homily notes: Palm Sunday

It's a powerful experience to read the words of this story.


It's different from reciting MacBeth in high school English. It's different than any other story.


That's because this drama isn't just about something that happened two-thousand years ago in the Middle East -  we're part of this story.


While we read this story, it's easy to look at the crowd, at Pilate, or at Judas and think, "How could they do these things? Isn't obvious that Jesus is someone special?"


- but this is us.


We welcome Jesus as a king and then turn on him a few days later.
We enjoy friendship with Jesus, and then betray him by our actions.
We are invited to an intimate relationship with Jesus, but numb ourselves with the noise of the world.
We give in to fear and the pressure of our culture and give up our responsibility for doing what is right.


These characters aren't strangers - they are us.


By our own sins, we add our voices to the crowd shouting, "Crucify him."


So, today, we have a choice.


This Holy Week could be just another "holiday" - a time of relaxation or eating or vacation, those things aren't bad - but it could also be a journey into the reality of how much God loves us.


I encourage you to make the most of this week. If you can, celebrate the whole Triduum. Experience the whole story of how much God gave so that we could live with Him forever.

Jesus entered Jerusalem like a king. He left it like an executed criminal. And he did that for us.