Homily

Today Jesus rides into Jerusalem to the shouts and cries of a cheering, enthusiastic crowd. The Lord’s disciples must have been overwhelmed with joy. By Friday the crowds are crying, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” and the disciples run away and hide in fear for their lives. That’s a lot of change in five days’ time. A lot of change.

We’ve experienced a lot of change recently as well, changes that have disrupted our daily lives and altered the way we do many things. I asked someone last week how she was, and she answered, “I’m irritable.” I understood her honest answer. Life has changed. But, dear friends, this is a great opportunity for us to change. Now that the shell of normal life has been stripped away what do we find underneath? When everything is normal and fits in with my basic comfort, I often don’t feel the need to do any better. A lot of that comfort is gone. So, let’s see how we want to live now.

“Normal life” means that everything will be, pretty much, the same tomorrow, next week and next month. But there is no guarantee to that. There never was a guarantee to that. Yet it comforted us to live as though it was true. Now, when we see it is not true, can we live more for today, this day, the day the Lord has given to us? We are so often tempted to think we have plenty of time, so we don’t need to focus too much on today. But this is the day the Lord has given us. Our lives are in His hands, not our own, no matter how much hand sanitizer we use. Therefore, even when we are using hand sanitizer, let us thank Him for today, and do our best to truly live in today. Let’s not put our days on pause in the hope of returning to normal at some time in the future. We have no idea what the future might be, and we never did…obviously! Instead, let us focus on what we are doing and how we are living today, but only, only, only put our hope in Jesus Christ. He is the only future we can trust in without fear of failing.

Now that normal is gone it can give us a different perspective on how we are living as Christians. Usually we do not say the Prayer of St. Ephrem during Holy Week, but this year I will continue praying it until Friday.

“O Lord and Master of my life, keep from me the spirit of indifference and discouragement, lust of power and idle chatter.” Lord and Master of my life? Maybe not so much as He should be, right? Discouragement: because my life isn’t the way I want it to be, I settle back into moodiness, sadness and even anger. We may get down, it’s true, but let it turn us to the Lord and not back into our self-focused thoughts. Lust of power: the attempt to run my life according to my own will rather than living according to God’s will. And what is God’s will for me today?

Idle chatter: Let’s talk internet! Instead of spending more and better time with the Lord and my family, instead of enriching my soul with uplifting prayer, reading, video and radio, have I allowed virus chit-chat from the internet and news media to become a large part of my day? We’re supposed to be the people who have Good News, the Gospel, but how do we live in that if are filling large parts of our day with bad news? Yes, we do need some information, but I think you know what I am talking about. Idle chatter. I pray the virus never physically enters your homes, but I beg you not to spiritually invite it in as a houseguest.

“Instead grant to me Your servant, the spirit of wholeness of being, humble-mindedness, patience and love.” To be a whole, complete and holy person—this is our vocation. To be humble minded before the Lord our God is the mark of wisdom, and those who truly trust in the Lord find themselves able to be humble with other people. I can be humble with other people because I do not need to have power over them. Patience. It’s hard to be patient many times because things are not going the way I want, people are not acting the way I want, my life is not moving the way I want, and right now I’m not getting what I want, and how long am I going to have to wait for that to happen? And this is how we become slaves to what we want, and we make ourselves victims of our own desires. Patience allows us to be at peace even, even, even when we are not getting what we want. Let us ask the Lord for more of it, please. Let us only lack patience for our impatience.

Love: desiring, acting and praying for the good of other people, even if we live with them. Not always easy to do, but always good to do, always right to do. And this week let us do our best to open our hearts to the love of Jesus Christ, so that seeing His deep care of us, we may, in return, love Him more and better, He Who died for you.

“O Lord and King, grant me the grace to be aware of my sins, and not to judge my brother, for You are holy, always now and ever and forever. Amen.” This prayer of St. Ephrem this week can be a great source for keeping ourselves on track these coming days.

Dear friends, this is a great week for us. In fact, it’s called “Holy and Great Week.” Let us do our best to live in it to the fullest.