At the procession with palms - Luke 19:28-40
A woman walked into my office recently and told me she had an early Easter present for me. I turned, curious what she could be referring to. The gift was a video of her very small, about 4-year-old, niece recounting to her parents the death of Jesus. She told the story with her whole self. She would move forward with the story and then circle back to show them where the nails were driven in, pointing to those areas on her own arms and feet. It was clear that she was moved by Jesus’ sacrifice, and, with the simplicity of a small child, she had empathy for Jesus, similar to the kind of empathy she would have for a close friend of hers who was suffering. She seemed to understand his experience. I was captivated! While she was clearly inspired by Jesus’ suffering, passionate about his gift of self on the cross, and moved, she showed no signs of sentiment! In short, in my opinion, that little girl had a well rended heart.
As we begin Holy Week, let us return to the opening command of this Lenten season. We are to rend, or tear open, our hearts. Make them accessible, vulnerable, and impacted by the gift of Christ and his hopes for us. There is a temptation to make that a matter of sentiment. Seeking a certain affective response to feel as though we are rending right, but nowhere in the gospel does it say that the best follower of Jesus is the one who expresses the most sentiment. The well-formed follower of Jesus is the one who carefully observes “the Master,” all that he does and says, and strives to be who he says we are so that we can in the end be like him; a whole body telling of his story in how we live our lives.
This Sunday, in our parishes as we stand with our palms, we will hear the Gospel according to Luke proclaimed. Chapter 19 verses 28 through 40. But, if we read just two verses further, we discover that “As [Jesus] drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”” In that moment, it seems even Jesus’ closest followers didn’t really see the Lord’s experience. They were caught up in the sentiments that went along with a fan fare entrance into Jerusalem, as Jesus wept.
This week we will enter once again into some of the most profound stories of our faith. This can provoke a number of sentiments, which are not bad in and of themselves, but they are also not an end, in and of themselves. Guilt for our sins, sorrow for the death of Jesus can occur during this week, but it is not the end or purpose of this week. As we live Holy Week one more time, let us fix our eyes intently on Jesus. To seek not our own interpretation of the stories of Holy Week, but his. Let us seek to arrive at Easter morning with a better understanding not of our own hearts, but of his most Sacred Heart. Let his motivations, his desires, his hopes, his sorrows, and his joys reign in the space that has been created through this 40-day rendering; that’s what it was always for; to make room in our hearts for his experience; for his mission. To allow it to animate us and live in us. And if we have any sentiments this week along the way, may they be Christ’s. I am sure he still has much to weep over today, as he continues to enter our cities through our own hands and feet.
Sister Josephine Garrett, CSFN
