Christ the Cornerstone

The only way to heaven is the way of the cross

“Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on Earth and under the earth and every tongue ­confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:6-11).

This weekend, we will celebrate Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord. Together, we will experience Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and sing Hosannahs to the King of Kings. Then we will watch as everyone, especially his closest friends, abandon him to the powers of sin and death. Finally, we will participate vicariously in his bitter suffering and death—casting lots for his clothing and nailing him to a tree.

This Sunday, and the holy week that follows, we will relive the most central truth of our Christian faith. We will be reminded—forcefully—that the only way to experience the everlasting joy of heaven is to walk with Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, the way of his suffering and death. Palm Sunday and Holy Week will prepare us for the most sacred day in the liturgical calendar: Easter Sunday. They remind us that as followers of Jesus Christ there are no easy paths to our ultimate destination.

Palm Sunday and Holy Week provide us with opportunities for serious reflection. They invite us to travel together on a synodal journey whose purpose is our spiritual rebirth and whose end is the experience of everlasting joy. We should not be disheartened by the experience of our Lord’s passion and death because we know it is the gateway to his resurrection.

And while it’s only natural for us to feel the pangs of guilt and shame caused by our own sinful part in Jesus’ betrayal, it’s important to remember that he has forgiven us and invited us to share in his new life of Easter joy.

The readings for Palm Sunday offer us multiple opportunities for the kind of attentive listening, prayerful discernment, and personal encounter with Jesus that Pope Francis has called us to experience as members of a synodal Church. Synodality is not an end in itself, the Holy Father has said. It is a means to an end, and that end is the joy of the Gospel, the experience of everlasting life with God in the happiness of heaven. If we accompany Jesus—and one another—on the road that leads from the loneliness and extreme suffering of the cross to mutual happiness and everlasting life, we will rejoice with our Redeemer and with Mary and all the saints in heaven.

If we die with Christ, we will be reborn with him. If we say “no” to self, and live for others, we will be set free from the prison of sin and death. If we choose the life that Jesus offers us, and if we can deny ourselves, take up our own crosses and follow him, we will live forever.

Near the end of the passion narrative for this Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 26:14-27:66), there is a strangely prophetic account that reads as follows:

And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. (Mt 27:51-53)

Who are these holy people who had fallen asleep, but were raised to new life after Jesus’ resurrection? We can’t be sure, but one possible interpretation is to see in them all of us—every person living and deceased who was deadened by selfishness and sin, but who repents, believes in the Gospel and chooses to follow Jesus on the road to the joy of eternal life and redemption in him.

The great mystery that we will once again celebrate during Palm Sunday and Holy Week is that the humility and obedience of Jesus overpowers the forces of darkness. Because of Jesus’ meek and gentle acceptance of his Father’s will, “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name” (Phil 2:9). In the process, he proved once and for all that the only way to heaven is the way of self-sacrificing love on the cross. †