Palm Sunday, Year C: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: A call to be messengers of peace, hope and victory in Christ

Readings: Is 50:4-7; 2 Phil 2:6-11; Lk 22:14-23:56

Dearest brothers and sisters, Palm Sunday is a special Sunday in the liturgical year. It is a Sunday that opens the door to a great week – the Holy Week – for us. It ushers us into a week that is rich with the reminiscence of the events that saved us from sin, the events that restored us to God’s friendship, and the events that restored us to life.

Today, we carry branches of Palms or olives and follow Jesus into our churches, the New Jerusalem, the same way the people of Jerusalem cut branches of trees and spread them on the way as Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem. These branches of olive or palm that have been blessed have become sacramentals. They will be burnt on Ash Wednesday next year, and ashes from them will be used to usher us into another period of Lent.

Branches of olive or palm have wonderful significances in our world. They signify peace, victory and hope. These significances have their root in the culture of the Mediterranean basin, especially from the culture/customs of ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, where olive branches represented peace or victory, particularly regarding supplication to both the gods and persons in power.

Therefore, dearest friends, today, we have the symbol of peace in our hands – the branches of palm or olive. These days, our world needs peace more than any other thing because she has been battered by problems and wars from all her quarters. We have seen the situation between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Palestine. Acts of terrorism and banditry are engulfing many countries of Africa. Many other parts of the world have also been engulfed by unreported crises and unrest. It is also known to everyone that peace is the greatest gift we, as Christians, can give to our families and friends. With these branches of olive/palm, let us become messengers of peace to our world, our families, and friends. Indeed, it will be a contradiction if the bearer of olive/palm branches is not a promoter of peace in his/her neighbourhood.

The olive/palm branch also signifies victory. Today, we have recalled Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, where he became victorious over the forces of darkness and death. We have also read the Passion of Christ, which showed us Christ’s journey to victory. We are witnesses to this victorious power of Christ over evil and death. Hence, as we carry these branches of palm/olive, a sign of victory, let us remind the world that our Saviour is a victorious king; let us be witnesses to the victorious power of Christ over sin and death in our society. Friends, we are children of victory. In fact, if anybody asks you why you have the branches of olive/palm in your hands today, tell that person that our victorious King is passing by today, and he has victoriously entered our neighbourhood to fight our battles of life and to give us victory. Hence, it will be a contradiction if children of victory are afraid to proclaim Christ to their friends.

The olive/palm branch also signifies hope. This is evident in the book of Genesis when the dove that was sent out by Noah returned with an olive branch, a sign of the hope of a new beginning. The difficulties we have seen in our world have made many people lose hope in life and in God. Many people are searching for where to anchor their hope.

Dear friends, today, we have the sign of the hope of a new beginning in our hands, which is the branches of olive/palm. Let us go out and spread this message of hope. Let us tell the world that in Jesus, there is the hope of a new beginning. The resurrection of Christ is a guarantee of a new beginning; it is an ensemble of hope. Let us be torchbearers of hope wherever we enter, starting from today.

Friends, we have the vocation to spread the message of peace, hope and Christ’s victory in our world. As we do this, it is good to remember that Christ wants us to be true witnesses. Jesus needs those who will stay with Him both in good times and in bad times, those who will stay with Him when it is joyful and when it is sorrowful. Our witness to Christ should not be like that of the crowd who shouted Hosanna at the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem but did not come out to defend Him when He was unjustly tried and condemned to death. Many of them denied him and chose Barabbas in his place, as we read in the Passion narrative of today. Many of them shouted ‘Crucify him, crucify him’ with the same intensity with which they shouted ‘Hosanna, Son of David’.

Dear friends, many concrete situations of our lives demand us to witness to the truths of the Gospel. We have all noticed that our world has been penetrated by many doctrines, ideologies and lifestyles that are contrary to the truth of the Gospel. These evil lifestyles and ideologies are promoted and advertised as fashionable models by many governments of the world and, especially, by our so-called celebrities and our culture industries. It is unfortunate that some of them go to the extent of forcing their ungodly views on others. Dear friends, we would be acting like the crowd in the Passion Narrative if we continue to keep quiet and watch our world being battered by these people. We deny Christ and our faith whenever we keep quiet in the presence of such teachings and lifestyles. We deny Christ any time we decide to play the card of indifference in the face of evil. We choose Barabbas any time we swim against the truth of the gospel. May we not remain indifferent and unconcerned in the face of the anti-life ideologies that have entered our societies. May we stop being politically correct in the face of evil. Let us speak out for Christ.

Finally, today ushers us into Holy Week. The wish of Christ and his Church is that all of us who will participate in the programmes of this Holy Week should be holy too. Hence, let us set sin aside and focus on the Paschal Mysteries. Jesus invites us to open ourselves to be washed clean by His Precious Blood through the sacrament of reconciliation. Let us carry our cross and march with Christ to Calvary so that we will rise with him in glory.

