Happy Sunday!
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 50,4-7; Philippians 2,6-11; Matt 26,14-27,66: Palm Sunday and Passion of the Lord; 5th April, 2020)
On this Sunday we celebrate the palms (sign of victory) which anticipate the victory of Jesus, and the passion of Jesus, which in a certain sense is already his victory, but also his greatest humiliation simultaneously. In the third poem on the Servant of Yahweh (First reading), the prophet of God describes his attitude. The Servant is probably the people of Israel in relationship with the pagans; but the language used reflects a typical situation, such as that of the prophet Jeremiah. In this way it becomes easier to, personally, apply to Jesus (down to certain details of his passion) the sufferings that the Servant endures in the name of, and for, his people (v. 6; cf Matt 27,27-30). The prophet understands and announces the word of God (vv. 4-5); this is, precisely, his vocation (cf. Ps 39,8: he opened my ears), from which he does not escape despite the inner resistances and the external difficulties of all kinds. He knows that God is with him: this is the foundation of his fortress (v. 7) and of the hope in the successful outcome of his mission. The Church, and every Christian in it, is a prophet of God today: one’s testimony must be based on an ever more careful search for God's plan for our time and on an unshakable trust to resist persecution, contempt, indifference, over-sufficiency or despair of the world as she announces her message of salvation. Jesus achieved the glory of the resurrection through the humiliation of passion. Christ is the prophet of God: though despised and humiliated in his passion, he knows that the Father will not abandon him, since he does his will.
In the second reading, Paul describes the whole arc of the mystery of Christ. He, who is of a divine nature, undresses himself by taking on the condition of a servant; he humbles himself until the obedience of the cross: humbled himself by becoming obedient to death and death by the cross. But beside the aspect of filial obedience, this passage of the Letter to the Philippians also shows us another aspect: solidarity with the brothers. Christ has become similar to men, he has assumed our humble condition; indeed he became united with the most criminal people, with those condemned to death by the cross. Thus we note two aspects that show the double value of passion: it is an event full of filial docility to the Father and an event of fraternal solidarity with men.
The Passion narrative shows how Jesus was docile to the Father. We see it, especially, in agony. Here he fights against the anguish caused by the prospect of suffering and death and, as the Letter to the Hebrews says, he learns, in a certain sense, obedience (cf. Heb 5,8). In fact, at the beginning he begs the Father to let the cup of suffering and death pass away from him: (Matt 26,39). But immediately after, he adds: But not as I want, but as you want!. Thus Jesus puts docility before God first and then the desire to be preserved from suffering. And after having prayed for a long time, he repeats only this second statement: My Father, if this cup cannot pass by me without me drinking it, your will be done. This adhesion of Jesus to the will of the Father is also manifested in the moment of arrest. Peter tries to protect and save Jesus: by intervening with the sword, striking the servant of the high priest. But Jesus puts an end to this attempt at resistance, saying to Peter: Put the sword back in its scabbard .... The reason for all this is, precisely, the filial docility of Jesus, otherwise, how would the Scriptures, according to which all this must happen, be fulfilled? The will of the Father is indicated by the Scriptures, and Jesus wants to fulfil them by filial docility to the Father. He also says to the crowd: "You went out as if against a brigand, with swords and clubs, to capture me [...]. But all this happened so that the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled. Jesus is aware of having to fulfil the Scriptures, and gives his perfect adherence to the will of the Father, knowing that it is a very positive will, a will of salvation for all mankind. He, therefore, sacrifices himself so that we are saved. Thus we see that filial docility is closely linked to brotherly solidarity. By docility to the Father, Jesus sacrifices his life for the salvation of his brothers. This aspect is manifested in a particular way in the institution of the Eucharist, which shows, in advance, all the orientation of the passion of Jesus. Before being arrested, judged and sentenced, knowing that all this would happen, he takes the bread, pronounces the blessing with which he thanks the Father, then gives the bread to the disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body. Then he takes the cup and says: Drink all of them, because this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many, in remission of sins. Thus Jesus transforms his passion into a gift, makes his sufferings and his death the occasion of the total gift of himself. He offered his Body and his Blood for the salvation of all men, ordering, in addition, the repetition of this gesture, which fixes the orientation of all his passion in advance.
Furthermore, Jesus accepts the most complete solidarity with the most disadvantaged people in the world. He accepts not only a common human destiny, but, a human destiny full of humiliations and sufferings. As Paul says, he becomes similar to men, he appears in human form to humiliate himself, until death. He accepts the fate of people falsely accused, unjustly condemned, people tortured and must die as malefactors. This is the aspect of solidarity that Jesus shows in his passion. Now, no man can find himself in such situations, no man can be condemned and executed without having Jesus at his side, crucified Jesus, who offers his life in remission of sins and for the covenant, that is, to restore deep union between men and the Heavenly Father. There can be no greater human solidarity than this.
On the other hand, Jesus knew that this acceptance of human solidarity will not have a negative result; that the strength of God will transform passion into a path to resurrection. But he also knew how to accept this path. When asked by the high priest about his identity: I beseech you, for the living God, to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God, he replies: You said it; indeed, I say to you: from now on you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of God, and come on the clouds of heaven. Jesus knew that his passion - this complete solidarity with us, and perfect docility to the Father's will - is the way to resurrection and glorification. And it is not only the way to his personal resurrection, but also the way to rebuild the temple of God in three days. The only accusation that the Gospel reports against Jesus is that of two false witnesses who affirm: He said: I can destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days. It was a false accusation; Jesus never said this, but - as we read in the Gospel of John - he said to the Jews: Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up (John 2,19). Therefore, whoever destroys the temple was not Jesus, but his adversaries. However, in this extraordinary event, Jesus raises the sanctuary of God, that is, creates a new sanctuary. This new sanctuary is the glorified, sanctified humanity, his humanity which becomes for us the place where we meet God, the place where we are intimately united with him.
Thanks to Jesus' passion, all our trials become opportunities/occasions of filial union with God. Therefore, we can contemplate the passion of Jesus with a deep sense of thanksgiving, and at the same time with emotion, because it is truly a shocking event. It is shocking seeing Jesus, such a generous person who dedicated himself to the service of God and his brothers suffering so much, being so unjustly condemned and executed. But at the same time, since in all these events, Jesus' love for the Father and for us is manifested, we can only thank the Lord for this love. Paul says: This life that I live in the flesh I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me (Gal 2,20). Jesus handed himself over to the sufferings of passion and death to save each of us. In the Eucharist we receive all the fruit of Jesus' passion. He gives us, not only his Body and Blood, but also his union with the Father and, therefore, puts us on the path of a generous life and definitive union with God. By uniting ourselves with Christ who suffered and died for us, we gain the grace, not only of being docile always to the will of God but also the gift of being in solidarity with our brother
s and sisters. +John I. Okoye
(graphics by Chukwubike)
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