Gospel: Luke 19:29-40
When Jesus had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.'” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
Homily
Today Palm Sunday, we have one of the rare occasions in the church year when two gospel passages are read in the same ceremony. We read the account of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and we read the Passion according to St. Luke. It gives us an opportunity to contemplate, not only the journey of Jesus but also the change which overcame the people of Jerusalem over a period of 5 or 6 days, and the role that the opinion makers of the time, the chief priests and Scribes and Pharisees played in that change. Basically we see the people of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday acclaiming Jesus as King. Five days later they shout for him to be crucified.“Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!” (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.” But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.”
Someone or some group had changed the people’s opinion about Jesus. And that is the role of opinion makers even today. We have made it into a science. “How to change the opinions of people, especially of the Masses”
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Just as the People of Jerusalem could give up the messiah for whom they had been waiting for thousands of years, the one who had worked so many miracles for them, the one who had taught them about God’s love for them in spite of their unworthiness, so too today, the opinion makers, the media houses, the television etc can get people to give up their authentic values, and their deepest aspirations. How many do we know who have given up their Christian values and habits because they have been told that the church is old fashioned, or priests are all scamps etc. We sing every creed and race has an equal place, but politicians have removed that value from our consciousness through propaganda which reforms or misforms our consciousness. But not all were fooled. There were wise people around who saw through the plan of the opinion makers, the Chief priests and Scribes and Pharisees. “Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment” It was these wise people and a few others like them who ensured that the movement begun by Jesus would continue. They did not let themselves be fooled by the propaganda. They did not follow those who thought that they had won.
In our age in which opinion making has become a fine art, we need more than ever wise people who are also opinion makers. In fact we are all opinion makers but the wisdom with which we live our lives will define the kind of opinion makers that we are. Today in this country of ours we need wise opinion makers, persons who are capable of forming the opinion of others so that people come to know and accept the truth and so that wise choices are made. My friends when we use lies, half-truths and innuendos to change or to form opinions, we are doing a disservice to ourselves, our community and our nation. In fact we form and change opinions by the authenticity of our lives. If today there is a sense of hope in our church and in the world, it may be because the authenticity of life of Pope Francis is already giving a more attractive face to the church. It is authenticity of life which will make others question their own lives. It is fidelity to the Gospel which we proclaim which will convince others of the truth of the Gospel. We need people like Joseph of Arimathea and the women who remained faithful to their convictions, in spite of the attempts of the opinion makers (the scribes and Pharisees), in spite of the danger to their own lives. Because of that fidelity many persons in apostolic times, became Christians and martyrs giving their lives for the cause of Jesus. There is something very noble in giving one’s life in fidelity to a mission. For us Christians, the mission is a person, Jesus the Christ. This is what has animated the martyrs down through the ages. This recognition must animate us also. There is nobility in being faithful to the values to which we have committed ourselves through baptism and confirmation, even when this fidelity means loss of position, status, money or power and even death. This is what our present day culture has to recover, i.e. the sense of the nobility of the martyr’s death. This is the opinion that fidelity to the person of Jesus must form in us and in the wider society. This is what catholic and Christian families have to teach to their children so that they too can influence those with whom they interact. We need to reach our young ones to be discerning, so that they too can be faithful. Just as that faithful remnant of wise, discerning people ensured that the movement begun by Jesus would live on, so it is the faithful remnant of wise discerning people who today will ensure that the best in our tradition lives on.
Let us thank God for the Saints, heroes of our faith, wise and discerning people, perhaps our parents and god parents who rejected the opinion makers of false values. It is through them that the tradition has been passed on to us. We now have a duty to pass it on to those who follow us. Amen
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, this weekend we remember the triumphal entry of your Son Jesus into Jerusalem. He was misunderstood however and one week later he was to be executed with the acquiescence of the same crowd which a few days earlier had acclaimed him. Help us your people not to be fooled by the opinion makers of this world and help us to understand that it is a noble thing to give oneself totally to and for what one believes. We ask this of Mary our Mother and the same Jesus your Son. Amen
