Palm Sunday - 2020 Fr. Lawrence Margitich

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. And

spraza come a joyous feast day. Before I address

some remarks about the Gospel and Epistle, I

just want to affirm and express my love for all

of you, and express my congratulations that we

have reached the end of Lent. And now we stand

on the eve of Great and Holy Week. And today

we celebrate this feast day. I congratulate this

feast day. I want to express again that I miss

all of you. That I hope that very soon we can

come together by God's grace. This Holy Week

is going to be difficult. You might think it's

easy for the priests because... You don't really

have to, as a priest, you don't really have to

see anybody in between services. You come to

church, you do the service, you stream it, you

put on these little devices, you know, which

12th grade audiovisual class didn't really prepare

us for. And we do the service, we go home, and

nobody bothers us. But this is not an easy thing

that's quite a burden. The prophet Zechariah

said something centuries and centuries before

in an inspirational vision about the Messiah

who would come to lead, to be the king, and how

he would come and enter into the city, precisely

as Solomon did. on a donkey when he was anointed

king. The prophet Zacharias says this, Do not

fear, O daughter of Zion. Behold, thy king comes

to thee. He is just and having salvation, lowly

and riding upon an ass, upon a colt, the foal

of an ass. St. Gregory Palamas says that your

king, the one that comes, doesn't arouse fear

in those who see him. Nor is he an oppressor

or an evildoer accompanied by shield -bearers

and spearmen, warhorses, in our case tanks, and

jets, and bombs, and mortars, and internet warfare.

His banner is humility. poverty, and lowliness.

This is all history, yes, but it's history that

directly affects us because without that day,

we would not be here. That day, to begin with,

gives us such hope and consolation in our troubled

times. St. John's account of the entrance into

Jerusalem itself is primary for us. The beauty

and humility of that Mary who came to Jesus.

And we hear again another woman anointing his

feet. This is our stance now. This is how we

have to be if we're going to even understand

what Palm Sunday means. We have to be like that

woman. coming to Jesus, knowing he's going to

be crucified, and seem a failure to those around,

to the people that had expectations. Jesus doesn't

come to fulfill our expectations. He comes to

give us what we need, what we're desperate for,

and we don't even know. St. Paul's letter to

the Philippians also encourages us, helps us

celebrate. St. John describes the entrance into

Jerusalem. Jesus is acclaimed as king. The Christ,

we lift up the palm branches, we acclaim Jesus

for ourself as our king. That's why it means

so much to us now. The one who is the vanquisher,

as it says over and over we sing it, the vanquisher

of death, over sin, over life. over everything

we can offer him, over everything in our life,

everything we hope for. He is king of that. Those

who rejected Christ out of fear and pride, and

still do, they saw the same miracles that everyone

else saw. And still, they sought to put Christ

to death. The selection of St. Paul's letter

to the Philippians is beautiful and inspiring,

but it may seem a strange choice for this day.

It mentions nothing about the cross, the passion,

nothing about Palm Sunday, and St. Paul doesn't

speak of that anyway. So why? Once again, it's

my contention that like that woman, if we don't

have the qualities that St. Paul is, commanding

us, exhorting us to acquire. We will never, not

just be able to not celebrate Palm Sunday, or

Holy Week, or Pascha, and our baptism will be

a sham over the years. Here's what St. Paul says.

Rejoice in the Lord always. This is the eve of

the saddest week. for Christians to contemplate

the betrayal of mankind over their Savior, the

loving, humble one who comes on a donkey. But

still, St. Paul, writing from prison in Rome,

before his own execution, rejoice in the Lord

always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your gentleness

be known to all. I wonder, do we think of that

when we encounter others these days online or

in a line? The Lord is at hand. And he truly

is. He truly is, brothers and sisters. Be anxious

for nothing, he says, but in everything by prayer

and supplication. With thanksgiving, let your

requests be made known to God and the peace of

God, the shalom, irini, which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus

Christ. We have to pray for that peace, that

shalom, so our heart will be guarded in this

evil age. Finally, brethren, He says, whatever

things are true, and let me say, the word brethren

means men and women. It sounds like brothers,

but it means men and women. Finally, brethren,

whatever things are true, whatever things are

noble, whatever things are just, whatever things

are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever

things are of good report, if there is any virtue,

and if there is anything praiseworthy, Meditate

on these things. That's our stance for Holy Week.

That's why this reading is chosen by the church

for the last over 1 ,500 years. The things which

you learned and received and you heard and saw

in me, these do. And the God of peace will be

with you. It's the hope of that peace. The word

shalom or irini sounds like peace. The word peace

sounds like something different. Pax. The Roman

peace. Insured by military force. Irini. Shalom

is from God. It's in the hope of that. That enables

us to live. Enabled us to endure the trials of

life. That life brings us. This time when we're

troubled or stressed or confused or angry, frustrated

about the situation, which means we're lost,

basically, as everyone else in society. And then

we think all our efforts, everything, swept away

by death and by time, as if we had never existed.

And people will look at us, Orthodox Christians,

and say, well, Christians are no different than

us. Christians have worldly expectations and

hopes too. Why should we become Christian? Why

should we believe in Christ? Well, to the contrary.

As Father Maximus from Holy Cross quoted St.

Silouan, St. Silouan said this in prayer, O Christ,

don't give me more joy, or else my heart will

break. But what do we say? Christ, don't give

me more stress, or problems, or difficulties,

or else my heart will break. Do you see the difference?

Let's beg our Savior that we may live not just

Holy Week and Pascha and the bright season, but

all our life, remembering the Lord is at hand.

Rejoice, and again I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness

be known to all.