As I’ve come to experience many different pieces and methods of playing and composing music, I’ve come to really enjoy some forms of it, perhaps more than other forms. Toccatas, fugues, meditations… and a countless array of others. One of my favorites, however, is something that seems simple, but serves an important function nonetheless. This form of music? The unassuming form of a prelude. At face value, it seems like it is disposable. Usually, these pieces are fairly quiet and subdued in nature. They don’t have a lot of profound movements. They may not be all that complex. Yet, there is a simple beauty about them. Why? Because they serve a single purpose: they are there to announce the coming piece. When used in the right way, they are announcing the coming of what we could consider to be “the main event.”
It has always struck me as rather odd that we always begin Palm Sunday with a sort of ironic liturgy. Now, it isn’t ironic necessarily in the way that it is a Mass just as we always celebrate. What is ironic is the two major movements embedded in the liturgy: at the beginning, we celebrate Jesus making a grand entrance into Jerusalem. There are great shouts of joy in this moment! However, by the time the Gospel comes up, it is a sad and sorrowful moment when Jesus is lead out to Calvary, out of the city to be crucified. Onlookers are ashamed of what they see- and many of them flee because of the great distress that occurs.
However, this great irony of Palm Sunday is important: it gives us a prelude and a soft entry into the mysteries and, dare I say, beauty of this week. The happenings of this week can be hard to accept and to watch! They can be very difficult to understand. That is the very reason that we are given a second chance to reflect.
The great mystery of this moment that we celebrate is the fact that Jesus is Divine. He is God. He is the King of Heaven and Earth. There is no one above Him. Yet, later on this week, there is a sort of “flip of a switch” when they, all of a sudden, mistreat, strike, spit upon, and even kill Him. It is such a strange occasion, and quite a contrast.
Yet, it is true. We are given the ability to reflect on this today!
At this moment, we need to prepare our hearts to receive the great and tremendous news that Christ comes to us in this way. Take, for example, the first reading. Isaiah spares no imagery at all, and it is very easy to see the way that he has foreshadowed and prophesied the treatment of Jesus. It does go into the graphic nature of what is going to happen. His back will be struck. His beard will be pulled. He will be insulted and spat upon. However, notice the subtle undertone: “The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint… I know that I shall not be put to shame.” Even though all of these cruel things happen, do you and I notice that Jesus underwent them willingly for you and I?
Further, if we go to Saint Paul and his letter to the Philippians, we are again told of the very irony that Jesus, the Son of God, pours Himself out as a slave. Yet, because of this, it doesn’t mean that Jesus loses any of His dignity at all- but rather, He is exalted greatly because of His tremendous love for all of us. Jesus empties Himself so that we may be filled. He has humbled Himself so that we may be exalted. Every knee on heaven and on earth should exalt Him because of this beautiful gift.
During this liturgy, we are given the Passion narrative to meditate on, as well, to help us to further look and to understand the mysteries that will take place later on in the week. We are given very vivid imagery of what is going to happen to our Lord and our God when we celebrate Good Friday. Yet, it is important to recall that He is truly a King.
Thus, the simple reminder for all of us: Jesus is truly the Messiah and Savior of the World. He is the one whose coming had been told for years and generations prior. Yet, He choses to humbly submit to the yoke of the Cross. He is the King- and because of this, He leads us to the Cross, to give us salvation.
Brothers and sisters, as we behold all of these splendid mysteries, and as we prepare for the Paschal Triduum- the sacred three days- later on this week, let us not be a people who are not aware of the Lord’s gift to us. Let us not live these days as if they were simply any others. We are given a beautiful prelude- an introduction- to the bigger theme of the Lord and His Passion and Death. We are encouraged to follow our Lord. Yes, the irony of Jesus’s entry into the city amidst cries of gladness, and His exit later that week in utter shame and humiliation are striking. Yet, for our sake, this is such a necessary moment nonetheless, and an important reminder that the conqueror of sin and death is coming.
By this very simple introduction, we enter into the city of Jerusalem. We are not unaware- we have heard the music of the prelude that is in the scriptures. We know why we are here. Let us not abandon the Lord, but let us faithfully follow- for something truly great is happening in our midst.
