Palm Sunday Year A 2020

Palm Sunday 2020 April 5, 2020 I mentioned last week that my spiritual practices lately have included a deeper dive into the Franciscan priest Richard Rohr’s daily meditations. This past week, he started a series based on his observations of cross-cultural male initiation rites and the 5 lessons that are consistent in all of them. I was at first struck by how negative these all seem to be, but as I kept reading, I saw that Rohr is writing about how these lessons can be helpful for us as we navigate through this new reality in which we find ourselves now. Rohr writes, “In this time of global disruption, these lessons can help us align to reality, our own belonging in it, and remain grounded in the infinitely trustworthy presence of God. These five essential messages of initiation are: 1. Life is hard. 2. You are not important. 3. Your life is not about you. 4. You are not in control. And 5. You are going to die.”i (How about that for a nice little ray of sunshine?) As we begin our slow walk through Holy Week, following Jesus through his last days of life, I’ve been especially contemplating #4: “You are not in control.” Out of the 5, reconciling with this reality has probably been my biggest struggle during this strange season. Which is why, today, and all of Holy Week presents a unique gift to me this year, if I can lean into this truth as opposed to hiding from it. Today, we watch as Jesus, who could very easily be in full control—more than any human ever could be—gives up control, gives himself over to the events as they are unfolding—the betrayal by a friend, the false accusations, the sham of a trial, the beatings, and the rush toward crucifixion. We resonate with the turmoil that is felt in the city at these events, even as we feel this turmoil within our own hearts. We say the ancient hymn of our faith along with Christians over the ages, a song about Jesus’s self-emptying love, a song about his humility, his service, his obedience. (A testament to lesson #3-your life is not about you—if I ever saw it.) During this most unusual Holy Week in this most unusual season, the Holy Spirit is offering us a most unusual opportunity. That is to spiritually walk the way of the cross with Jesus in new and unexpected ways, to deepen our faith, and to release these falsities that we tell ourselves to dwell more fully, more deeply in the providence of the God who loves us so much that he gives himself up to death, even death on a cross for us. A God who will not allow death-his own or others’ to have the last word. In closing, I’ll share with you a poem by the Anglican priest and poet Malcolm Guite titled Palm Sunday: Palm Sunday Now to the gate of my Jerusalem, The seething holy city of my heart, The Saviour comes. But will I welcome him? Oh crowds of easy feelings make a start; They raise their hands, get caught up in the singing, And think the battle won. Too soon they'll find The challenge, the reversal he is bringing Changes their tune. I know what lies behind The surface flourish that so quickly fades; Self-interest, and a fearful guardedness, The hardness of the heart, its barricades, And at the core, the dreadful emptiness Of a perverted temple. Jesus, come Break my resistance and make me your home.ii i. Adapted from Richard Rohr, Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation, (Crossroad Publishing Company: 2004), 29–30, 32–34.; https://cac.org/the-patterns-that-are-always-true-2020-03-29/ ii.From Sounding the Seasons, by Malcolm Guite, Canterbury Press 2012; https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/a-sonnet-for-palm-sunday/