Palm Sunday (Love and Suffering)

Today St. Mark sets the stage for all that will unfold in the days to come: Jesus’ Last Supper; his anguish in the garden; his arrest, trial and sentence; and finally, his crucifixion, death and burial.

As we know, Jesus, though truly divine, was completely human in all things except sin, so of course he was terrified of the unimaginable pain of having his flesh ripped off his body by a leather whip with small metal hooks attached, and then having nails put through his hands and feet, left to hang for hours in excruciating agony on the cross until he slowly died. But I don’t believe that’s what most terrified him.[1]

To consider this, I ask: What is the greatest suffering that you can imagine? What is the very worst thing that could ever happen to you in your life here on earth? Perhaps that question is answered by first considering who are the people you love the most? Most likely, it’s a child or a spouse or a parent. With that person in mind, perhaps it can be said that there are three greatest sufferings.

·         The first is death of the one you love. The more you love someone, the more their death breaks your heart, even as we acknowledge that death is inevitable and universal.

·         But worse than death, is seeing someone you dearly and deeply loved destroying themselves, either by suicide or drugs or by despair, and the added suffering of not being able to interrupt their self-destruction.

·         But still worse, imagine the person you love more than you love yourself hates you: “I don't love you. I hate you. I want you out of my life forever. You do not exist for me.”[2]

Love demands vulnerability and almost assuredly, suffering. And the deepest suffering comes from the deepest love.

I once heard a meditation that imagined that just as the devil tempted Jesus when he was in the desert for those 40 days, he came again to tempt him in the Garden of Gethsemane. He did so by presenting a vision of all those Jesus loved so deeply, showing how they would all reject him and ultimately, end up not in heaven but in hell. On the cross Jesus experienced physical suffering, but in Gethsemane he experienced the hopeless despair of losing all those he loved.[3]

So, to the inevitable question: How great was the suffering of Jesus? That question is answered only in considering: How great is the love of Jesus? How much does Jesus love you? Our palm fronds remind us that we are not merely recalling a past event and thus, love that once was. These palms should instead speak to us of a love that is alive, here and now, for you personally: a love, and thus, willingness to suffer for you, which Jesus will demonstrate in the course of these coming days. Le us come, reciprocate that love.

[1] Kreeft, Peter. Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings (Cycle B). Word on Fire. Kindle Edition.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.