13 April 2025 - Palm Sunday "C"
Is 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Lk 22:14-23,56
Homily
This Palm Sunday we read the story of the Passover according to the Evangelist Luke. As we know, Luke is the Evangelist of mercy. The tradition of the early Church that he transmits to us in his Gospel is that of the infinite love of God manifested in Jesus Christ. None of the Evangelists has better perceived and expressed the sensitivity of the Father's love, manifested in Jesus, especially towards the poor, those who suffer, those marginalized by society. Throughout the Gospel, Luke emphasizes Jesus' concern for the weak, for orphans and widows, and also for sinners. In this context, it is good to hear Pope Francis repeatedly express his dream of a poor Church for the poor and his call to introduce tenderness into all human relationships.
This same concern of Luke's, found throughout his Gospel, manifests itself in a very special way in the account of the Passion that we have just heard. But first of all, Luke reveals the intimacy of Jesus' relationship with his Father, for example in His prayer in the Garden of Olives (22:42). For Luke, even the Cross is above all the sacrament par excellence of divine love and mercy. He places less emphasis than the other Evangelists on the painful and cruel aspects of the Passion. For example, he does not mention the scourging or the crowning with thorns, or any other elements that tend to underline the guilt of those involved in this drama. Instead, he wants us to discover the Father's love for His Son and for all human beings, even in this situation of pain. Here, Jesus does not appear abandoned on Calvary. He is accompanied by His family and friends. Instead of the quotation from Psalm 21 found in Matthew and Mark (‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ - Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34), Luke puts into Jesus' mouth the expression of unbounded trust of Psalm 30:6: ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit’.
Not only does Luke portray Jesus as the innocent victim whose innocence is recognized by Pilate and Herod (23:4, 13-15, 20-22), but he also describes him in an attitude of merciful understanding and forgiveness. Almost everyone is forgiven or excused in some way. Jesus heals the ear of one of His attackers, wounded by Peter. Of all His tormentors He said to His Father: ‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do’ (23:34). The centurion is an upright man who recognizes that “surely this man was just” (23:47) and all the people go away beating their breasts. Even Herod and Pilate were reconciled that day (23, 6-12).
Luke therefore conceived his passion narrative as a contemplation of God's mercy manifested in Jesus. At the beginning of the Gospel, during his first preaching in Nazareth, when Jesus had read the text from the prophet Isaiah: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me... he has sent me to bring good news to the poor... to set the captives free... and to proclaim a year of acceptance by the Lord’, he said, putting the book down again: ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled’. This narrative opened a loop that is closed again at the end of the Gospel, at the end of the passion narrative, when Jesus repeats this ‘today’. Today,‘ he says to the converted thief, ’you will be with me in paradise. Everything has been accomplished. Mercy has been accomplished. Let us all approach this source of mercy with confidence.
Armand Veilleux