WEBVTT 00:00:06.050 --> 00:00:13.689 I'm so overjoyed. The moat here between me and 00:00:13.689 --> 00:00:17.489 you needs to be filled with people, not water. 00:00:17.649 --> 00:00:19.989 So if you don't mind moving up a little bit. 00:00:22.149 --> 00:00:26.170 I'm so overjoyed to be with you all on this festive 00:00:26.170 --> 00:00:29.050 day, this unique day in all the church year. 00:00:32.540 --> 00:00:38.140 It's maybe perplexing or just interesting that 00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:40.740 most of the gospel you just heard spends time 00:00:40.740 --> 00:00:49.679 on the account of Mary bringing precious ointment 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:54.100 to Jesus and pouring it on him. Jesus says, she 00:00:54.100 --> 00:00:59.420 does this for my burial. Judas objects, we could 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:01.939 use this money in better ways. Jesus says, the 00:01:01.939 --> 00:01:05.019 poor you will have with you always. That's not 00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:09.299 a description, that's an accusation. That's how 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:13.579 that needs to be heard. And anyway, most of the 00:01:13.579 --> 00:01:18.280 gospel is about this encounter. So, just as a 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:22.480 little preface to what I have to say today, let's 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.079 give thanks to God for all that's been done here. 00:01:25.609 --> 00:01:28.829 this beautiful decoration, the beautiful singing, 00:01:29.109 --> 00:01:33.189 the serving, the reading, the meals, the preparation, 00:01:33.609 --> 00:01:38.010 the newly illumined who are with us. Because 00:01:38.010 --> 00:01:44.310 like that precious ointment, you and I only have 00:01:44.310 --> 00:01:48.409 so much activity of the soul and the body that 00:01:48.409 --> 00:01:52.189 we can give. Let us not waste it, especially 00:01:52.189 --> 00:01:56.780 this week. We want to pour it out on the Lord. 00:01:56.939 --> 00:02:00.780 This is the activity of our soul. It's precious. 00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:05.700 God has given us something. Let it be directed 00:02:05.700 --> 00:02:08.000 to the Lord. We can pour it out on all kinds 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.419 of other things this week and waste it. But like 00:02:12.419 --> 00:02:16.300 the woman, and Jesus says, she does this for 00:02:16.300 --> 00:02:21.060 my burial, we do that also for his burial and 00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:27.120 his resurrection. For some weeks, we've heard 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:30.780 in the gospel, on the third, the fourth, and 00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:34.280 the fifth Sundays of Lent, Jesus telling his 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:37.139 disciples that he would be arrested by the chief 00:02:37.139 --> 00:02:38.879 priests and the scribes and the authorities. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:43.520 He would be condemned. He would be crucified, 00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:47.819 die, and rise, buried and rise from the dead. 00:02:49.379 --> 00:02:52.039 Over and over and over, he's telling them, telling 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:59.379 us. I suppose that if I had been there, seeing 00:02:59.379 --> 00:03:02.560 the reception on Palm Sunday, you see the fresco 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:04.960 there and the icon in the middle, and you heard 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:07.599 what happened. Seeing the reception given to 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:10.060 the one who raised Lazarus from the dead, an 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:14.159 astounding thing. Yes, I would have thought, 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:18.240 well. Jesus, you know how he speaks in parables 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:21.360 all the time and mysterious exaggerations like 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:25.000 cut off your right hand, pluck out your eye, 00:03:25.139 --> 00:03:27.960 and hate your parents and so forth. Well, he 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:30.319 didn't mean that about being crucified, probably. 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:33.219 It was meaning something else. And the disciples, 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:37.900 St. John says this accusation, they really didn't 00:03:37.900 --> 00:03:43.210 know what Jesus was all about here. And they're 00:03:43.210 --> 00:03:47.349 thinking, now is our time. Victory is at hand. 00:03:47.550 --> 00:03:50.069 The people have palm branches. That's a sign 00:03:50.069 --> 00:03:55.090 of military victory. Military victory. So a military 00:03:55.090 --> 00:03:58.789 procession is what they want. A man who was dead, 00:03:58.870 --> 00:04:04.150 buried for four days. Stinking was brought back 00:04:04.150 --> 00:04:07.610 to full life with Jesus and they had a meal together. 