Fr. Bob’s Greeting – March 2025 Enews

We are in the season of Lent, which, thank God, will end at Easter with His glorious resurrection. I would like to begin by talking about Palm Sunday.

We must go back to Palm Sunday and the day Jesus went up to Jerusalem. On that day, two processions entered Jerusalem at Passover and protests against the Romans were inevitable. So, at each Passover the Roman Governor, Pilate, rode up to Jerusalem. He brought extra troops in case of trouble to reinforce the local riot squad.

Picture it – Pilate’s procession arrived from the west and Jesus entered the city from the east. Pilate rode into the city on a warhorse. Jesus rode in on a donkey. He was fulfilling the words of the prophet Zechariah who foretells that the King of Peace on a donkey will banish the warhorse and battle from the land. Do you get the picture of what is going on here?

The gauntlet had been thrown down and the contrast was clear. Jesus versus Pilate, the non-violence of the Kingdom of God versus the violence of the empire. That was the contrast – two arrivals, two entrances and two processions. Two ways of life and two choices represented by these two processions on Palm Sunday.

On Friday, Jesus stood before Pilate. He is innocent but is gruesomely and wrongly executed. But on Easter Sunday, spectacularly, Jesus is raised from the dead by Divine Power. Here we are at the heart of the matter. What does this raising of Jesus by God mean? It means that God said a resounding “yes” to Jesus and all He stood for and a firm “no” to the powers that killed Him.

Easter exemplifies God’s collision course with injustice, violence, and exploitation. God is against the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter and the complicity and corruption of power in Pilate and Herod. He is against Jesus being beaten in Jail. He is against the politically correct judgment of Pilate who initially judged Jesus innocent of a capital offense.

Things have not changed today. Our God is still against betrayal by a friend or in a marriage. He is still against violence in a family or on the streets of our city. He is still against corruption in the government or Wall Street. God is against the vulgarity of some of the discourse we see or hear in the media. He is against the moral and physical abuse of spouses, children, and the misuse of power.

He told us do not return evil for evil but cry out with Him on the cross – “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” He said to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty and always remember it profits you nothing to gain the entire world then lose your soul. Easter, beyond its tremendous mystery, is a statement, a divine statement of divine values.

The Easter story is basically a story of where God stands. That stand is clear in the Resurrection. God raises up Jesus who told us to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile and if someone asks for your shirt give them your coat. He told us one should go first and be reconciled with your brother or sister and then come and offer your gifts at the altar. The question I leave you with is – This lent if anyone is looking for Christ, will they find him in you or will they have to turn away and look for another.

The fact is, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem from the east on a donkey and Pilate from the west on a warhorse that was the day you and I were confronted with the choice. Which entrance shall we take? Which procession shall we follow? Easter is the day God announced His choice by raising His Son from the dead and all that He stood for. Easter is the day God announced His choice. What is left is yours.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Bob Warren, SA