Homily - 16 March 2008 Passion Sunday at the Blessing of Palms

Today Christ our King comes to us, “meek and riding upon an ass” (Zechariah 9:9).

This seems a rather strange way for a king to enter his city, to enter without pomp or fanfare, without armies or trophies of victory. Why does Jesus enter in this humble way?

He comes to us, meek and humble, “that he may be loved rather than feared for his power.”[1] Christ comes to us as our humble Redeemer-King, “taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7).

Why does this great King of heaven and earth come as a servant? “Because Adam, in Paradise, would not serve the Lord, the Lord took the form of a servant, to serve the servant, so that henceforth the servant might not be ashamed to serve the Lord.”[2]

Let us, then, not be ashamed to serve our Lord with our cries of gladness. Let us, rather, cry out to him, “Blessed are you who have come to us rich in love and mercy!”[3]

[1] Saint Anthony of Padua, Sermon for Palm Sunday, 9, in Saint Anthony of Padua, Sermons for Sundays and Festivals, Vol. I: General Prologue, Sundays from Septuagesima to Pentecost, Paul Spilsbury, trans. (Padua, Italy: Edizioni Messaggero Padova, 2007), 218.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Introit of the day.