I've chosen my path...and you can choose yours

Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday)
"On this day the Church celebrates Christ's entrance into Jerusalem to accomplish his paschal mystery" (Roman Missal). "Entrance" is the key to understanding the liturgy of Passion Sunday. We enter into Jerusalem with Christ. We enter into our holiest week. We enter into our final preparation for the Easter feast. Ordinarily when we go to Sunday Mass we enter the church one by one, as we arrive. But for the principal liturgy on this Sunday we enter the church together. We make a grand entrance. The parish gathers in another location (outside the church, for example, or in the school hall). There one of the Gospel accounts of Jesus' triumphant entrance into Jerusalem is proclaimed. "The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, / while others cut branches from the trees / and strewed them on the road. / The crowds preceding him and those following / kept crying out and saying: / 'Hosanna to the Son of David'" (Mt 21:8-9). And then we "enter into" the Gospel. We go with Christ into Jerusalem. We process into the church. This is one of our most joyful and triumphant processions of the entire year. As we gather on this Sunday we receive a branch of palm or olive (or other green plant). The palm represents the palms that were spread on the road in front of Christ as he entered Jerusalem. The palms are blessed by the priest and are keep the entire year as a reminder of your commitment to God. The Gospel proclaimed on this day is one of the accounts of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew, Mark or Luke. (The Passion from the Gospel according to John is read each year on Good Friday.) As the Passion is read we find ourselves going with Christ to Calvary and standing at the foot of the cross. We find ourselves calling out "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Yet only a moment ago, when we were entering the church, we were triumphantly singing, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" The contrast is striking. Is this not all too often our story? One moment I am full of good resolutions and promises to follow Christ; but when the times get hard, I find myself ready to crucify Jesus by my sins.

In the spirit of coming into Holy Week and the fullness of the Christ’s promise, I thought it would be time to write about this important issue. Religious tolerance is a buzz word for many groups and lobbyists, but it is something that needs to be appreciated. As a staunch Catholic I was raised by many old school Catholics who would have said there is only “one true religion”…of course they’d be talking about Catholicism. But, in this day and age it is hard to dispute that the reason there are different religions is because there are different groups of people in the world. Each group has its own values, its own traditions, and of course it would make sense that they would want their own religion. I try to observe the idea that there are many paths to God and you are supposed to be able to find the true path that fits you. I’ve studied several religions in order to gain more understanding of my own and they all have their unique qualities that could appeal to different people. I am not going to innumerate them all here. Just think about it this way…how can you be a part of any religion that teaches that God is merciful and forgiving and believe that He would leave someone out of his glory because they didn’t worship the way He wanted them to. Food for thought, my friends.

This is going to really confuse you. I was a strong supporter of George W. Bush, but this is one of the things that bothered me about him and his presidency. He used religion, especially Christianity, as a tool to rally the fundamentalist Christians around him and his policies. I feel like he alienated some at the expense of this “cause”. Going forward now from his presidency there seems to still be this over-grown sense of entitlement within the Christian community of the United States. This goes so far as to question and belittle the current president, Barrack Obama. So many of the fundamentalist Christian powerbase wants to believe and infer that President Obama is a Muslim or even worse, doesn’t believe in God at all, in order to create a fictitious enemy in him beyond secular party lines. Listen, Muslims believe in a level of tolerance beyond that of Christians in most cases, and it is only the fundamentalist Muslims that give all Muslims a bad name. If Christians are not careful, it is the fundamentalist Christians that will give all Christians a bad name. It’s coming, just keep your eyes peeled and wait for the backlash.

Like I said, I believe in all paths to God, within reason of course. As a Catholic, I find the presence and fulfillment of God’s message in the tradition and ritual of the Catholic faith. This won’t work for all people, but that doesn’t mean it is the wrong way to go. I grew up in Texas where being a white Catholic was tantamount to being a traitor to Christ. Staunch Protestants have always held that the Catholic Church is wrong stemming from five hundred year old disputes that they have not put to rest. Their attacks lead to the belief of most Catholics that it is the “one true religion” because it creates a culture of “us” versus “them”. Honestly, the only difference between us is how we practice and how we preach. Or core believes as Christians are exactly the same. I understand that some of you reading this may have been told differently all your lives, but as a free thinking person you should be able to work it out. And truthfully, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share a belief, essentially, in the same God. One God, three different faiths, within which there are many variations. Outside these faiths, there are other religions that believe in paths of enlightenment that bring you closer to perfection. How are these much different than the big three religions, that teach purification of mind and body of sin brings you closer to God? Seriously, there are many paths to God and I have chosen mine, but that doesn’t mean you need to share that path with me.