Immaculate
Heart of Mary Catholic Church
Homily for April
9, 2006
Liturgical Year
B-Cycle II
Palm Sunday
By Fr. Joshua Nyoni
Topic: Holy Week
+ + +
The Gospel we have just read does speak for
itself. However, I
want to talk about Holy Week, which has just begun today. Holy
Week
begins with the solemn entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Within this week,
we celebrate the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. The word
“Paschal”
suggests “passing over”. This was first experienced by the
Israelites
when the Lord passed over their door lintels marked with the blood of
the
sacrificed lamb. Then again when they passed from slavery to
freedom.
The Jewish Rabbis taught,
"No one could be
considered a true Jew unless he underwent the Passover with Moses and
the
children of Israel
in Egypt.
This was accomplished in the generations after Moses by the Passover
rituals.
The Passover meal was not seen as a mere memorial, nor even as a
re-enactment.
It was an actual participation in the Exodus experience. If a person
went
through the Passover ritual, he was considered to have actually
participated in
the events of the Exodus. As such, the Passover meal was seen as a
"sacrament of initiation" for the Jews in which the "real
presence" of the Exodus was made accessible to the Jewish people as an
perpetual reminder (anamnesis) of what was accomplished in Egypt.
The parallel to the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist is obvious."
The word “Mystery” suggests something so deep,
so rich that we
will never completely exhaust its meaning. The “Paschal Mystery”
includes
our own life’s journey of passing from slavery to freedom, from sin to
grace,
from death to life.
The apex of Holy Week are the three days called
the Triduum,
counting from sundown Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and
Easter
Sunday. On Holy Thursday, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper where Jesus
instituted
the Sacrament of Ordination, the Holy Eucharist, as well as giving us
the
commandment of love. This is symbolized by the washing of the feet
which is the
concept of service. On Good Friday, we have the passion and death
of our
Lord Jesus Christ. No mass is celebrated but we receive Holy Communion.
On Holy
Saturday we await the resurrection of our Lord. With the Easter Vigil,
we
celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.
This mystery of the Triduum calls forth from us, a
commitment to conform ourselves
closely to Christ, so that we ourselves, like Christ, pass from death
to life.
Let us walk with Jesus as he walks the path of his suffering, death and
resurrection. Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum call us to participate
in the
one continuing, unfolding event of God’s supreme act of love.
May God be with us.