Homily for Palm Sunday: March 28, 2010

Given by the Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton.

This past Thursday, March 25, we celebrated the Feast of the Annunciation. Mary under this title is the patroness of our diocese. When Mary responded to the angel: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word,” the Word of God became flesh in the person of Jesus. God entered into the very human condition which He had created . For Mary this was a moment of complete trust in God, not knowing all that lay ahead of her.

Today on this Palm Sunday we commemorate the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowds cried out: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” Jesus knew that his time had come and he entered the holy city, with complete trust in God, prepared to accept all that His Father would ask of Him.

The joy of the annunciation for Mary, the acceptance of the plan of God for her, would mean for her the suffering of the cross. Mary looked on from a distance and saw her son in great agony. The cross was hers also.

The glory of the Palm Sunday procession quickly ceded to the darkness of Good Friday when Jesus would breathe His last: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

The plan of God does not protect us from suffering and hardships in this life. Without the cross there would have been no salvation for us. Without accepting the cross in our own lives we cannot follow Christ. Everyone in this congregation carries burdens and heartaches within themselves. Our faith sustains us. The way of the cross is the way to salvation.

St. Francis de Sales, a great saint of practical wisdom, offers to us a morning prayer on how to live the day: “My God, I give you this day. I offer you, now, all of the good that I shall do…and I promise to accept, for love of you, all of the difficulty that I shall meet. Help me conduct myself in a manner pleasing to you.”

Good Friday always ends in Easter Sunday if we but have faith. Jesus overcame death in the glory of His Resurrection. If we but have faith, if we trust in God as Mary did, all things will come to good.

Let us enter Holy Week, let us end Lent, with the resolve to conduct our lives in a manner pleasing to God in all that we do and experience.

Last Update March 29, 2010