AS I grow older and wiser in life and ministry, I realize how wicked a man or a woman can be, how evil can posses his or her heart and mind. The plots and scenes of malice, wrath, revenge, deceit, jealousy, hurt, murder and other forms of evil that many of us watch on soap operas or telenovelas might be fictitious, but they happen and are committed by people in real life. Evil is present in the world. Evil can enter a human heart and cause havoc and division in society and family and tremendous pain in people’s lives.
Yes, I am a kind, loving, and understanding person who usually sees goodness and beauty in people, but my encounters of destructive influences of evil in the world have given me distress as well as a deeper conviction to be a minister of love, mercy, prayer, peace, and justice.
This is what Jesus, the Son of God, confronted when he become a human being like us. He entered a a world of cruelty, hate, loath, envy, greed and vengeance. And this is precisely the reason for his coming: to save humanity from eternal damnation to the forces of sin and to raise all human beings to a full life of benevolence, love, forgiveness, unity, and care.
On this Palm Sunday, as we celebrate the entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem, let us be reminded of the significance of this event. “Crucify him! Crucify him”, so the shouting and echoing of the crowd and religious leaders went on as Pilate was sentencing him to death. And they succeeded in putting him to death. Jesus entered the ultimate symbol of man’s cruelty, the crucifixion and death of the Son of God!
Deep in the heart and mind of the Son of of God was his love for his Father, his Father’s love for him, and and their eternal love for humanity. This communion of love was the strength that Jesus possessed in order to endure pain and suffering as he carried the cross to Calvary. There was no stopping to follow the will of his Father, no doubt of his Father’s promise of victory, and no emptiness of his heroic love for all people. The world and humanity must be saved from the pangs of sin and death.
Jesus asks those who believe in him s to continue his salvific mission on earth. The task may seem to be difficult and overwhelming, but he has given all baptized Christians the power of the Holy Spirit to eradicate evil in the world and to bring people to conversion.
The most powerful gift of the Holy Spirit is love. It is more powerful than hatred and death. It allows one to forgive and to serve; it brings peace to one’s soul.
May our celebration of Passion Sunday give us courage and continuous conviction to fulfill the mission of Jesus Christ on earth. May the power of God’s love and mercy illuminate our minds and embolden our hearts! Have a Blessed Holy Week!
* * *
Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
