A REFLECTION FOR PALM SUNDAY
As our Lord approached Jerusalem,
“the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a
loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; saying, Blessed be the
King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the
highest. And some of the Pharisees from
among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.”
As we continue to endure our
global brush with death, there are those who try to force us to choose between
our desire to please God by attending Sunday Mass, and our desire to love and
protect our neighbor by staying home.
Different churches have taken opposite approaches, some taking the
“safe” choice by closing down altogether, and others defying any attempt to prevent
their public worship. All seem to be
motivated by good intentions, be it one or the other of the above goals, to
love God or love our neighbor.
We must recognize, however, that
there is, and can never be, any true opposition between these two desires, and
we never have to choose one over the other. In today’s situation, we need to remember that
true love and worship of God is the same as it always is, and that we show it
by our sacrifice. The Sacrifice of the
Mass has as much value in God’s eyes, whether it is attended by only one
person, or a hundred thousand. And that
Sacrifice will be offered every Sunday, somewhere, and as long as there is a
priest to offer it. Our own obligation
to attend is certainly waived under the present conditions, and if we stay home
and keep holy the Sabbath as best we can, we should not be ashamed to ask God
for all the graces we would have received by coming here. We may offer counsel, but never condemn,
those who choose to go to church in these times, or those who choose to stay
home. Rather, we must acknowledge that
everyone must be guided by their own conscience, and never “rebuke” our fellow
disciples who follow theirs.
In this particular chapel, Sunday
Mass will be offered until such time as the emergency restrictions forbid us to
do so. Meanwhile, continue to follow the
advice of your better angel as to whether to attend or not. Either way, you will remain pleasing to God,
so long as your motivation is pure.
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