Pastor's Letter 20230402 - 02 April 2023 - Death and Life

[Father Michael]

April 2^nd, 2023

Palm Sunday

Jesus enters Jerusalem in Triumph

A Message from Father ^†Michael

Today’s Theme:

“Death and Life”

Reflections on Today’s Scripture

(Isaiah 50:4-7)  When The Servant Son appeared most defeated, He truly was triumphant.  He, Who suffered for the sake of all mankind, won victory through His innocence.  In God’s eyes, the disadvantaged and the persecuted possess a far greater dignity than those who abuse them.

In ancient Israel, the prophets were ostracized because of the message they proclaimed for the sake of God’s Word and the integrity of the Covenant.  Many suffered physical abuse, and some were even put to death.  The “Servant Son,” described by Isaiah, was a prophetic figure who would suffer for the sake of the Word and the benefit of His people—at the hands of His own people—in order to bring about their salvation…firm in the belief that God has not abandoned Him.  (Early Christians associated Jesus with Isaiah’s Servant, as is obvious from the way in which the Gospels, especially the Passion Narratives, were written.)

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(Philippians 2:7-11)  With no thought for Himself, Jesus gave all He had and all He was for others.  To live completely, to hold nothing back, is to fully live the life of our Blessed Lord.

Writing from prison*, ca. 61-63 A.D., ^†Paul urged the Philippians to imitate Jesus, exhorting them to make their attitudes align with His.  In returning to the Father, Christ drew us with Him, because His saving sacrifice embraced everyone.  Through Baptism, believers enter into the “parabola” of salvation with Christ, descending with Him into the “waters of life,” where they die to sin, to live new and higher lives in His Spirit.

*Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians have been classified as “captivity” letters.    

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(Matthew 26:14-27; 66)  By virtue of His innocence and His loving selflessness, all who believe in our Blessed Lord are made holy and whole.  His sorrow and suffering have become blessings for us all. 

The evangelist, ^†Matthew (a Greek-speaking Christian, not the apostle, writing ca. 80 A.D.,) presents Jesus as the Messiah, as foretold in Jewish Scriptures, and as the redeeming savior for all people.  He presents Christ’s passion and death as part of God’s foreordained plan for salvation.  Nothing happened accidentally, nor was Jesus a victim of circumstances or inevitabilities.  He fulfilled God’s will in all His words and works.  The final, apocalyptic moments of the Passion underscore the fact that the death of Jesus was the long-awaited “Day of the Lord.”  The tearing of the curtain of the sanctuary pronounced the fact that a new way had come in which to experience God’s reign—not through Temple rites, but through the saving death of Jesus.

The Tracks We Leave Behind

On any given snowy, wintery afternoon, when fields are covered with a soft blanket of newly-fallen snow, we might find tracks made by birds and other animals.  Looking closely, we may be able to identify them, and even determine their activities.

Most of what we might see is harmless—tracks of little creatures trying to stay alive in a hostile climate—scratching of sparrows looking for a worm; rooting of rabbits seeking blades of grass.  Other evidence, however—perhaps a spatter of blood—may point to where a fox or bird of prey has made a kill.  

Normally, everything would be covered, allowing us to cross and re-cross such fields and see nothing of the activity of wildlife.  But if the cover is “blown,” everything is “written” on the blanket of snow—innocence, fun, resourcefulness, pain, cunning and, sometimes, death.

This also happens in our human world—perhaps in the workplace or the community—when people are forced to take a “stand.”  Then, with their “cover blown,” people appear in their “true light”—some coming out “well,” while others, not so much.  (It has been said that we don’t know the measure of a person until they have been “tested.”) 

Christ’s Passion and Death followed directly on the activities of Palm Sunday, when He was welcomed into the city, triumphantly hailed as a King.  This stands in stark contrast to the end of Holy Week, which portrays how human nature is a “fickle” thing, and how the pressure of “public opinion” can dramatically sway people from their point-of-view.  

It wasn’t Christ, however, Who was judged on that fateful Friday, so long ago—but His disciples, and especially His accusers and executioners.  But Jesus didn’t judge them…they did that, themselves—by the “tracks” they left behind.  Any child could have determined who, among them, was “for Christ,” and who was against Him.  Evidence of hatred and fanaticism of Caiaphas and the religious leaders, who plotted Jesus’ death, was clearly evident in all of the four Gospels.  We read of the cold, calculating Judas; the denials of ^†Peter; the cruelty of Herod; the cowardice of Pilate; the unthinking hostility of the mob, shouting “Crucify Him;” and the dutiful obedience of the soldiers—all visible “tracks,” on the “snow-like” innocence of our Blessed Lord.  

All of us leave “tracks” behind us.  This week gives us an opportunity to look at ours, as we contemplate the cold reality of our Savior’s ultimate sacrifice.  We might discover ours are tracks of cowardice, hypocrisy (someone living only “for themselves,”) or those of courageous, generous people, not ashamed to be called disciples of Jesus. 

By them, we will determine if we are on Christ’s side, or against Him.  For most of us, the extent of our true virtue is determined, not our “tests” in extraordinary circumstances, but by our normal behavior.  Our modest, everyday incidents, rather than unusual ones, most reveal and shape our characters.  

Jesus showed us, by His character and stoicism, that the only way to overcome evil is by doing good.  Out of the depths of His pain, He reached out to others, and forgave those Who killed Him.  He brought hope to the repentant thief, and showed concern for His grieving mother.  Like Jesus, some people are like sugar cane—even when crushed in the mill, completely squashed and reduced to pulp, all they yield is sweetness….

It's a great comfort to know that Christ, the innocent and sinless One, experienced a life of suffering before us, and did so to “the end,” death on the cross.  There, He gathered all human pain and made it His own.  

The road of suffering is narrow and difficult, but it is not the same since Christ traveled it.  Now, a bright light illuminates it; and even though it led our Savior to Calvary, it ended at Easter.  Those who link their suffering to Christ’s become a source of blessings for others, and will also share in His Easter Glory.

May God Richly Bless You!

And This Is Love.docx

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