March 15, 2008
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O Come, O Come Emmanuel…
Palm Sunday is upon us already!
I’m sure many are familiar with the Gospel, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and a great crowd of people lay branches on the road before him. It says he rode an ass (or a donkey if that will help stop your giggles), and this was to fulfill scripture.
I was thinking about this, imagining my heart as a kingdom with a single throne. How often do I sit upon it when, really, Christ should be sitting there, reigning over me! If anything, I might sit at his feet! How guarded my heart is, too, at times, all the doors locked and barred. I wish it were a simple matter to fling open those doors and move out of my throne, to let Christ just walk right in with nothing in his way, especially not me. But so it is that I struggle every day to let him sit in his rightful place!
This Gospel passage challenges me and, I feel, every person to welcome Jesus Christ into the kingdom of their hearts, to turn over all authority over ourselves to him instead of clinging to the crowns we think we have over ourselves. Do we greet Christ when he comes to us at Mass in the Eucharist, when he is present in the midst of two or three (or more) of his believers, when we hear the Bible, when we interact with the many people around us? How do we greet him? Do we lay the palms of our gifts before his feet or do we just stand on the curb and wave? Do we offer him ourselves as a beast of burden for him to ride? We are just as much asses (pardon the pun) as any donkey he could find!
I would like to think that I would “roll out the red carpet” as we say today, but I know that I can sometimes go into auto-pilot at Mass and almost completely forget what is actually HAPPENING right before my eyes; the Incarnate Christ, Jesus in the fullness of his presence, is there right before me! I can also forget about the Christ that dwells in each person, each human being gifting the world with a unique revelation of Christ. I can forget about the Christ dwelling in me, too.
So, on this Palm Sunday, I intend to renew my efforts to recognize Christ wherever he is. It is going to be a very busy week, too, as there are some big days coming up (Holy Week already?!?!?!) that I will be helping out with, plus there may be one or two funerals to help with as well. But even in the midst of Martha-like business, we must always endeavor to make the choice of Mary and choose the better part- Christ. May Christ the King ride triumphantly into your hearts, borne upon our humility and greeted with the palms of our good works! Let him be welcomed royally into the very depths of our lives, there to rule until we stand before his throne in heaven, there to cry, “Hosanna!” with the angels and saints forever!
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That picture is beautiful, by the way.
Perhaps the best way to reconcile Martha and Mary is to become a Benedictine.
Kidding. But as we work, Christ labors with us, just as Christ sorrows with us and rejoices with us. We will be called to sorrow with him in his Passion and rejoice with him in his Resurrection.
The reading of the Passion has always had a profound effect on me, ever since I was a child. I couldn’t understand at first why we, the congregation, shouted to crucify Jesus. Now I realize that our sins cry out and call for the crucifixtion, which Jesus submits himself to in the greatest love in order to save us.