(Palm
Sunday 2022 (C): This homily was given on April 10, 2022 at St. Pius X Church,
Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani.
Read Isaiah 50: 4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2: 6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Palm Sunday 2022]
Holy Week is about priorities. It always has been—and it always will be. During the very first Holy Week, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, made you his priority. He made me his priority. That may be difficult to believe, but it’s true nonetheless. We would not be born for almost 2,000 years, but, as God, Jesus knew us. Back in 33AD, he knew us. He knew what our needs would be in 2022. He knew what our hopes would be, what our concerns would be—most importantly, he knew our what our sins would be! He knew the need we would have for forgiveness and salvation, so in perfect obedience to the Father he made us his top priority.
Now I ask you to think about the motivation of Jesus in doing this. What did he, personally, get out of it? What was his reward for making us his number one concern? Well, we just heard about his reward in this gospel: five gaping holes in his body and a splitting headache. Here, my brothers and sisters, we see how different we are from God. Jesus made us his priority out of pure selflessness. On the other hand, when are we human beings most likely to make Jesus our top priority? It’s when we need something, isn’t it? Those are the times when we pray more fervently, and frequently and sincerely. Those are the moments when Jesus occupies the place in our hearts that he should occupy all the time, not just in moments of crisis. In other words, we tend to make our Lord number one out of selfishness, not out of selflessness.
Which brings us to this Holy Week. During the first Holy Week Jesus made us his priority. This Holy Week is an opportunity to make him our priority—out of need and out of love—by setting aside extra time (extra quality time) for prayer and reflection and Scripture reading; and by making an extra effort to attend the special liturgies and services here in church, like the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday (when we commemorate the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood), and the Stations of the Cross and the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday.
And if we do that this week, who knows? It may actually have a positive effect on the other 51 weeks of the year, by bringing us into a closer, more intimate relationship with the Lord. I think it’s interesting and wonderfully ironic (and I’ll leave you with this thought): when Jesus made us his priority, we benefited. When we make Jesus our priority—for whatever reason, but especially when we do it out of love—we benefit again.
Which means that in the next seven days we have absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain. May it be a week of great spiritual gains for all of us.