If I’d have been there, I’d have been there

“Holy Week begins with Passion Sunday, more popularly known as Palm Sunday, because this day first celebrates the regal entrance of Our Lord into Jerusalem, where he will face his bitter Passion for us sinners. The re-enactment of his entry into the Holy City is expressed through the sacramental of blessed palm or olive branches, carried by the ‘children of the Hebrews’. The ‘palms’ may literally be portions of a type of palm or olive branches or fronds or leaves taken from a local tree. In some places it is customary to use small crosses woven of palm fronds” (Msgr. Peter J. Elliott, Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year according to the Modern Roman Rite, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2002, p. 69).

My brothers and sisters, I ask that you make Holy Week a sacred time.  Turn off your television this week, turn off the radio, refrain from doing unnecessary shopping, and pray!  If you are able, please make an effort to go to Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Good Friday Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion, and Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday.  These sacred liturgies, in all their solemnity and grandeur, unite us to saving events that happened 2,000 years ago, and they become present here and now.  

A good priest-friend of mine, Fr. Anthony McLaughlin, used to preach on Palm Sunday, “If I’d have been there, I’d have been there . . . .”  In other words, if I had been present 2,000 years ago, I would not have deserted Jesus like so many of His disciples.  Fr. McLaughlin’s point was that, if this is true, then it would be hypocritical to miss Holy Week liturgies.  If I really would have been there for Jesus, then I should show Him my solidarity with Him by being present to Him at Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil liturgies!