March 20, 2005

Procession of the Palms Mt 21:1-11

When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage
on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into
the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tethered,
and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them here to me. And if anyone
should say anything to you, reply, 'The master has need of them.' Then he
will send them at once." This happened so that what had been spoken
through the prophet might be fulfilled: Say to daughter Zion, "Behold,
your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the
foal of a beast of burden." The disciples went and did as Jesus had
ordered them. They brought the ass and the colt and laid their
cloaks over them, and he sat upon them. The very large crowd spread
their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees
and strewed them on the road. The crowds preceding him and those
following kept crying out and saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David;
blessed is the he who comes in the name of the Lord;
hosanna in the highest." And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city
was shaken and asked, "Who is this?" And the crowds replied,
"This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee."

Jesus entered Jerusalem upon an ass in a humble manner greated as a great King who had come in the name of the Lord. The crowd acknowledged Jesus as a prophet. The Hebrew Bible was fulfilled by Jesus. The entrance is a beginning of the Passion of Christ. The joy of celebration is mixed with the sadness of knowing the suffering of Christ. My views of atonement and suffering as a Christian have been changing as I learn more about different theological perspectives. Kenneth Overberg, SJ had explained some ways to view the suffering of Jesus that I am not sure that I can completely grasp. Did God determine in advance that Jesus must die or was it left to the free will of people? Did God want His own Son to suffer? Does God want us to suffer? Does God want us to quietly accept injustices and wrongs? I was thinking yesterday about the horrible murder of the little girl in Homossasa Springs, Florida. I just can not believe that this was what God wanted to happen. I do believe that after her nightmare of evil treatment by a sick man that she is now in heaven with God and at peace.

I think that staying with God through the experience of evil and suffering is important. I still do not believe that God wants any of the evil to happen but it comes from the unpredictable part of human beings having a free will to choose good or evil. I think that the people in Jerusalem could have chosen to not kill Jesus and that could have fit into God's plan also. There is something about being untied with Christ in suffering that is called redemptive suffering that can give me strength at times but it does not mean allowing or condoning evil or injustice. The suffering servant is not a victim without choice. There is a willful decision to give a life for another. It is a complex issue of God's will, suffering, atonement and redemptions. I have more questions than answers and today I will sit with those questions and consider them with the help of the Holy Spirit.