St. Anthony the Abbot Catholic Church

In Christian art, the martyrs are often shown holding palm branches as symbols of victory over temptation and suffering. These martyrs are our older brothers and sisters in the faith - God wants us to learn from and be encouraged by them. Take the example of St Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna.

 

In the year 155, Polycarp was condemned to death for refusing to give idolatrous worship to the Roman Emperor. As he was a well-known Christian leader, and so, even though he was already in his 80s, his execution was made into a large public spectacle. He was burned to death in the city stadium. Normally, criminals executed that way were actually fastened to the pile of wood, so that they wouldn't climb out of the fire. But not Polycarp.

 

He told his guards: "He who gives me strength to endure the fire will also grant me to stay on the pyre unflinching even without your making sure of it with nails." According to eye witnesses, his last words were a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving to God for giving him the honor of sharing Christ's cup of suffering. Those same eye witnesses tell us that when the fire was lit, a great flame blazed up, but instead of burning Polycarp right away, it surrounded him like a fiery force field; his face was serene and his body glowed like gold being refined in a furnace. As he peacefully breathed his last, the onlookers perceived a fragrant smell, as if incense were being offered.

 

This is the paradox of Palm Sunday, which God wants us all to experience: that Christ's limitless love can strengthen us to resist even the greatest temptations, and fill us with interior peace and joy even amidst the flames of suffering that torment us here on earth.

 

Today is the beginning of the holiest week of the year, the week we call Holy Week. During the first Holy Week, two thousand years ago, Jesus achieved victory over sin and evil. During this Holy Week, He wants to extend that victory into our lives, into the parts of our lives that still need it, that still haven't learned how to live the paradox of Palm Sunday.

 

He wants to come into our hearts this Holy Week in the same way He came into Jerusalem, humbly and peacefully, riding on a donkey colt. Then, it was a literal donkey colt. Now, the donkey that brings Christ into our hearts is the Church. The liturgical celebrations of this coming week, as beautiful as they are, will only be a dim shadow of the true glory of Christ that they represent, a humble vehicle, like the donkey. But the liturgy is also a dependable vehicle, like the donkey, and Jesus will be truly present in them.

 

We just have to open the gates in the walls around our hearts. And we can do that by making this week different: by turning off the radio and television more often than usual, by spending more time in prayer than online, and, most importantly, by making our own sacrifice, so precious in God's eyes: the sacrifice of our time.

 

It takes time to join this family of believers for this week's liturgies, praying, worshipping, contemplating, receiving the sacraments, discovering what God has to say to us this Holy Week. Jesus knows what He wants to say to each one of us this week, the holiest week of the year.

 

Let us give Him the time and attention He deserves, because whatever it is He wants to tell us, it will be exactly what we most need to hear.