Homily for Palm Sunday

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The most horrifying words ever written. 

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The most consoling words ever proclaimed. 

On Thursday the Church will commemorate the institution
of the great gift of the Eucharist. 

On Friday the Passion will be read yet again. 

On Saturday the Easter vigil readings will proclaim
the stories of creation and our salvation.

But today we will be weighed down
by the echo of the words:
The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We sit in stunned silence. 
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Over Holy week I will post homilies for Palm Sunday and the Triduum. It is unnatural not to be preparing to celebrate the liturgies at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in CT, something I've done annually for six years (with the exception of being in Slovenia). Indeed, the plan was to drive down today so as to celebrate the entirety of Holy Week into Easter Monday: Latin liturgy Gregorian chant. The liturgies will occur there, the nuns are cloistered, but they will be at a much reduced level, without the usual people from the community. 

A homily after the reading of passion that is more than about one hundred twenty words is more than any priest should attempt. A homily that attempts to relate the narration of the passion to current social ills is a sacrilege. It is one gospel that must be allowed to stand on its own. 

The attached photos are from Campion Center in Weston, MA the year I celebrated the Palm Sunday Mass.

The palms at the back of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. 

The red vestments with which I would vest a few hours after taking these shots.

Sacristies are like grandma's attic.  The candelabra are in place for the liturgies later in the week.

I made the very rare hat trick of pronouncing my first vows in 1999 and final vows in 2013 kneeling in front of that altar, and celebrating my first Mass (2007) behind it.

+Fr. Jack, SJ, MD