Homily – Palm Sunday – A – Fr Jeremiah Browne (National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies #southafrica #Botswana #Eswatini #Swaziland)
Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, once wrote: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
There is something very fitting about hearing these words as we enter Holy Week. Jesus doesn’t control the events that unfold around him. He is betrayed, denied, condemned, and crucified. Yet in the midst of it all, he chooses his way. He chooses love. He chooses fidelity to the Father. He chooses to remain open, forgiving, and faithful, even when everything is taken from him.
The Gospel we hear today (Matthew 26:14–27:66) is not simply a story about what happened to Jesus. It is a mirror held up to the human heart, revealing something of ourselves in every scene.
We recognise ourselves in many of the characters. At times we are like Peter, full of good intentions, yet faltering under pressure. Other times we are like the crowd, easily swayed, caught up in the voices around us. At times we are like Pilate, knowing what is right, yet hesitant to act. At other times like Judas, who betrays.
These are not comfortable recognitions, yet they are honest ones. They remind us that discipleship is not about perfection. It is about the choices we make, especially when the pressure is real and the cost is high.
There are also moments of grace when we are like the women who remain faithful at the foot of the cross, or we are like Simon of Cyrene who helps carry the cross of Jesus, or the centurion who, even in the darkness, begins to recognise who Jesus truly is.
Palm Sunday holds all of this together. It holds our weakness and our courage, our fear and our faith, our betrayal and our love. As we begin this Holy Week, we are reminded that we may not be able to control everything that happens in our lives, we cannot always change the circumstances we face, but we are never without the freedom to choose how we will respond.
Will we walk away, or will we remain? Will we be silent, or will we stand for what is right? Will we close in on ourselves, or will we choose love?
Wherever we find ourselves, this Holy Week invites us to stay close to Jesus. Not because we are perfect, but because he is faithful. When we remain faithful, even in the darkness, we soon discover that the cross is not the end of the story, but simply part of life.
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Please consider praying a decade of the rosary on a daily basis for the evangelising Mission of the Church and the Pope’s intentions.
The pope’s prayer intention for March is “For disarmament and peace”
Let us pray that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that world leaders choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy instead of violence.
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Blessed Pauline Jaricot, Pray for us. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
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