Palm Sunday (C) (Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11;
Luke 22:14 – 23:56)
We are gathered together here in solemn preparation for the
Easter Passover of Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, and, on hearing St. Luke’s account
of our Lord’s Passion and Death we have been struck by the horror of His sufferings
and by His wondrously patient endurance.
Embracing the Cross, on the left hand by His total commitment to us and,
on the right hand by His absolute trust in and love for His Father, He was,
ultimately Himself, resting in the
peace and joy of total fulfilment as our Redeemer and as the only-begotten Son
of the Father.
Now, having listened reverently to that Gospel reading, let
us turn our attention from the Lord to ourselves, His disciples; and, searching
our self-awareness as honestly and dispassionately as we can, did we perhaps
find that reading at times rather long and perhaps a little wearisome? If so, that can be a humbling and somewhat
depressing acknowledgement, in so far as we tend to think that if we were proper
Catholics, if we were true disciples, we would not just hear of that holy event and find such hearing long and taxing, but rather
would we experience it with hearts
filled with deep sorrow and ardent longing.
And, inevitably, we vaguely fear that our lack of emotional
involvement betrays some hidden fault or even serious failings on our part.
Let us, therefore, take a closer look at such unwanted
weariness which can obtrude itself upon us at times when we would much prefer
to experience fervent devotion.
First of all, we should be clear in our minds that we are
here, above all, not to get emotional rewards for ourselves but to give
ourselves, through devotion, whole-heartedly to God: those wretched words, ‘I
don't seem to be getting anything out of it’, should never be part our
thinking.
To that end, we need to be clear in our minds about the
difference between emotion and devotion for they are not the same, nor are they
necessarily found together. Emotions express
and affect our natural feelings, whereas devotion is the sign and measure of
our supernatural commitment; moreover, our emotions are largely instinctive and
self-centred whereas devotion is subject to our will and centred on God. Devotion can, most certainly, benefit greatly when backed-up
by the appropriate power of emotions; however, devotion is not necessarily
diminished by the absence of emotions; indeed, devotion can be at its greatest
when deprived of them. Emotion, alone,
is of no worth, its function is to assist what is more worthy than itself; devotion,
on the other hand, is always solely and supremely commendable before God
Dear People of God, it is essential for us to recognize
that we are sinners and that God alone is holy.
All the good we have, all that we can have, is His gift to us. Therefore, we must never be surprised at our
own weariness, dryness, or lack of emotional feelings on occasions like today,
for that is a true, indeed the truest picture of us, for we are, of
ourselves, barren and fruitless.
As Christians, however, our attention and expectation are
centred on God. He is good, and He has
given His own Son to save us from our sinfulness. What we have to try to do is what the
Suffering Servant, in the first reading, shows us:
Each morning (he woke) to
listen like a disciple to the Lord, making no resistance nor turning away.
Jesus woke like that, immediately; He was always immediately
and most lovingly in His Father’s presence, listening, watching, and
waiting. We, however, can hope to grow
in such wonderfully Filial dispositions by learning from the Scriptures and putting
ourselves into the presence of God, obtruding ourselves on Jesus, as did, first
of all, the blind beggar Bartimaeus (Luke 18) who so humbly and courageously drew
Jesus’ attention to himself, a nobody, despite the hostility of the crowd; or, as
did Zacchaeus (Luke 19), an important
civic figure in this case who, because he was short of stature, humbled himself
-- despite the hostile mockery of onlookers – by resorting to climb a roadside tree
that he might at least catch a glimpse of Jesus passing by on the road beneath.
And that, indeed, is what we are, in fact, doing here
today: we have put ourselves in Jesus’ way, waiting and listening in case He might
turn His gaze, see us, and speak to us as He did to blind Bartimaeus, or even
come to dwell a little with us as He did in the case of Zacchaeus. If He does neither of those things, we should
have no complaint, it is His will and we have no claims on Him: whatever He
does, we know that He does it for
our true good and that He is right. If,
on the other hand, He does turn His
glance our way, then we should gratefully accept those ardent emotions by using
them as a spur to our devotion, endeavouring thereby to give ourselves back, in
Jesus, to God our Father more completely and more wholeheartedly than ever before.
Dear People of God, never let feelings engross you who seek
to be true disciples of Jesus; for ultimately, it is only the straight and sure
path of true devotion that follows Jesus heavenward; our emotions, on the other
hand, can sometimes be like flowers bordering that path and rejoicing our
hearts; or, at other times -- and perhaps more frequently – they can be like
stones that would hinder us by cluttering the way or upsetting our balance.
