Homily for Palm Sunday 2009

Betrayal. It is all over Mark's account of the passion. It jumps out at us. Starting with Judas. Then the disciples - Peter, James and John - the very disciples that saw Jesus transfigured in glory on the mountain - could not stay awake with him even one hour. Then the disciples fled at the first sign of trial. Then the false testimony against Jesus. Then Peter's three denials. Then the mocking of the soldiers and chief priests, and even those crucified alongside Jesus. Betrayal. Lots of it.

Worst of all of course, worse than all these betrayals Jesus suffered at the hands of men put together, is the betrayal Jesus felt from His Heavenly Father. It is one thing to be betrayed by man. It is another to feel betrayed by God, who is all good and the source of all love. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me. Do you notice that Jesus in these last moments feels so far away from God that He does not even call God His Father. In the garden, when his soul was already sorrowful unto death, Jesus still felt close enough to God to call God His Father. Abba - Daddy - Father - all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will. In the last moments, Jesus feels betrayed by His Father. In the Gospel of Mark, the betrayal Jesus felt stands alone. It is not tempered by words of mercy from the mouth of Jesus. Mark's account is stark. There are no words like 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' No, Mark's account is haunting. It is full of betrayal.

Of all the evil that we suffer in this world, betrayal is the worst. Of all the evil we commit in this world, betrayal is the worst. Breaking a promise. Letting people down. Refusing to love. These are the things that hurt us the most. They are the things that hurt others the most. Betrayal. The sin that Jesus accused His own Father of has to be the worst sin of all. Betrayal. Taking someone's love, someone's heart, and throwing it away.

Betrayal steals a person's faith, hope and love. We have been betrayed and so we are more cautious. We betray others, and lose confidence in our willigness to love to the end. We project this betrayal onto God, which is understandable since Jesus Himself was dismayed by the pain of the world. We keep our distance from God, on the suspicion that He too may be part of the web of betrayal, that His promises are a ponzi scheme and so we need to keep a little cash under the mattress, away from God, just in case.

It is not shameful to doubt God. We all do it for a moment. To suspect Him of betrayal. The question even entered the soul of Jesus. Life is complicated and difficult. We are asked to do more, and to love more, than we think we can. We are not always ready for the next challenge to our faith that lies around the corner. Yet this natural doubting of God, wondering if He might forsake us, must not destroy us. Evil may damage our faith, as it even touched the faith of Jesus, who entered into the depths of forsakeness that God willing, none of us will ever know. Evil may damage our faith, but it must not take it away.

In this holy week, we have a choice of whether we will join Jesus where He is, on the cross, and so come through the cross to the glory of His resurrection. Jesus, the owner of all time, became man in order to accomplish this great hour of his passion, death and resurrection. It is God's promise through Jesus that all of us can place the many hours of our lives within the mystery of this holy hour, within the paschal mystery of Jesus. Through our celebration of Holy Week, we are invited to allow the power of this most holy hour the world has ever known, to come once again and swallow the haphazard circumstances of our crazy lives, and sort them out again, so that we may emerge from this most holy week of the year with some idea again of how God asks us to live with His Son, how to suffer with His Son, how to die with His Son, and how to rise with His Son to new and everlasting life! +m