March 28, 2021: Palm Sunday B
March 28, 2021: Palm Sunday B
One day, a woman sought her pastor for advice. She had a rough week; life got complicated and she could not figure out why her plans were being derailed at every turn of the way. She was feeling sorry for herself and “why me” self-talk played like a broken record in her mind. Her pastor told her, “Keep your eyes on the big picture… If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy.” She realized that her focus on self-accomplishments, personal priorities, and ‘what’s in it for me’ mentality got her nowhere. What is the big picture that we should pay attention to as we enter Holy Week? St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Christ Jesus, emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness... he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:6-11)
We just heard the Passion Narrative which we hear every Palm Sunday and Good Friday. The Passion narrative of Our Lord should jolt us out of complacency. The narrative begins today as Our Lord enters Jerusalem triumphantly with its inhabitants welcoming him enthusiastically. Yet, the jubilant tone diminishes with the tension building between the religious leaders and Jesus as he cleanses the Temple of money changers and traders. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus struggles with the chalice of suffering that he was about to drink--chalice filled with generations of human weakness, vice, and sins. Yet because of his great love for the Father and his children, he willingly takes up the cross and dies. This is not just a story. We cannot let it become just a story. We have to let his Passion permeate everything we do in our lives. How we live and what we do in our lives are in response to his death and resurrection. Here is an example of someone who responded to Jesus’ call to pick up her cross and follow his footsteps.
Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian woman who survived a German concentration camp during World War II said, “The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation… It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability that counts.” During the war, she and her family members were helping Jews escape from the Nazis. Eventually, they were arrested and sent to concentration camps. In the concentration camp, despite the harsh reality of unthinkable suffering and death, Corrie and her sister, Betsie, led bible studies within their barracks. They converted many prisoners to Christianity. Betsie was badly beaten by a guard as Corrie watched in horror and unable to help her. Later, Betsie died from complications of the beating and little medical care. Corrie was filled with hate for that guard. After the war, Corrie was in Germany giving talks on forgiveness and mercy of God. A man approached her after the talk, and she immediately recognized him as the guard who beat her sister mercilessly. Hate began to fill her heart as the man asked for a handshake. Corrie immediately turned inward and said to the Lord, “Jesus, I can’t forgive him. I just can’t.” Even as vengeful thoughts boiled through her, she knew her thoughts were sinful. Jesus had died even for this man. So Corrie prayed, “Lord, please forgive me and help me to forgive him.” She then felt a surge of courage as she extended her hands and said, “Brother, God forgives you, and I forgive you.”
The big picture that we should focus on is the love and sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. If our love for Jesus is genuine, we are called to surrender to the big and small crosses that life brings. Corrie Ten Boom wrote, “Jesus did not promise to change the circumstances around us. He promised great peace and pure joy to those who would learn to believe that God actually controls all things… If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest.”
