HOSANNA! PLEASE, SAVE US!

PALM SUNDAY - Luke 19:28-40

With Palm Sunday we start a very special time in the Christian calendar, which we call Holy Week - a week consecrated to the remembrance and celebration of Jesus’ life and specially of his passion, death and resurrection. It is a week in which our hearts and minds move around Jesus Christ.

We start in a joyous mood with the Palm procession, but that quickly gives place to grief and sorrow, which goes together with the awareness of sin in our lives and in our society. The power of evil is present everywhere and most of the time seems to have the upper hand. But that Friday, when Jesus died on the cross, is not called a black Friday, instead we call it a Good Friday, because Jesus’ faithfulness was the way to his victory. We will end the Holy Week with the big feast of Easter, the celebration of Jesus’ victory.

Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. As the approached the city, people coming from all over Palestine and beyond would start forming crowds walking together and would enter Jerusalem singing, at same time being welcome by the people living in the city. Being recognised as a prophet, Jesus became the centre of people’s attention. As they acclaimed him as the Messiah, they called for his intervention.

People shouted Hosanna! The word was misunderstood already in the first Christian communities: “Hosanna in the highest heaven” (Mk 11:10), in which the word is taken as an acclamation of glory. However, hosanna was a cry for deliverance: Save, please! Save, we beseech (Ps 118:25). It was the cry address to Jesus as the Messiah, a cry which was considered as a cry of revolt against the Roman occupation. That’s why within a week, the leaders got rid of him, having him crucified.

In this Palm Sunday, we are called to acclaim Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah and to call upon him to save us. However, crowds turn with the wind: they acclaim you today and tomorrow they shout you down. And we are part of those crowds. It was so with the Apostles, and so it is with us. With easiness and sometimes without regret, we turn our backs on Jesus Christ. At least, we can learn with Peter to come back and cry tears of repentance.

Hosanna! Pleas, save us! 

MERCIFUL JUSTICE

V SUNDAY OF LENT - Jn 8:1-11

Human justice is full of hypocrisy and many times it is mixed with revenge. The ones judging and condemning are pitiless and harsh in their self-righteousness, as if they are better than the one they condemn.

A few months ago, the news reported about a very old man who had been a guard in one of Hitler’s prison camps. He was going to be tried, accused of participating in the execution of prisoners. It is true that, as they say in Bemba, a case never gets rotten. But it sounded more like revenge than justice, forgetting that in their hearts dwells the same kind of evil. If they lived under the same circumstances, they would do the same or even worse, because very few people are ready to die for not compromising their principles.

In the gospel, we are presented with the woman caught in adultery, and with all the harshness and blindness of their hearts, the Pharisees wanted to stone her in the name of the law. They forgot that one does not commit adultery alone. Then, how could they have caught only one?

Nowadays, in the news, time and again, we hear similar stories. In most of the muslim countries, a woman who becomes pregnant because of rape, is accused of adultery, and punished. It is not surprising, since Muhammad did the same:

“Go to the wife of this (man) and if she confesses (that she has committed illegal sexual intercourse), then stone her to death.” (from Al Bukhara, Volume 3, Book 38, Number 508)

Justice confused with revenge leads to destruction and death. For Jesus, justice goes with mercy and compassion, and only in that way can we overcome the evil in our hearts and find peace.

Jesus’ question to the accusers who wanted to kill the woman is addressed also to each one of us:

“If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7).

We need to learn from Christ, as Paul did

I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him - Phil 3:8

Let us make Christ the centre of our lives and with him we will learn to be merciful.

EXPERIENCING GOD’S MERCY

IV SUNDAY OF LENT - Luke 15:1-3,11-32

According to Paul, God is reconciling the world to himself, and he does it through Jesus Christ. And that is great news, and we are entrusted with the proclamation of that news.

