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Today’s Mass is unique. It has two Gospels. The first Gospel is about the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the City of Peace. The second Gospel is about His passion and death. In a matter of minutes, the mood of the liturgy shifts from “Hosanna, Hail to the Son of David” to a heart-piercing “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Between the two gospels is a palm procession that culminates in a death march.
Moods can be so tyrannical and despotic. We must not allow moods to run our lives. Their unpredictability and unreasonableness make moods a very unreliable gauge of action. A moody person is not a perfect person. Moodiness is not something that we work at to have. It is something we work against.
The commitment that the Lord asks from us must be an act of the free will. This commitment requires a faithful and constant “yes,” a “yes” that goes beyond impulses and moods, a commitment unto death, death on the cross. As gold is tested by fire, love is tested by time, enduring time.
At the onset of our friendship with God, it is understandable that we experience some warm and bubbly moments. We feel good about God; we also feel good about ourselves. In time, the nice feelings dissipate and many of us give up on the friendship.
It is during moments like these that the “will” takes over, with or without the feelings. I decide to love. I decide to live for the one I love whether the feelings are there or not. But there will even come a time when we start to ask questions like “Am I on the right path? Is my decision correct?” When this comes about, it is time to make an act of faith and say, “Lord, You know all things, You know that I love You.”
We are a family of moody people. We are a people of fickle hearts and minds. In spite of this defect in us, God is always faithful. That is precisely the Good News of this day. We can change moods, from a hosanna procession to a death march. We can change moods, from a glorious experience to a dark episode.
God is faithful. The commitment of God is irrevocable. If we are unfaithful, God will remain faithful because for God to be unfaithful is to deny His very nature. Can a mother forget the child in her womb? Yet even if the mother should forget, God will never forsake us. He has written our names on the palms of His hands. The consoling message that Palm Sunday whispers into our ears is “You are irresistible.” Nothing that we have done and will ever do will make God change His mind about loving us.
This does not mean that we should just remain as we are – moody, fickle, and inconsistent. Because we have seen and experienced the love of God, then we must respond. Will people not take advantage of such love and abuse it? Yes, but love is willing to take the risk of being abused and taken for granted.
As we meditate on the triumphant palm procession leading us into the heart-piercing death march, remember your moodiness and remember God’s faithfulness, and let your moodiness be lost in the mercy of God. You are irresistible. Jesus loves you.
MOODINESS VERSUS FAITHFULNESS
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