HOMILY FOR PALM SUNDAY (A)

Fr Billy Swan

Dear friends. Last Saturday, I took the train to Florence and visited the convent of St Mark that used to be a Dominican friary. In that Dominican community in the 15th century lived a friar called Fra Angelico who was a gifted artist and who decorated the cells of the friars with beautiful frescoes from the life of Christ. I have included a number of them here for you to see.

If you look closely, they all have something in common – namely that in each scene, a Dominican friar is present and actively involved. Sometimes, the friar is praying, other times he is weeping or observing closely what is going on. What Fra Angelico was trying to convey with these beautiful frescoes in the cells of the friars was that each of them ought to see himself as an active participant in the Gospel scene depicted in the fresco.

Participation is one of the three pillars of the synodal way. It is about breaking away from a passive form of Christian Catholicism that leaves us on the sidelines and leaves us unchanged. Very often, that is the safest place to be. Look at Peter in the passion – we are told he followed Jesus - at a (safe) distance. We are not called to follow Jesus at a safe distance but to stay close to him and go where he follows.

The participation that comes with our faith shares in common what we typically mean by participation in other areas of life like sports or drama. We are engaged, involved, chosen, called, needed and have a role. Yet the Gospel meaning of participation goes even deeper. It is a participation in the very life of God. It is a participation in the Sonship of Jesus; participation in his life, death and resurrection; it is a participation in the life of the Holy Spirit. This is the participation that precedes any other external participation in the Church such as expanded roles, ministry, decision making and missionary groups like Parish Councils.

Today we begin Holy Week. It is a time when we are invited to participate fully in the Easter ceremonies and to become involved in the drama that unfolds. This week we listen once again to the greatest story ever told and how Jesus Christ did battle with every form of human dysfunction, evil, sin and death in order to conquer it. Out of love, Jesus descended into the hell of his passion in order to offer hope and forgiveness to all of us.

As we listen again to the story of the Last Supper, the trial of Jesus, his condemnation, his crucifixion and resurrection, there is a power that absorbs us into it. In the drama that unfolds, we see that we are not spectators but active participants who have been written into the play, just like the Dominican friars were invited to contemplate through Fra Angelico’s frescos.

But note that this participation in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is linked to real life. Compare for example the family who share a meal before a member emigrates to Australia the following day - the emotions of everyone present and the words of Jesus ‘My friends I shall not be with you much longer’ (Jn. 13:33).

Consider the anguish of someone who faces major surgery in the morning or someone who gets on board a rubber dingy about to cross the sea and the words of Jesus ‘My soul is sorrowful to the point of death’ (Matt. 26:38). Or think of the experience of someone condemned to death or to prison for something they didn’t do and how the cowardly Pilate washed his hands as he condemned an innocent man. Think for a moment of a family around the bed of a loved one who is dying and the experience of Mary and the others at the foot of the cross. Think of those who have suffered terrible losses in their lives but have found meaning and hope in their faith in the resurrection, finding the strength in that faith to keep going, despite everything.

Maybe you can recognise yourself in some of these examples - or perhaps in all of them. If you can, do not be surprised for this is the drama of the Gospel that invites us to move from ‘following him at a distance’ (Matt. 26:58) to being active participants in the dramatic events of Holy Week that contain the full drama of human existence that needs saving.

Finally, in the Passion according to Matthew, Jesus finds the apostles sleeping in the garden. At the time when he needed their company most, they were not present to him. It is a powerful reminder for us to stay awake this week and be attentive to the great drama about to unfold. In this drama we are all absorbed and involved but most of all, saved by his love. Let us prayerfully enter Jerusalem with him this week, not at a safe distance but as willing participants.