Matthew 21: 1-11; Matthew 26: 14-27:66 or 27: 11-54 (Sunday, March 16, 2008 Passion Sunday)

Today marks the beginning of Holy Week, a very special time in the liturgical calendar. This is a holy week because it is the week of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the week in which we all were liberated from slavery and guaranteed a place in the family of Jesus. This week begins with Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The people are greeting with “hosannas” which classically means “Save Now.” These are a people that are desperately in need of liberation. Their cry echoes their desperation to be saved. Some of them were very familiar with the history of Jesus. They have heard how this Jesus healed the blind, how he even brought the dead back to life. How he raised his friend Lazarus from the dead and declared himself as “the resurrection and the life.” They were over five million people in town that day to celebrate the Passover and the news had spread widely about this Jesus Christ who even claims that he is the “I Am.” The expectations were high. Not every one was crying “Hosanna” for spiritual reasons. For some, it was a socio-political liberation. Many had tried without success to overthrow the Romans and perhaps this miracle worker called Jesus would do it. Hasn’t that been what all of his message is about? Shortly after his baptism, he declared his mission as that of setting the captives free and declaring the Lord’s year of glory. It was like the people were crying, “we want the year of God’s favor now.”

Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem was suppose to reflect that of a military warrior and a conqueror, yet, Jesus’ entry was peaceful and calm. How disappointed the people were. What has happened to all the hype? The people thought, he is just like one of the previous revolutionaries who did not succeed. They were afraid that this incident would even cause them more problems in the future. Gradually many are beginning to back off. They do not want to identify with failure. They do not want to be accused with Jesus. They have nothing to do with this man. Even the disciples are no longer sure if they made the right decision to follow this man. Jesus knew this and he challenged the disciples to it. Peter swore that he would never leave Jesus. Oh, I am going to always be with you; wherever you go I will go. Even if it means dying, I will die with you. Yes, he and the other apostles could not watch with him even for an hour. The moment Jesus leaves to pray, instead of spending time in prayer supporting him and themselves, they said to themselves “what a heck with this sleepless nights.” They started sleeping. Even when Jesus returns to them the first time and spoke with them, they went back to sleep. Not too long, the news is out that Judas one of his closest allies has sold Jesus. It wasn’t too long after this, Peter, the Prince of Apostles denied Jesus three times.

When we look at this story, we may say, how could they have done this? They lived with him, travelled with him, believed him, and witnessed all the miracles he performed. How is it that they did not get it? The important question today however is for us. How is it that we don’t get it most times? How many times have we sold or denied Jesus Christ? For how much are we selling Jesus Christ? How much do you sell him when you chose a ball game over a Eucharistic celebration? How much do you sell him when you chose watching the television over prayer? How much do you sell him when you chose to dine sumptuously rather than help the poor or give to the church?

We sometimes find ourselves denying Jesus everyday. When you cannot say grace before meal at a restaurant before eating your meal because you feel you will look weird or may be persecuted by your friends, you are denying Jesus. You deny Jesus when you abandon him when times are hard. When the people in the gospel of today figured out that they will not get the socio-political liberation they were expecting, they started flickering away. We deny Jesus when we run away from him because we feel our prayers are not answered. We follow him because of the consolations we can get from him. We have no business with the way of the cross, the way of sorrow – our concern is only with the resurrection, the way of glorification. We deny Jesus when we come to him when we are in need and when our problem is solved, we deny him. I go to the hospitals some time and anoint people who think they may be dying. Sometimes these people have never been in church for 20 years. Either their families or they themselves remember that that Catholic Church has that sacrament that will give you a First Class ticket to heaven, they want to take it and go to heaven the easy way. Some times these people get well and they never return to Church. Jesus Christ does not want fair-weather disciples or friends. He wants friends that will stand with him on the way to the cross, at the foot of the cross and at the resurrection. The Blessed Virgin Mary was such a disciple. She accompanied him all through the way. The disciples who stood with him all through the way, rejoiced on Easter Sunday.
This Holy Week is an opportunity for us to recommit ourselves as his disciples that will always stand by him all the time. We want to say, Jesus we are no longer weather friends. We are friends always. We will always be with you. We will always love you. Thank you Jesus for being our friend. Thank you Jesus for liberating us. Thank you Jesus for being our savior.