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

 Wednesday of Holy Week: reflection

Reading: Mt 26:14-25

Did you notice the innocent appearance Judas put up at table in the gospel reading of today? He knew he was guilty of what Jesus was saying, but he sat at table calmly and pretended to be innocent. He even joined the other apostles in asking if he was the one who would betray Jesus, even though he had just returned from selling Jesus to His enemies for thirty silver coins. In his mind, he had successfully concealed his evil from everyone.

Yes, he successfully hid his sin from his fellow humans, the apostles, but not from Jesus, for nothing is hidden from God; He knows us more than we know ourselves and sees everything, including the ones we do in secret. It was for this reason that the Psalmist said: “You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you discern my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. (Ps 139:1-4)

Every time we commit a sin, we are tempted to behave like Judas. We are often tempted to hide our sins from people so that we will escape human judgement and condemnation. Most times, we are also tempted to think that since we have successfully hidden our sins from human beings, they are also hidden from God. In this way, we continue to wallow in sins believing that nobody is seeing us.

Dear friends, God sees the innermost part of our hearts and knows everything we have done, the ones we are doing and the ones we have planned to do. We can’t hide from him for a second. So, He keeps record of all we are doing and will hold us accountable for them. We are, therefore, advised to be careful what we do, we might successfully conceal our crimes from humans but not from God.

May your activities this Wednesday be abundantly blessed. Amen

Fr Isaac Chima

 Tuesday of Holy Week: reflection

Reading: Jn 13:21-33,36-38

As the Paschal Triduum draws near, the daily readings help us get into the right frame of mind for celebrating the Paschal mysteries by furnishing us with the last scenes of Jesus with His apostles, what He told them as well as His true state of mind as He approached His death.

According to today’s gospel reading, Jesus was deeply troubled when He was seated at table with His apostles. The betrayal he was about to experience from His closest allies and collaborators troubled Him more that the death He was about to accept for the sake of humanity, for it was already written that He will die to save mankind. Having spent three years with His apostles, His close circle of friends, He was expecting nothing from them other than love, friendship, intimate relationship, and mutual support, especially in difficult times. Unfortunately, the people who ought to support Him in times of trials and need were about to stab him at the back. He wondered why His closest friends must be the ones to betray, deny and abandon him. Thoughts of this kind weighed down his spirit.

Through our baptism, we have become close friends and family of Jesus, the people for whom He laid down his life and from whom He expects reciprocal actions. Great is the sorrow that afflict His heart anytime we fail to reciprocate His love and sacrifice for us by doing the bidding of that same person from whose wicked hands He delivered us. The paschal events of the Triduum always challenges us to do those things which the apostles could not do for Jesus on account of human weakness. Let us approach Jesus this Triduum, as Peter did, and beg Him for forgiveness for the many times we betrayed Him and our friends/family, for the many times we troubled His loving heart by our sins (our acts of betrayal of God’s love for us).

May God’s grace strengthen you and fill you with the resolve not to betray Christ again. Amen

Fr Isaac Chima

 

Monday of Holy Week: reflection

THEME: INVITATION TO LOOK BEYOND THE COMMONNESS OF CHURCH’S TRIDUUM ACTIVITIES

Reading: Jn12:1-11

 

Dear friends in Christ, the response of Jesus to Judas’ objection of Mary’s action in today’s gospel sets the tone for the Holy Week and invites us to look beyond what might appear as ‘ordinary or common activities’ of the Church during this Paschal Triduum in order to discover their spiritual significances and benefit from them as well.

Jesus went to the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. As He was speaking with the people who had come to benefit from His wisdom, Mary took out a pound of expensive pure nard ointment and began anointing Jesus' feet with it, wiping them with her hair. The scent of that pricey ointment permeated the entire house. Judas thought Mary was squandering valuable resources and that the ointment should have been monetized. But Jesus looked beyond Mary's outward gestures; he rather saw her preparing him for burial and wished that others would do the same.

The Holy Week, is a week packed with intense activities aimed at reenacting the paschal mysteries of Christ; activities that take us through the stages of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. These will include the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday in which the feet of some people will be washed and the spending of at least one hour with Jesus after the Mass in adoration, Stations of the Cross, celebration of Christ’s passion and veneration of the Cross on Good Friday and the activities of Easter Virgil on the night of Holy Saturday.

As external, ordinary or common as Triduum’s activities might appear, they are very rich in spiritual significances and are spiritually enriching too. When these activities are actively and faithfully followed, they lead Christians to experience Christ’s passion, suffer, endure and ‘die’ with Him in order to rise and reign with Him in glory (2 Tim 2:11-12). These are activities that dispose Christians to fully benefit from the glory of Christ’s resurrection.

However, those who, like Judas, lack the spiritual insight to recognize the spiritual aspect and benefits of the activities of the Easter Triduum will see Christians who are participating in them as wasting their precious time and would rather suggest that such time be monetized by spending it on businesses. Jesus is inviting these people today to look beyond the commonness of the activities of the Church during the Paschal Triduum and discover the blessings that flow from them.

May your new week be filled with blessings. Amen

Fr Isaac Chima