20 March 2016
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
Throughout the season of Lent we have been praying and praying that the Lord prepare us to celebrate Easter, to receive the joy which God so wants to give us. Our hearts were made for this joy, and yet, it takes time for them to be opened up to receive it. In this final week, we ask God to give us the humility necessary to accept the blessings He will offer us in the coming weeks. So throughout this week we meditate on the humility of Christ our Lord, a humility which should characterize his disciples.
St. Paul writes to the Philippians telling them to live, to think and to act as Jesus who “emptied himself, taking on the form of a slave” (Phil 2:7) Christ emptied himself. He emptied himself in being born as one of us. He emptied himself in his ministry to those in need. He emptied himself in embracing death as one of us. Now we meditate on how Jesus our Lord held nothing back.
The sacrifices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving have been teaching us an important lesson this Lent: our minds and hearts, our bodies, and our possessions all need to make room for our Lord and the love which he enjoins. That love will bring with it new life, joy, and peace. But we must allow the Lord space to put these new gifts. Let us pray to follow our Lord in his embrace of humble emptiness, so that he may pour into our hearts the fullness of joy in His rising.