Pope Francis proclaimed the Jubilee of mercy for that purpose: To proclaim that God is more than willing to reconcile humanity to himself, and to make everybody aware of God’s mercy. Paul tells us that God is making an appeal through us: “Be reconciled with God”. (2 Co 5:17-21)

In the gospel, the parable of the father who had two sons presents two possible attitudes before the merciful God:

faced with our sin and the destruction that it does to our lives, we recognise and accept God’s mercy. That is the attitude of the prodigal son. Although being a sinner, he was able to remember his father’s kindness and to trust his mercy, making it possible for him to go back and be reconciled with the father.

considering ourselves sinless and righteous, we are not in need of forgiveness; in fact, we may see God’s mercy to others as being unfair to us. That is the attitude of the elder son. He was Mr. Right; and so right he was that he was able to see injustice and discrimination in his father’s kindness and love. He did not ask for mercy. How could he, if he did not need it. And so he was not able to be merciful and to reconcile with his brother (Lk 15:11-32)

The experience of God’s mercy is essential for us to be merciful. The ability to forgive and to reconcile is the greatest expression of love. That’s why, as God’s children, we are told to be merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful (Lk 6:36)

GOD REVEALS HIMSELF AS THE ONE WHO IS HERE FOR US

III SUNDAY OF LENT - Ex 3:1-8,13-15

Paul teaches us how to read the Scriptures and how to look at the events related in them. To the Corinthians he wrote: 

“These things all happened as warnings for us” and they were “written down to be a lesson for us” (1 Co 10:11).

And they must be read in reference to Jesus Christ. In the desert, people drank water from the rock, and “that rock was Christ” (1 Co 10:4). Jesus Christ is the key for the understanding and the interpretation of the books of the Old Testament. It is through him that they get meaning and serve of guidance to us, leading us to Him, who is the truth.

This Sunday’s first reading presents us with the extraordinary experience of Moses, which transformed his life, giving meaning and purpose to it. Being a runaway, he lived in a strange land, conformed to his own fate. From a prince of Egypt, he had become a shepherd in the wilderness, spending most of the time faraway from the family, moving around with his flock. How different it was from the noise and the glare of the court! Alone, he had time to reflect and to be confronted with himself. And then the unexpected happened. In Ex 3:1-15, we find a theophany, that is a visible manifestation of God’s presence and, at the same time, the call of Moses.

With his flock, Moses had moved beyond the usual territory and found himself near the mountain of God. Where was that mountain? That does not matter! What matters is that he became aware of something extraordinary, and decided to go and check.

“I must go and look at this strange sight.”

This attentiveness to what surrounds us, so that we may be touched by what is different is essential for an experience of God. It is through this window that God’s light reaches our minds and hearts. And then Moses decided to go and see. Without this attitude of search, we just pass by, and nothing may impress us. So Moses approached in order to have a good look. Then he received a strong warning. He cannot approach anyhow. One must take precautions. Indeed, we cannot approach the divine and the sacred, without an effort of purification of our minds and hearts. We must take off the shoes, that is everything that keeps us attached  to the dust of this world. 

And God revealed himself as the liberator, who listens to the cries of the oppressed and is ready to take action in their favour. At Moses’ request, he revealed his name - Yahweh (YHWH) - I AM. This I AM does not refer to his eternity, but to his loving and caring presence. I am here for you. I am here, and so I listen to your cries and see the tears in your eyes. I am here walking with you, in order to guide and protect you. I am the Saviour and the Liberator.

God revealed himself to Moses in order to send him. Moses is called in order to be given a mission:

“This is what you must say to the sons of Israel: “I Am has sent me to you.” (Ex 3:14)

Moses tries to refuse, giving all kinds of excuses, but when God calls there are no excuses. And so Moses carried out the mission entrusted to him, taking his people out of slavery and leading them to freedom.

How can this be applied to us?

