Fr. Carlo Di Sopra, SX
PALM SUNDAY
What a contrast! The Mass starts in a very colourful and joyful way with the solemn procession recalling the triumphant entry of Jesus into the Holy City, Jerusalem. Huge welcome and recognition for his three year work, up and down the country, teaching, healing, giving food and new life. Festive and peaceful atmosphere, the waving of palm branches, the hosannas, the King taking possession of his city! And all of a sudden not ‘Palm Sunday’ any more, but ‘Passion Sunday’.
Once inside the church, in fact, Prophet Isaiah starts talking about the Servant of Yahweh, a mysterious person who suffers to remain faithful to God. Then St. Paul, quoting an ancient hymn, sums up in a few words the life of Jesus, who, being God, became man, a humble one, a servant who accepted a horrible death on the Cross. The Gospel, then, in detail tells the passion and death of Jesus.
We are invited to remain in silence under the Cross. God is giving us a strange image of himself: not the Almighty, the Absolute, the All-powerful, but just the opposite, because in God extreme dimensions are connected. So the humble are exalted, the last become first and the losers in the end conquer! Every reality is somehow transfigured: the small become important, the poor widow is the most generous, sinners are the first in the Kingdom newly established.
What a change!
For those Christians who even today expect miracles, material blessings or human advantages, or for those who are looking for positions, appreciation and admiration, St. Paul, who truly understood the mind of Jesus, becomes an example: he did not rely on the power of eloquence or miracles, but only on Jesus, and Jesus crucified! (cfr 1Cor, 1 and 2)
PALM SUNDAY
What a contrast! The Mass starts in a very colourful and joyful way with the solemn procession recalling the triumphant entry of Jesus into the Holy City, Jerusalem. Huge welcome and recognition for his three year work, up and down the country, teaching, healing, giving food and new life. Festive and peaceful atmosphere, the waving of palm branches, the hosannas, the King taking possession of his city! And all of a sudden not ‘Palm Sunday’ any more, but ‘Passion Sunday’.
Once inside the church, in fact, Prophet Isaiah starts talking about the Servant of Yahweh, a mysterious person who suffers to remain faithful to God. Then St. Paul, quoting an ancient hymn, sums up in a few words the life of Jesus, who, being God, became man, a humble one, a servant who accepted a horrible death on the Cross. The Gospel, then, in detail tells the passion and death of Jesus.
We are invited to remain in silence under the Cross. God is giving us a strange image of himself: not the Almighty, the Absolute, the All-powerful, but just the opposite, because in God extreme dimensions are connected. So the humble are exalted, the last become first and the losers in the end conquer! Every reality is somehow transfigured: the small become important, the poor widow is the most generous, sinners are the first in the Kingdom newly established.
What a change!
For those Christians who even today expect miracles, material blessings or human advantages, or for those who are looking for positions, appreciation and admiration, St. Paul, who truly understood the mind of Jesus, becomes an example: he did not rely on the power of eloquence or miracles, but only on Jesus, and Jesus crucified! (cfr 1Cor, 1 and 2)