Walking with Meaning

Not so many years ago, well in the memory of many here, Catholics were people of great processions. We processed in and out of church, we processed around with statues and relics, we processed for Our Lady, St Patrick and St Joseph, and most importantly, we processed for Christ the King, Corpus Christi and Palm Sunday.

Each of these processions spoke loudly to those around us. In former days they told people that we were an oppressed Catholic minority in an Anglo-Saxon Protestant country. In other countries they similarly reinforced cultural, religious and tribal affiliation. They signalled the difference of those who were processing to those around them.

Of all these processions, one remains that is mandated for all Catholics: the Procession of Palms on Passion Sunday.  We who processed into this Cathedral are different. We have entered the ritual space that allows us to appreciate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord in context. The week ahead is our week, the Great Week, crowned by the three days of the Paschal Triduum. The reason that we have entered this Cathedral carrying a palm frond is that we are part of this drama, part of this historical reality. Jesus entered Jerusalem with fear and trepidation, concerned about the future and not duped by the false adulation of the crowd.  The way to Jerusalem had not been easy, and the way of the cross was almost too much to bear. He invites us to accompany him along this road this week.

We have the choice, as we always do, to walk with Christ. By the palms we hold we have already signalled our intention to move into this ritual space, not to be carried by the cry of the crowd, but instead be quietly present with Jesus. As Jesus stood beside Pilate and his silence is deafening. The scene asks us for our answer, not just our feeling, but our hard and fast answer.

This week is one for few words, much contemplation and some action.

Enter the ritual space, enter the quiet, listen to God’s call and accept the invitation to walk this great week beside your Lord and Saviour. 

It is only by entering into this space that we are able to live the resurrection. 

Homily, Passion Sunday 17^th April 2011, OLQP