Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion – Cycle C
The entire Passion account moves so quickly. It begins with a peaceful Passover meal, then moves to the Garden, where, after his Agony, the soldiers come with swords and torches. He asks why they put on such a big show when they could have arrested him at any time during the day. But, he says, “This is your hour, the time for the power of darkness.”
There are times when the power of darkness seems to take hold of previously good and reasonable people. Nazi Germany comes to mind. Looking at videos of those ghastly rallies, with thousands giving the Nazi salute, it’s impossible to imagine that darkness could take hold so quickly, but in less than six months the concentration camps were turned into extermination camps.
When we visited Yam Vashem, the museum in Jerusalem that remembers the Holocaust, our guides wondered that Germany could have been the locus of the viciousness against the Jews. It had, just before Hitler took power, been the image of democratic discourse.
Perhaps the most compelling moment of Luke’s account, though, remembers that there were two thieves crucified on either side of Jesus. One was belligerent until the end, while the other was profoundly moved by his encounter with Jesus.
I want to be the thief who is deeply touched and converted by Jesus. I want to release all my defensiveness and arrogance. I want all my sinfulness to melt at the feet of Jesus. I want to say, “I am guilty, after all. Please heal me, Jesus.”
Are you ready to release all your unhealed wounds unto the foot of the Cross? Jesus, remember us when you come into your kingdom.
What bitterness are you willing to release this Palm Sunday?
Kathy McGovern ©2025