Palm Sunday: Stay Here. (2017-04-09)

Sunday April 9, 2017 /    Palm Sunday

Title: Stay Right Here

Gospel Passion Matthew (year A)

[__01__]   Stay right here. Being asked to stay still or to stay in one place can be a challenge for you and for me, as it was for the disciples.

Jesus asks us, every day, to stay with him. And, in particular during his Passion, to stay with him, by his side.

In beginning of Passion Week, of Palm Sunday, the crowds – and you and I – may do very well, staying in one place.

Isn’t this what happens at the start of an event or the visit of a VIP. The crowds rush – with the mentality and movement of the herd – to one place.  In fact, if everybody is going there, then it must be something special.

I would feel deprived if I were unable to watch the event that everyone else will be talking about – and if I missed it, is there a re-broadcast, can I download it, is it on Netflix?

In order to gain seats/tickets for a concert, game, World Cup, we may also have to follow the crowd and, perhaps, camp out overnight for the tickets.

Can I stay right here? Of course, I will, because I do not want to lose my place in line.

On Palm Sunday and in the triumphant entry of our Savior into Jerusalem, the crowds indicate what and who is important.

[__02__]   During Lent and Holy Week, we are reminded about or prayer, fasting, almsgiving / charity.  And, here at Lourdes, I am grateful, we are grateful to many for gifts of time, gifts of food, gifts of material and spiritual value which sustain our community and our neighbors for example at St. John’s Soup Kitchen in Newark, at Holy Trinity Soup Kitchen in West Orange. You stay here, you keep watch in response to those in need …. And, we are grateful for the way in which you come forward as individuals – and as a team – to support these initiatives. There is strength in numbers.

[__03__]    Stay right here. Stay awake.  This is also a message of our Savior to his disciples and to you and me for our spiritual life and our relationships with others.

          Sometimes, it is difficult to stay in one place and stay awake. We may prefer to keep moving.

          Staying in one place, we may feel drowsy, sleepy.

          And, the disciples fall asleep three times in the Garden of Gethsemani. Jesus asks them to stay awake … but then…

Then we read Jesus’s alarm and interruption of their dreams,

·        “found them asleep” (Matthew 26:40)

·        “once more he found them asleep” (Matthew 26:43)

·        “are you still sleeping” (Matthew 26:45)

[__04__]  Jesus tells them to “stay here”  and to “stay awake.”

          Sometimes, we fall asleep as soon as we sit still.  We sit down in the car, and someone else is driving. We fall asleep.

          We sit down in the airplane and someone else is flying.  We fall asleep.

          Now, those of us who might experience any fear of flying, takeoff, landing, turbulence may be surprised – or envious – of those who sleep at 30,000 feet of altitude on United or BA.

          Certainly, fear or anxiety will keep us up, both night and day.

         

[__05__]   We are called, during the Passion and each day, to bring our fears and our joys to him during Holy Week.   [__fin__]