Palm Sunday (Fr. Guiliano)

Some people are said to be trailblazers, innovators, pioneers. By their exploration or discovery, they set a path to follow. We all know the famous words of Neil Armstrong when he first walked on the moon, “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” We may also think of athletes, whose physical prowess establishes new standards. Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history with five Olympic Golds, and 53 other World Championship medals. She has five signature gymnastic moves named after her because she was the first to perform them. We may think of others: artists, writers, scientists, politicians, whose excellence and distinction pave a new way forward. We may think of saints and teachers, whose lives and doctrine guide our daily living. 

But beyond all of these is Jesus Christ, whom our Scriptures name as a “pioneer and perfecter”. He has set the way ahead of us. He has blazed the trail. He has walked ahead of us on the way of the Cross, and he calls everyone to follow in his footsteps. How often he summoned his disciples! “Take up your cross and follow me.” And we hear today the voice of the saints crying out, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” 

How shall we do this? An athlete, an astronaut, or an aspiring author would spend years in training. They’d acquire skills and knowledge; they’d embody a way of life. Much is set aside to do this; but it has results for them and us. Simon Biles may have been the first woman to perform the Yurchenko double pike vault. She won’t be the last. Neil Armstrong took those first steps on the moon: it was not to conclude humanity’s journey, but to inspire and establish its future –however unimaginable -- among the stars. 
   
Can the Christian life be like this? “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” 

Christ went ahead of us. He entered the holy City, he walked a certain path of doom, he offered himself in obedience to the Father’s will, making atonement for our sins, rescuing us from every failure and falling, lifting us up again by his resurrection. The salvation he offers is complete and profound and wonderful. It surpasses human understanding. It cannot be described adequately. 

Salvation must be experienced. It is experienced, as we walk the way of the Cross, as we seek a greater likeness to Christ, an embodying of “his mind,” a remembrance of his acts and deeds. 

Salvation is experienced here, now, this week, and every Holy Week where the story is retold, and we discover in sacramental mysteries the fullness of divine love. 

You have already started along the path, as we raised our palms and processed [and sang] our way into church. You have already heard again some of the prophecies of our Lord, and participated in the retelling of his Passion. You will have the opportunity to receive him in the Sacrament of the altar.

But there is more. And it is only available to those who come back this week. Come to the services. Netflix can wait. Your smartphone can wait. They will still be there after Easter with all their comforting entertainment and stupefying temptations. Dare I say you could skip part of the NCAA tournament later today, and listen to the Music of the Passion instead? How important are UConn and Duke? You already saw the Illini game.

Come here; walk in Christ’s way. There are services every day. Hear the Scriptures that speak of him. 

Witness his final meals with his disciples and friends. Sing the psalms that were on his lips. Share in his prayers, his betrayal, his testing in the Garden. Stand by his Cross and be desolate with Mary and John. Enjoy the quiet of his tomb, and wait for resurrection. 

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” 

There are many ways for a human being to be transformed. Some are better than others. 

Young men are out there “looksmaxxing” with injections and hammers, trying to become buffer and more handsome. Young women on Instagram are transforming their image to look like the perfect “Frazzled English woman” in many rom-coms. People bend themselves backwards these days to become whatever it is the Internet thinks they should be. We are all passively changed, too. 

There are many ways to be transformed. But for us, there is one way. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. 

“Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him…” 

There’s another you waiting on the far side of Easter. It is a you that has been refashioned, undone, remade. It is a you that has been “washed, made holy, and made just” in the name of the Lord. It is a you that you can’t bring into being by yourself. Only Christ can make you. 

So come, share, learn, experience, pray, eat, love, be washed, learn sorrow, learn betrayal and desolation, be comforted and strengthened, be raised anew. 

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

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