March 29, 2015 – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
Is 50: 4-7; Ps 22: 8-9, 17-20, 23-24; Phil 2: 6-11; Mk 14:1 – 15:47
The end of our Lenten journey is imminent. Have we altered our lives? Have we rededicated ourselves? Have we renewed our covenant with the Lord? These are major conversions and changes, and perhaps the best question we can ask ourselves is quite simply, “Is anything different?”
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “the real aim of Lent is, above all else, to prepare us for the celebration of the death and Resurrection of Christ… the better the preparation the more effective the celebration will be.” We have been called to a conversion of heart.
In the few days we have remaining we must strive for some form of purification, by some effort to reject sin and selfishness. As good stewards we need to identify something in our lives, someone in our lives perhaps, with which or with whom we must reconcile. First and foremost we must reconcile with God; if we fix that relationship, everything else naturally follows.
We have been given gifts through the Holy Spirit. This is a vital time for us to use those gifts to build the Kingdom of God. St. David of Crete said this of Palm Sunday: “Let us run to accompany the Lord as He hastens toward His Passion, not by covering His path with palms, but by being humble and by trying to live as He would wish.”
