Sunday April 5th – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

St. Francis Parish | April 5, 2020, 8:38 pm | Reflections

   Our liturgy today recalls two events. First, Jesus’ glorious entry into Jerusalem and the second, Jesus’ passion and death on the cross. That is why this Sunday is called as Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday. Palm Sunday signifies Jesus’ royalty, glory and triumph. and Passion Sunday signifies both His suffering and love. Hence today’s celebration reminds us of the dual nature of our Christian lives and journey. We are celebrated today and persecuted tomorrow. Today we are loved while the next day we are hated. Today we are praised and castigated the next day. That is why this Sunday is called as Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday. The people who praised Jesus “Hosanna to the son of David,” are
the same people who shouted later “Crucify him! Crucify him!” This reflects how unfaithful and unpredictable we can be at times in our relationships with God, and others. If everything goes well in life, we are at peace and if something goes wrong or life seems to be tough, we blame God and others. Today, we are for God and tomorrow we blame God and others. This also reflects the reality of life. We are happy today and not happy tomorrow. We are loved today while the next day we are not loved. Today we are praised and rebuked the next day. These are the different dimensions of life.

   Therefore, the question we need to ask today is how do we approach these different dimensions or different situations of life? Look at Jesus. His approach was with humility. Humility is very important in all circumstances of life. This includes both at good times and at bad times. No matter what happens in life, no matter how people treat us in life, as God’s children, we always need to be humble in our lives. That is the message of Christ on this Passion Sunday.

   These are the difficult times for our world because of the fast spread of Pandemic COVID 19. Everything was going okay until this deadly pandemic COVID 19 hit our world. Many are suffering and dying because of this Coronavirus. The world economy turning upside down. People are losing their jobs and confined to their homes. Many of us are frustrated with what is happening around us right now. But God is asking us today not to lose our hope but be strong in our faith. This is not going to last forever.
This is the time for all of us to be humbler before our God and offer our prayers to Him for the end of this pandemic COVID 19. And this a time for all of us to be soldier to save our country from COVID 19 not by going to war but staying in our home, protecting our family and neighbors by not spreading the virus. Let us believe that our God is bigger than any pandemic and continue to offer our prayers. May God Bless us all! Amen!

Fr. Rajeev Bobba