Homily for Today - Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord

I ask you to recall the events now of last Sunday, PALM SUNDAY, when Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem – deliberately hastening his steps towards his final end: his death on a Cross, which would be solely FOR US AND FOR OUR SALVATION!

The crowds of people who lined his route were inspired by the Holy Spirit himself to make a magnificent spectacle out of this entry, waving palm branches – HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID they shouted: BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD – for this is who he truly was.

I asked you at that time to reflect during the course of this Holy Week on the three titles of Jesus we talked about on that day:

·        JESUS IS LORD, Jesus is Lord (above all lords, the One, True Lord of Lord) forever and ever;

·        JESUS IS KING – Jesus is King not only of the Jews (his own people of origin), he is king of all nations, all peoples – and his kingdom will have no end – and all – sooner or later – all the kings of the earth will one day obey him; and lastly,

·        JESUS IS SAVIOR. Jesus is Savior of the World – no one else in human history was qualified to do what he did: reconcile God and Man – because he was both God and Man at the same time, in the same Person.

Today now I ask you to take these thoughts one step further – as we commemorate the Day on which our redemption was accomplished on that hill outside of Jerusalem.

The above three titles of Jesus are all well and good when they apply to the vast crowds of people in general, both then, and throughout the ages. But if we do not apply them to ourselves directly and personally, then we have missed the whole point of Jesus’ coming and dying – and we will have cut ourselves off from the merits of his death: which are forgiveness of our personal sins, and the opening to us of the gates of heaven when we die: neither of these things was possible before Jesus did what he did on Good Friday.

And so: let us reflect for just a few moments on the titles of Jesus as they must apply to us in order for us to gain their benefits:

·        JESUS IS LORD. Jesus must be MY Lord.

·        JESUS IS KING. Jesus must be MY King.

·        JESUS IS SAVIOR. Jesus must be MY Savior.

The choice is always ours but so too the consequences of the decisions we may make in this regard.

As Moses told the people in the desert: “Choose life then!”, so I tell you: “Choose Jesus – your Lord, your King, your Savior!” Choose everlasting life!

HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID!