My Dear Friends,

Welcome to our Passion Sunday celebration. It is good to see so many of you here. Allow me to share a brief reflection on today' s scriptures. I have always been struck by the ambiguity of today's Gospel. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem is difficult to embrace fully when one knows that the people who are singing Jesus' s praises will soon abandon him. Their praise is not reflected in their commitment. There is a lack of continuity between these "Hosannas" and the crucifixion which follows.

In the liturgy today this ambiguity is highlighted. Within a relatively brief period, we offer the joy and praise of the Palm Sunday procession, then quickly turn to a somber recollection of Jesus' death during the reading of the Passion. It is a lot to absorb in one liturgy.

Yet, these two seemingly conflicting images can actually help to underline the ambiguity that may exist in our own lives between what we believe and how we live our faith commitment. We might ask ourselves: In what ways do we, like this crowd, act ambiguously towards Jesus? Do we sing his praise on Sunday and neglect to pray or even think about Jesus during the rest of the week? Do we simply attend the liturgies and hope that someone else will take part in the parish life instead of us? Do we say that we love and follow Christ, but neglect to care for him in our neighbor? Do we profess faith in Jesus, but place our trust in money, possessions or power?

This Sunday of Palms and Passion calls us to recognize the lack of continuity between our worship and our daily life. Our new Holy Father, Benedict XVI, emphasizes this in his first, recently issued encyclical entitled: God is Love. He says, "The Church' s deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God, celebrating the sacraments, and exercising the ministry of charity. These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable. For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally well be left to others, but is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being." (#25a) In brief, he explains that God is love, unimaginably pure and generous love, who has endowed every person with a vocation to love. When we cut ourselves off from God' s love, we will likely fail to appreciate our neighbor made in God' s image. Or if we try to love God without loving our neighbor, our love for God will become lifeless.

As we approach the end of our Lenten observance we can pray for a change in those parts of our lives that still need to be brought into unity with our Sunday worship. I truly and personally believe this will make our celebration of the Resurrection at Easter a celebration of Christian integrity and renewed commitment to Jesus Christ.