‘Do not be afraid’
CHARLOTTE — Palm Sunday’s mix of joy and suffering is an “odd juxtaposition” that reflects the reality of people’s lives – and an invitation to let God into every part of them, Bishop Michael Martin said.
Bishop Martin greeted a standing-room-only crowd at St. Patrick Cathedral March 29 as the Church began Holy Week, which commemorates the final days of Jesus’ life leading to His passion, death and resurrection at Easter.
The liturgy opened with the blessing of palm branches, and the Passion according to St. Matthew (Mt 26:14-27:66) was proclaimed – recounting both the joy of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and, just days later, His arrest, torture and death on a cross.
In his homily, Bishop Martin reflected on what he called these “two dynamics that don't seem to go very well together.”
“On the one hand, we're called with our palms to praise our God; on the other, we're screaming to crucify Him,” he said. “It is one of the great conflicts in the liturgical life of the Church – that the same voices who early on in the proclamation of today's Gospel can be praising Jesus, in just a later moment are calling for His death.”
People’s lives, too, are marked by a similar mix of joy and pain, Bishop Martin preached.
“In many ways, we come here today with a joy that we know that Jesus wants to transform our lives. We come here today believing in a God that loves us, a God that has forgiven us, a God that wants great things for us – and yet we also recognize that in our own lives there is discord, that we have not placed everything on the table for Jesus to transform.
“As much as we want Him to save us, as much as we want Him to transform our lives, there are still parts of our lives that we hold on to and we're afraid – or we’re ashamed, or maybe even sometimes we’ve just gotten a little lazy,” he said.
“We don’t even think about how Christ could want to be a part of that dynamic of our lives, to raise it up, to transform it,” he said. “We still wallow in sin … seeing God's saving work and yet realizing our own brokenness.”
Holy Week is an opportunity to confront that reality and deepen one’s faith, Bishop Martin said.
“It will be a little awkward, and it will be a little frustrating, and it may not taste right in our mouths,” he said, “but it is at the heart of the Christian journey that we have been celebrating for almost 40 days during this Lent, and gets even more intensified during Holy Week.”
‘Do not be afraid to go on that journey. Do not be afraid to look at the odd, bad-tasting juxtaposition of what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life,” he encouraged people.
God wants to be part of every aspect of our lives, sanctifying both joyful moments and painful ones, Bishop Martin said, so ask for His grace “to make our lives whole, to make our lives holy, during this Holy Week and for all time.”
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle. Photos by Edward Chaplinsky Jr. and Liz Chandler