If we have an open heart like Moses, God’s voice and God’s call will resonate in us ad we will be able to fulfil God’s purpose of love and salvation to all who are suffering the oppressions of this world. Whenever God calls, that call goes with a mission. Like Moses, we are called to be at the service of others. When God reveals himself and calls someone, it is always for a mission of service, and never for our own selfishness. In the fulfilment of our mission, we are expected to produce fruits - the fruits of mercy and love that come from God.

THIS IS MY SON. LISTEN TO HIM

II SUNDAY OF LENT - Lk 9:28-36

The history of salvation, as the Bible presents it, started with Abraham. Indeed, with Abraham, we find a new type of religious experience, in which the relationship with God is based on faith. That’s why Abraham is considered the father of all those who walk by faith.

What is most basic in faith is the relationship with God, a relationship of friendship and love, based on trust and total confidence in God.

God takes the initiative. He comes, interacts and intervenes. And his intervention produces trust; it is the beginning of a friendship. God made friends with Abraham. 

Like so many people today, Abraham was a man on the move. He had accompanied his father from Ur in what is present day Iraq, moving to Haran and from there, answering God’s call, he went to live in the land of Canaan.

Being always on the move, it was easier for him to understand his relationship with God as a journey, the journey of his life in which God is his companion, giving meaning and presenting a goal for that journey.

God’s intervention started with a call, and that call was accompanied of a promise. Abraham answered the call and, in an act of faith, he believed the promise and put his trust on the one who was making the promise. God accepted Abraham’s faith as an act of righteousness. Like Abraham, we are justified by faith.

However, faith does not abolish the quest and the search. In the journey of faith, we advance through unknown paths, guided only by our trust in the Lord. Even though we trust, we interrogate ourselves, and ask questions to the Lord. And Abraham asked: How am I going to know? (Gn 15:8). Faith does not stop us from the search to understand; in fact, that search has always been part of the journey of faith. In an effort to understand, we ask all kinds of questions, even though we cannot find the answer, at least not a definitive answer. If we read the book of Job, we find plenty of questions being put before God by the suffering Job. In the end, he did not get an answer that excludes any other question. It was the same with Abraham. God did not give him a straight answer. Instead, he made a promise to Abraham and sealed that promise with a covenant, by which he committed himself to fulfil that promise. That was enough for Abraham. 

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In the Gospel, we find an experience of God, which is only possible in faith and in prayer. With him, he took his closest disciples: Peter, John and James.

While in prayer, the glory of God made itself present, a glory that can be only fully made manifest in Jesus Christ. In prayer, the disciples entered into contemplation and God made himself present to them.

Throughout the Bible, the mountain plays an important role in God’s manifestations. There we come close to heaven, and all the senses of our soul become much more alert and open to the presence and influence of the Spirit of God. And this experience of the glory of God is mediated through Jesus, being at the same time an experience of the glory of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

While going through this experience of God’s love, all fulfilling, the disciples lost track of time and space, and they were so immersed in God, that they desired nothing else, but to go on, making it an everlasting experience.

Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain is an affirmation that he is the Way - the only way to the Father, and so the only way to life and truth. The Father confirmed it, as he had done at the baptism:

This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him. (Lk 9:35)

IF YOU CONFESS THAT JESUS IS LORD…

I SUNDAY OF LENT - Luke 4:1-13

The passages of the Scripture with which we initiate the Lent Season are full of drama, the drama of human life, which is pervaded by the presence of God’s love. This is in fact one of the greatnesses of the Bible. In it we can find all kinds of human situations. The Bible presents God’s presence and his word embroidered on the fabric of human life, and so the Bible is like a mirror where we can see ourselves, while being challenged by someone who in his deep and eternal love and in his love he affirms us.

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In the Gospel, we will read the temptations of Jesus at the end of his stay in the desert, taken from Luke 4:1-13. When we read them attentively, we can discover that Jesus’ temptations were the temptations of the People of Israel, and are the temptations of the Church and of the world.