00:04:07.669 --> 00:04:13.689 It was no ghost. He must, Jesus, This man must 00:04:13.689 --> 00:04:18.009 be the Messiah, the anointed of God. This raising 00:04:18.009 --> 00:04:22.629 of Lazarus is what excited, enthused, and ignited 00:04:22.629 --> 00:04:28.170 the people there in Jerusalem. Christ the King. 00:04:29.610 --> 00:04:33.550 And couldn't he? Certainly he would, they think. 00:04:33.709 --> 00:04:38.829 I would have thought. For sure. Being the Messiah, 00:04:39.149 --> 00:04:42.579 he would bring a great victory like Joshua. of 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:46.639 old over Jericho and all the lands that God had 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:49.639 given to them. Military victory with the might 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:55.959 of God destroying the enemy. The king, Jesus 00:04:55.959 --> 00:05:01.660 Christ, saw things quite differently. Not a military 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:08.100 procession. It's the steps on the way to Golgotha. 00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:12.899 It's a vision. of the destruction that would 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:16.779 come to Jerusalem at the hands of the Roman military 00:05:16.779 --> 00:05:24.240 in 6970 A .D. St. Luke tells us this about this 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:30.220 Palm Sunday procession. And when Jesus was come 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:37.060 near, he beheld the city and wept over it, saying, 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:41.720 If thou hast known... even thou at least in this 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:45.639 thy day, this day, the things which belong unto 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:49.779 thy peace. But now they are hid from thine eyes. 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:54.300 For the day shall come upon thee, O city, that 00:05:54.300 --> 00:05:58.720 thine enemy shall cast a trench about thee, and 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.899 compass thee round about, and keep thee in on 00:06:01.899 --> 00:06:05.379 every side, and shall lay thee even with the 00:06:05.379 --> 00:06:09.279 ground, and thy children within thee. and they 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:13.139 shall not leave in this place one stone upon 00:06:13.139 --> 00:06:18.879 another, because thou knewest not the time of 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:23.959 thy visitation. Jesus sees this procession very 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:30.860 differently, and so do we. However, we're encouraged 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:35.199 today, aren't we? Not to mourn, but to rejoice. 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:38.670 Lent has ended. We might consider the great blessings 00:06:38.670 --> 00:06:41.589 we received during the 40 days. Over and over 00:06:41.589 --> 00:06:43.889 and over we hear today and last night the command, 00:06:44.129 --> 00:06:47.230 Sing, O daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice for your 00:06:47.230 --> 00:06:50.509 king is with you. Be glad, rejoice with all your 00:06:50.509 --> 00:06:54.069 heart. And the epistle, magnificent epistle from 00:06:54.069 --> 00:07:00.290 St. Paul. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I 00:07:00.290 --> 00:07:03.430 say rejoice. Let your gentleness, your moderation 00:07:03.430 --> 00:07:08.540 be known to all people. especially when you're 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:14.259 driving. The Lord is at hand. And that particular 00:07:14.259 --> 00:07:17.399 verse is there to encourage us to be faithful 00:07:17.399 --> 00:07:21.199 during these holy days that are coming tonight 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:23.759 and all the way through to Pascha. The Lord is 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:27.060 at hand. Can you walk with him as much as you 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:29.860 can? Can you spend that precious ointment of 00:07:29.860 --> 00:07:33.540 your soul that is prayer and mercy and love for 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:40.069 him with him? In a sense, his triumphal entry, 00:07:40.269 --> 00:07:44.610 not in a sense, it is. It's not the result, but 00:07:44.610 --> 00:07:47.750 it's the prelude to battle and victory, a different 00:07:47.750 --> 00:07:50.529 kind of battle. Jesus sent to Jerusalem not to 00:07:50.529 --> 00:07:53.850 face Caesar and armies, nor to eliminate religious 00:07:53.850 --> 00:07:56.189 establishments. Just think, if he had done that, 00:07:56.350 --> 00:07:59.269 this whole thing would be a footnote in some 00:07:59.269 --> 00:08:03.050 history book. Nobody would care. Because it happened 00:08:03.050 --> 00:08:06.470 over and over again in history. But Jesus enters 00:08:06.470 --> 00:08:09.709 into Jerusalem, the holy city, the king of peace, 00:08:09.870 --> 00:08:14.050 as the conqueror to build another city, that 00:08:14.050 --> 00:08:16.769 kingdom that cannot be shaken, that St. Paul 00:08:16.769 --> 00:08:20.110 told us about yesterday in Hebrews. A city that 00:08:20.110 --> 00:08:24.410 will have no walls, no boundaries, that God will 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:26.910 be the light of. There will be no need for the 00:08:26.910 --> 00:08:31.300 sun. We are receiving a kingdom which cannot 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:35.539 be shaken, therefore let us have grace. And he 00:08:35.539 --> 00:08:42.799 enters that city preparing to encounter, defeat 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:48.580 the one who has held creation in the prison of 00:08:48.580 --> 00:08:52.019 sin and death. And again, to say what I said 00:08:52.019 --> 00:08:57.929 yesterday, all devouring death becomes... begins 00:08:57.929 --> 00:09:04.029 to tremble is what one hymn said. Jesus, the 00:09:04.029 --> 00:09:10.470 Lamb of God. Lamb is gentle. Lamb is obedient. 00:09:11.789 --> 00:09:15.509 Yet in the book of Revelation it says they are 00:09:15.509 --> 00:09:20.690 fearful of the Lamb that are sinners. Jesus takes 00:09:20.690 --> 00:09:26.649 upon himself all that sin and death. So we hold 00:09:26.649 --> 00:09:30.879 our We wave our palms. We wave our branches. 00:09:31.100 --> 00:09:34.580 And we're not trying to reenact an event that 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:38.820 cannot be repeated. We hold these branches and 00:09:38.820 --> 00:09:41.960 palms as a sign that we are people that live 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:45.159 in that kingdom that cannot be shaken, the new 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:48.779 Jerusalem. And we are fed by God himself in the 00:09:48.779 --> 00:09:52.679 Eucharist, the kingdom in which there is no death. 00:09:53.769 --> 00:09:56.750 And those who were baptized yesterday have experienced 00:09:56.750 --> 00:10:00.070 that first resurrection, the renewal of their 00:10:00.070 --> 00:10:05.070 soul. We are gathered around the one who destroyed 00:10:05.070 --> 00:10:08.509 the dominion of darkness. We hold our palms and 00:10:08.509 --> 00:10:11.210 branches, affirming that we are brothers and 00:10:11.210 --> 00:10:15.990 sisters of the Messiah, the one who came. Look 00:10:15.990 --> 00:10:19.909 at that fresco. There's a crowd of people on 00:10:19.909 --> 00:10:25.039 one side. There's the church. tree there's Jesus 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:29.720 and his disciples between the crowd of people 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:36.179 there's this mountain which cuts a line telling 00:10:36.179 --> 00:10:38.820 us that that's the line between the believer 00:10:38.820 --> 00:10:42.120 and the unbeliever the one who will say Hosanna 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:44.279 in the highest blessed is he and then be disappointed 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:48.340 that God doesn't do what we want him to do it 00:10:48.340 --> 00:10:53.179 cuts the line between The one who will follow 00:10:53.179 --> 00:10:56.320 Jesus even to the cross. And the tree with the 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:58.860 children, the innocent children, that's the tree 00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:01.779 of life, which is now the Holy Cross, which gives 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:05.019 us life, by which Christ died and entered death 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:08.620 and rose from the dead. Keep that fresco, that 00:11:08.620 --> 00:11:13.840 image in mind, with that sharp delineation between 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:17.179 the world and Jesus. He is coming to save that 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:23.200 world. Stick around, brothers and sisters, for 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:26.799 the rest of this week, and you will see that 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:33.580 not enacted, not remembered, but realized in 00:11:33.580 --> 00:11:37.919 your own soul and in this community which loves 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:42.759 God. To our Lord be glory now and ever, to ages 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:44.080 of ages. Amen.