, alas, it is hidden from your eyes! Yes a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and your children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you – and all because you did not recognize your opportunity when God offered it!
Jesus came, inviting them to turn away from sin and self-destruction. They rejected Him and continued their path of sin. Forty years later, just as Jesus foretold, the Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem – leaving not one stone standing on another…
The Mother of God has been appearing with a greater frequency and urgency from 1917 until this very day, offering the world an opportunity to turn back to Him.
Those who are willing to change their lives accept Her call which leads to conversion. Those who are satisfied with themselves ignore Her call.
Holy Spirit, I beg you to convict me of my sin, that I may have true sorrow for my sin, change the way I live and love you above all things.
Have we recognized our opportunity when God is offering it?
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Immediately, Jesus went into the Temple and began driving out those who were selling. ‘According to scripture,’ he said ‘my house will be a house of prayer for all nations.’ But you have turned it into a ‘den of robbers.’
There is the mistaken idea that Jesus drove out the money changers because he was angry about the commerce in the Temple. However, the law of Moses, ordained by God, called for sacrifice in the Temple, requiring the people to bring unblemished animals for sacrifice. But it wasn’t realistic to carry an animal from a great distance, therefore, these could be purchased in the Temple. However, it was not acceptable to bring Roman coins bearing an inscription stating Caesar was the son of God into the Temple because that is blasphemy. Therefore, the Roman currency had to be changed to Jewish shekels – the money changers were not the real problem. Jesus points out the Real Problem when he quotes Isaiah 56:7 “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” However, the Jews placed a sign over the entry to the Temple which read: “No Gentile may enter here…If you are caught here you alone will be responsible for your death which will follow.”
Israel had a mission from God to go to the nations and invite them into the covenant with God. But they rejected their mission. So, Jesus cleans house, literally, demonstrating that their mission is taken away from them and given to a people who will fulfill it – the Catholic Church.
The number one reason Catholics do not evangelize is that they think it is not their mission, not their responsibility. But if you have been baptized and confirmed, then it is your responsibility. What would Jesus say to us about leading others to Him?
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The second passage Jesus quotes when driving them from the Temple is from Jeremiah 7:11 “Has this House, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers…? Go now to my place that was in Shiloh…and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.”
The Israelites thought that they were good Jews just because they took part in the Temple worship. On the contrary Jesus tells them, if you think you are good, think again. In the days of the Prophet Samuel, the Temple was in Shiloh, but the people took their faith for granted and didn’t fulfill their mission, so God destroyed that Temple in Shiloh and it remains in ruins to this day. On Palm Sunday Jesus is foretelling the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, because they did not fulfill their mission, and that Temple remains in ruins to this day.
It is dangerous to fall into the sin of presumption. “I go to Mass on Sunday, I keep the commandments, at least most of them; I say some prayers; I’m a good person – so I’m good right? Wrong – that is not the FULL mission Christ gave us. The mission Christ gave us was to live deep friendship with Jesus through prayer and sacrament. Then through family and friendship to lead others to Jesus.
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Matthew 21:17 Leaving Jerusalem Jesus went to Bethany and spent Palm Sunday night at the home of some of his closest friends, Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
I love the Church built on the site of Martha and Mary’s house in Bethany – it is a place where God lived friendship, good conversation and prayer and by this simple way of life Martha, Mary and Lazarus became saints.
Holy Week is a special moment of grace. Take advantage of this moment to take stock of your routines and make the conscious decision to reset them - that your homes may be houses of friendship, good conversation, and prayer for everyone - as the Temple was supposed to be.