By magic or scientific means - whatever - nothing seems impossible, and we can satisfy our craving for bread. All means are good, provided we satisfy our desires and needs. For the world, Jesus refusal based on the conviction that we need God and his word to find meaning for our lives, is a non sense. 

Surely, we need bread and much more than bread to have a life worth of living; however, when that stops us from paying attention to what deep inside us makes us truly human, and when we are ready to do everything that is possible to do, then we are sowing the seeds of self-destruction.

In order to be famous, people are ready to do the most strange things, so that their names and their pictures may appear everywhere.

And we can put everything at our service. Nothing is sacred. There are no barriers, no taboos, no restraints. There are only my own rights, and all the others must respect them.

The proposal presented to Jesus that he should throw himself from the top of the Temple sounds crazy, but in fact it as a proposal for Jesus to force God to come to his rescue, for no other reason than his quest for glory and fame. Instead of being at the service of God, God would be at his service. It would be an attempt to manipulate God and to impose the human will on God, as if the roles would be inverted.

And then there is the temptation of wealth and power, which is so common everywhere. To keep power at all costs and to get rich by all means is the source of many wars and of even more situations of oppression and exploitation.

The three temptations represent the wisdom of the world. They seem to present an easy way that in the end turns out to be a way for disaster.

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In the first reading (Dt 26:4-10), we are presented with a profession of faith - the Creed of the Old Testament, a creed to be recited and proclaimed time and again by every member of the people of God. 

The Christian Creed that we recite every Sunday presents a set of truths stated with very cold and dry words. This Creed of the Old Testament presents only one basic truth - the truth of a relationship of love  - the love of God for his people, a love that led him to take action in order to set them free. God listened to the cry of the slaves and brought them out of slavery to create a nation of free people.

The God of the Bible is a God who intervenes in history, who made himself present among us in Jesus Christ. His love is so great that he is not afraid of being touched and contaminated by the filth of our sins.

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Finally Paul tells us that in order to be saved we must proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ.

If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. - Ro 10:9.

As we start this time of Lent, let us come close to Jesus Christ and receive from him the strength to overcome the great temptations of our live. 

Whenever we cry out from within our darkness, our impotence and our sinfulness, he will come to our rescue. Remember: “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Ro 10:13).

HERE I AM, SEND ME.

V SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Isaiah 6:1-2,3-8

Last week, we were presented with the call of Jeremiah to be a prophet. This week, we can hear Isaiah speaking of his own experience, when God revealed himself in all grandeur. Faced with the holiness of God, Isaiah became aware of his sinfulness, which made him unworthy of being God’s messenger. 

In a vision, Isaiah saw a solemn act of worship in God’s own court, with Him seated in his royal throne of glory. In this heavenly liturgy, the choir of angels sang:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.

His glory fills the whole earth.” (Is 6:3)

These words have been resounding for many centuries, sang in the liturgies of the Temple and of the synagogues and repeated in every Mass in the Catholic Church. When we sing these words, we sing them together with the heavenly choirs and in union with the generations of believers that preceded us. That’s why I never like to hear our parish choirs changing the words or substituting them by others. In our Sunday liturgies, we are not doing our own things; we must be in unison with the universe and with all who recognise God’s holiness and sing his praises.

Like Isaiah, when we become aware of God’s presence, we discover not only our littleness but mostly our sinfulness. How can we be in God’s presence?

“What a wretched state I am in! I am lost,

for I am a man of unclean lips

and I live among a people of unclean lips,

and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of Hosts.” (Is 6:5)

We are sinners, and on our own, we can never deserve to approach the Lord or even less to be engaged in his work and to be part of his plans. However, the Holy One, can take away our sins and fill us with holiness. That’s what he did to Isaiah, so that he came out transformed by his encounter with God. When God looked for a messenger, Isaiah presented himself, saying:

“Here I am, send me.”

God is still looking for people to be his messengers and to carry out his work here on earth. And he asks:

Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?

Will we answer like Isaiah: “Here I am, send me”?