John 11: 1-45 (Sunday, March 9, 2008 – Fifth Sunday of Lent)

Two Sundays ago, Jesus Christ revealed himself to the Samaritan woman at the well as the “water of life.” Last week in the story of the man born blind, Jesus said, “I am the light of the Lord.” Again and again, throughout the gospel of John, Jesus Christ uses different symbols to tell us about his true identity. In John 6:35, he says, “I am the bread of life”; In John 10:9, he says, “I am the door”; In John 10: 11, he says, “I am the good shepherd”; In John 14:6, he says, “I am the way, the truth and the life”; and in John 15:5, he says, “I am the vine.”
The story is a little different today in the wonderful gospel story of the raising of Lazarus to life. When Martha told Jesus of the death of his friend, Lazarus, his response is that, he is not dead. Martha obviously believed in the resurrection of the dead on the last day. Jesus Christ revealed his identity to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” What is different in today’s story is that, Jesus Christ did not only identify himself as the resurrection and the life, he went ahead to show that he truly has power over life and death, and he brought Lazarus into life. For Mary and Martha, their situation was helpless, they have lost their beloved brother. Jesus overturned this situation and make it a happy one. Lazarus case looked hopeless at the time that Jesus arrived. Even though Martha believed that Jesus could bring Lazarus to life on the last day, she did not believe that Jesus will do it at that very moment. That is the reason Marthat is saying to Jesus, he will stench because he has been buried for four days. Martha failed to understand that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life and he can bring Lazarus back to life when ever he wants.
Saints, I do not know what you are going through right now – many of you may be Lazarus’ in one way or the other:

Ø You may be going through spiritual death right now. Your whole life is empty. You have lost your faith in God. Religion is all about the external without anything coming from within. When you pray, it seems like nothing is happening. You are at that point of crying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Know that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life and he can and will restore you to the fullness of the spirit.
Ø Some of you may be going through physical deaths right now. You are dead to sickness. You are living every day of your life counting when you will die. You have an incurable disease and you are told there is no cure. You are hiding your health situation and dying in your loneliness. I have good news for you today, the resurrection and the life can restore you.
Ø Talk about financial deaths. That is what many people are going through right now. You are afraid your home would be foreclosed. Your credit card debt is piling up; you are owing income tax and the mere thought of April 15 coming next month scares you to death because you do not have the money to pay. I want to assure you that the resurrection and the life will see you through this.
Ø Some of you are dead to family. Your wife or husband is unfaithful to you. That initial love you had when you got married is dead. Your children are really making you impatient and they aggravate you. There is chaos in your home. You may even be contemplating divorce. Jesus Christ has some news for you today. He will bring your family and love back to life.
Ø Some of you are dead to your work. There is no motivation when you get up in the morning to go to work. You have not received a pay increase in five years, yet the prices of things are going up. You are even contemplating quitting your job, but you are afraid because you will not find another job. The resurrection and the life is saying to you today, “My promise to you is that you will not be at the tail but at the head. Don’t give up.”
Ø You may be dead to sin right now. You have lost your conscience and sin no longer perturbs you. You do not know how to get out of the bondage of sin you have placed yourself into. Jesus Christ is saying to you today, “that is the reason I gave you the sacrament of reconciliation. Go and get yourself resurrected.”

The question today is, do you believe that Jesus Christ can overturn your situation? Some of you believe strongly in Newton’s law of gravity, “whatever goes up must surely come down.” I want to assure you today, that this theory has no place in God’s book of theories. God wants to replace this law with a higher law, the law of aerodynamics. It is the law that keeps a plane up in the sky. Some of you may have gone up and fallen down. All the wonderful hopes you had for the future are gone. Jesus Christ wants to raise you back up and keep you up. This is only possible if you life in the rhythm of the law of aerodynamics, the law of hope, the law of faith, and the law of courage.