Palm Sunday is a day that requires great faith, Bishop Malesic told the congregation gathered for 10:30 a.m. Mass on April 2 in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. The liturgy began with the blessing of the palms.
“Palm Sunday begins on a high note, recalling the large crowds who greeted Jesus on his triumphant entry into Jerusalem,” the bishop said. “But the readings for the day quickly turn dark.”
He acknowledged the presence of the Parents of Priests group who gathered once again for their annual Palm Sunday Mass and a social afterwards in the rectory parlor. “Thank you for the gift of your sons,” he told the parents, expressing his gratitude for all they do throughout the diocese.
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Their sons were celebrating Mass and ministering across the eight counties of the diocese as Holy Week began.
Bishop Malesic turned back to the readings of the day, which included the Gospel telling the story of the Lord’s Passion, death and Resurrection. It was an intense time, with Judas betraying Jesus. The disciples falling asleep. Jesus’ arrest with the kiss of Judas, his betrayer. Peter denies Jesus three times, as foretold, and Judas finally hangs himself, unable to ask for the forgiveness that would have been given – had he asked, the bishop said.
“Then we remember the crucifixion of Jesus in all its brutal detail,” he noted.
“It is a day that requires great faith. We must rust that the Lord brings the crucifixion to a good conclusion. We call it the Resurrection because we know that the tomb would not hold the body of Jesus for very long.”
We are people deeply rooted in the cross of Christ, the bishop said, and in the cross, we see the depths of love that Jesus had – and has – for us. He said the true identity of Jesus is revealed at the foot of the cross by the centurion’s statement of faith: “Truly, this was the Son of God.”
In the cross, we find the heart of God’s love opened up for us to see. Bishop Malesic explained that the curtain in the temple which had kept the people apart from the presence of God found the inner sanctum of the holy of holies and the curtain was torn from top to bottom.
“In opening the holy of holies, the Lord was saying he would no longer be kept from the lives of ordinary people,” he said.
“We find healing in the power of the cross – the healing that our souls need when we realize that Christ shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. It is the mercy of the cross that we celebrate whenever we come together for the Holy Mass, when we take and eat his body broken for us and drink from the cup of his blood that was poured out for us. For Jesus, the crucified Christ, now lives among us in the sacrament of the altar in which we are about to have Communion. We will make the crucified Christ one with us – or rather he will make us one with him,” the bishop said.
He pointed out that despite our all-too-often betrayals of him and sometime complete desertions of him, the Lord always comes back to us.
After Mass, the Parents of Priests gathered in the rectory parlor for refreshments and a chance to chat with the bishop. There was no formal program. Instead, it was an opportunity for the parents to socialize and get better acquainted.
The group, which is approaching its 50th anniversary, gathers parents for mutual support and in support of their priest sons’ vocations. They also aid the educational interest of seminarians.