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| SERMON notes |
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| Written by Rev. Mike Walsh | |
| Friday, 14 March 2008 | |
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Days of renewal and commitment For Christians, the week leading up to Easter Sunday is traditionally known as Holy Week, a week to contemplate and celebrate the passion and resurrection of Jesus that bring us to new life. These are days of praise, thankfulness, celebration, and joy for all Christians, but they also need to be days of renewal, of commitment to our own transformation into Christ by the grace of God one day at a time. Tomorrow, on Palm Sunday, one of the readings at our church and others is Matthew’s account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. In one curious exchange, the shaken residents of Jerusalem ask, “Who is this?” The crowds respond with enthusiasm, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee!” (Matthew 21:10-11). It sounds like a positive response. Maybe these crowds are on the right track, not far from recognizing Jesus’ identity as Messiah and Son of God. Not so. In Matthew’s perspective, if they call you a prophet in Israel, that means they are going to kill you. According to Matthew, the people acclaim as prophets God’s messengers to Israel (Matthew 23:29-31), John the Baptist (14:5), Jesus himself (21:46). But that does not protect the prophets, or Jesus, from being murdered. This stark picture of the violent fate of the prophets is a wake-up call for us. Matthew’s perspective on Israel is not so much a condemnation of people back then. Rather, the evangelist always uses Israel’s example as a warning to Christians: “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Are we any more committed than the crowds in our acclamation of Jesus? To accept Jesus as Lord and Savior is to make a commitment to continuing conversion and sincere attentiveness to his Spirit that wants to transform our lives. The prophetic voice God wants you to hear may be as simple as a Bible verse that calls you to change. It may be your wife or husband, your son or daughter, calling you to confront an alcohol or anger problem you would rather deny. It may be the Church’s call to be a voice for the voiceless in our society: for the unborn child, for the mentally ill, for the immigrant. Recently, a number of church people in Patterson let God open their eyes to the growing number of homeless and near-homeless in our area. They remembered Jesus’ words, “As often as you did it for one of these, my least brothers or sisters, you did it for me.” Their work so far is to serve a meal twice a week in the park to anyone who is hungry. They have begun to invite churches and the rest of the community to ponder a more adequate response to the homeless. Many of them will also be participating in the March 29 March Against Hunger that raises money to serve needy families all year long. They work quietly, but their recognition of Jesus’ presence in the poor is much more authentic than the noisy acclamation of the crowds in Jerusalem. If you would like to know more about serving the homeless or about the March Against Hunger, phone Norma Plaugher at Sacred Heart Church, 892-9321. The Rev. Mike Walsh is parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Sermon Notes is a column by members of the Patterson Ministerial Association. Any religious leader who would like to write for this column may contact the Patterson Irrigator.
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