Made Him Carry It
March 24, 2013
Palm Sunday of the Passion of The Lord
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” Luke 19:37-40
The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. Isaiah 50:6-7
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, Phillippians 2:6-8
As they led him away, they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus. Luke 23:26
Piety
Piety is the willingness to welcome Christ at each moment of the day. We do not wave the palms of our piety in the face of another. We live the moment we are in with the fullness of our presence to the person or place we are. Piety brings to each moment now of our lives the welcome of Christ into our presence. Christ touches each moment with the fullness of his love. How the piety of Christ rubs off on us is seen in the way we live his love. Our sufferings become his sufferings when we offer them in his name. We walk in his footprints until his steps become ours. We reach out with his hands when we lift the burdens of others. By offering our sufferings in his name we become his presence to our world.
Study
We learn from Christ how to stand up against injustice with our piety. In his entry into Jerusalem his disciples welcome him with shouts of joy. His enemies complain about his kingly entrance into Jerusalem. Christ responds to the complaints of the Pharisees with a simple retort. “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” Our piety is how we welcome Christ into our lives. We preach by the goodness of our lives. There is no better sermon than our happiness at being the presence of Christ by the way we live our lives in Christ.
Action
We witness the passion of Christ in all the sufferings of the poor and the needy of our world. How we reach out to accompany Christ as he goes to his passion is the action Palm Sunday calls forth from our hearts. We walk in his footsteps each time we go out of our way to help another. We give Christ a helping hand when we make the suffering of another easier by taking up the cross in his name. We become the ongoing Suffering of Christ in all the ways we offer our pains of life in his name to fill up what is wanting to the suffering of His Mystical Body, the Church. The terrible way Christ will be treated in his passion is the mystery of our salvation. As he prepares to climb the throne of his cross, Palm Sunday reveals the true meaning of the suffering of Christ. It is found in the welcome of Christ to the beginning of our salvation in his journey to the cross. Our fame in heaven will be determined by our share in his cross. Seeing the suffering of Christ will lessen the sting of our crosses as the realization dawns of how our crosses are a share of God’s love for us. To be Disciples of Christ we have to take up our crosses and follow him.
March 24, 2013
Palm Sunday of the Passion of The Lord
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” Luke 19:37-40
The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. Isaiah 50:6-7
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, Phillippians 2:6-8
As they led him away, they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus. Luke 23:26
Piety
Piety is the willingness to welcome Christ at each moment of the day. We do not wave the palms of our piety in the face of another. We live the moment we are in with the fullness of our presence to the person or place we are. Piety brings to each moment now of our lives the welcome of Christ into our presence. Christ touches each moment with the fullness of his love. How the piety of Christ rubs off on us is seen in the way we live his love. Our sufferings become his sufferings when we offer them in his name. We walk in his footprints until his steps become ours. We reach out with his hands when we lift the burdens of others. By offering our sufferings in his name we become his presence to our world.
Study
We learn from Christ how to stand up against injustice with our piety. In his entry into Jerusalem his disciples welcome him with shouts of joy. His enemies complain about his kingly entrance into Jerusalem. Christ responds to the complaints of the Pharisees with a simple retort. “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” Our piety is how we welcome Christ into our lives. We preach by the goodness of our lives. There is no better sermon than our happiness at being the presence of Christ by the way we live our lives in Christ.
Action
We witness the passion of Christ in all the sufferings of the poor and the needy of our world. How we reach out to accompany Christ as he goes to his passion is the action Palm Sunday calls forth from our hearts. We walk in his footsteps each time we go out of our way to help another. We give Christ a helping hand when we make the suffering of another easier by taking up the cross in his name. We become the ongoing Suffering of Christ in all the ways we offer our pains of life in his name to fill up what is wanting to the suffering of His Mystical Body, the Church. The terrible way Christ will be treated in his passion is the mystery of our salvation. As he prepares to climb the throne of his cross, Palm Sunday reveals the true meaning of the suffering of Christ. It is found in the welcome of Christ to the beginning of our salvation in his journey to the cross. Our fame in heaven will be determined by our share in his cross. Seeing the suffering of Christ will lessen the sting of our crosses as the realization dawns of how our crosses are a share of God’s love for us. To be Disciples of Christ we have to take up our crosses and follow him.
No comments:
Post a Comment