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the next minute we are shouting “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Then, moments later, we witness people in authority, people with power, nailing a man to a cross, just as we asked them to.
It is possible to inoculate ourselves to the horror of this story by labeling the events historical - something that happened long, long ago in a country far, far away. But this story resonates with events in our own lives - we have experiences of righteous people, brutal people, ourselves - all caught up in the “banality of evil.” Injustices are everyday occurrences - innocent human beings suffer and die, not on crosses, but in prisons and strung up from trees very near to where we sit. Like Peter, I want to deny this truth, distance myself from it - I don’t want to have to face the shadow side of my church, my country, my self.
The Gospel or “good news” is bad news at first. It demands I acknowledge - rather than ignore - this truth. And at first the truth does not set me free - it scares me. But I have come believe that facing my shadow side, the shadow side of my church and my country, is the first step in transformation. For when I see that these stories are not about something that happened long ago, but about something that is happening; then I can see the Love that Peter experienced is always happening. That is the good news of the Gospel - there is the possibility of following a different path, of living a new life. Grace does make a difference.
Thought the eyes of grace, Palm Sunday is not quite as jarring. We can watch Jesus enter Jerusalem without feeling triumphant. We catch ourselves pausing and not crying out “Electrocute him.” Our hearts ache as we see Jesus in the many others carrying the weight of their crosses. Sometimes we can offer to help one or some of them carry their cross - at least for a bit. Sometimes we can help others get up when they fall. We may not have the power to transform the world completely, but we can allow the Love that we have experienced to flow through us to others. We can bear witness to - and make manifest - grace.