Fr. Roger J. Landry
Conversations with Consequences Podcast
Homily for the Palm Sunday, B, Vigil
March 23, 2024
To listen to an audio recording of this short Sunday homily, please click below:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/3.23.24_Landry_ConCon_1.mp3
The following text guided the homily:
* This is Fr. Roger Landry and it’s a privilege for me to be with you as we prepare for Holy Week by focusing on the life-changing dialogue the Lord Jesus wants to have with us throughout the week as we retrace with him the most important events in the history of the world.
* Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, the only Mass during the year in which we have two Gospel passages, one at the start of the Mass in which we ponder Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the crowds hail him with Palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” The second is the solemn reading of the Lord’s passion, in which we enter into Jesus’ self-giving during the Last Supper and retrace his suffering as the fickle crowds should, “Crucify Him!” It’s normal on Palm Sunday for preachers to focus on the Passion, the longest Gospel passage read throughout the year and, with the passages on the resurrection, the real heart of the Gospel. Today, however, to orient us for Holy Week, I would like to preach on first Gospel, the Gospel of Palm Sunday proper, because it shows us how to welcome Jesus and journey with him not only throughout these holy days but in life.
* The details are few but highly significant. Let’s begin with Jesus’ transportation. Jesus sent two of his disciples to go the village opposite them where they’d find a tethered colt on which no one had ever sat, to untie it and bring it to him. When the owner asked, “Why are you untying this colt?,” they replied, as Jesus had instructed them, “the Master has need of it.” Jesus then rode that colt into Jerusalem. Jesus could have easily walked into the city; after all, except for occasional boat rides across the Sea of Galilee, he walked everywhere. But he wanted to ride the foal of a donkey on which no one had ever sat. He had need of it to fulfill the Messianic prophecy announced by Zechariah, who wrote, “Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” Just as Solomon had ridden a mule, so Jesus was riding a consecrated colt no one had ever used, an indication that he was indeed the Son of David and rightful successor to him. Whereas riding a horse would have been a sign of war, to ride a donkey was a sign that the one riding was coming in peace. Zechariah’s prophecy continues: “He shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. … Because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your captives free from the waterless pit.” This King of peace riding on the foal of a donkey would be a universal king “from sea to sea” who would set people free not from political enemies but from the “waterless pit,” in other words, from death.
* As we prepare for this most holy of weeks, we can learn a lot from this colt. The Master has need of us, too. In the ancient Gregorian chant for the hymn Christians sing on Palm Sunday, “All Glory Laud and Honor,” there is a verse in Latin that reads, “Sis pius ascensor, tuus et nos simus asellus. Tecum nos capitat urbs veneranda Dei,” which can be translated as, “May you be the holy Rider and we your little colt, so that the venerated City of God may grasp us together with you.” Jesus wants us to enter the Holy City with him.
