PALM SUNDAY! It’s also called: the PASSION OF THE DIVINE! Jesus, while nailed on the cross, He held firm our names on his palms and carried us into his heart, and prayed: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do!” The content of his prayer isn’t hatred, but love; and it’s not death but life, He said: “Today you will be with me in paradise!”

At this time due to outbreak of Coronavirus-19, our faith-life has been impacted in great length. “In light of measures being taken to contain the outbreak and avoid further illness, many of us may be hesitant to leave our homes. In many areas, Mass and other church services may not be available. [But] it is at this time exact moment that our faith is most needed” (Bishop Barron’s words)

This Gospel reminds us that the way we see best, is through the eyes of faith, for then we see the world the way God sees it. But first we have to recognize that without Jesus, we are truly blind.

Jesus invites us in this Eucharistic table – our “well of encounter” today. He comes so close to us that we can see him with our own eyes, hear him with our own ears and touch him with our own hands. We become part of him; and he becomes a part of us, the God-within!

We tend to believe good times will last forever. While it's nice to be optimistic in that respect, we tend to worry that the bad times will last forever as well. The truth is that life is a series of contrasts—mountaintop experiences followed by deep valleys.

Friends, we’re like the two men on a camping trip, called: a passage of renewal in the SEASON OF LENT. However, fear hides us under a blanket of a desperate humanity immersed in a pathetic world of hopelessness.

We begin our Lenten readings in a most appropriate place: the desert. In the desert, life is stripped to basics and everything, including our weakness, is exposed. We are forced to stand alone and vulnerable before God. Our faith is put to the test. Little wonder, then, that Jesus went to the desert to fast and pray before plunging into his public works. It's there, amid the rocks and reptiles, that the devil comes to him with three temptations.

During the Season of Lent, let’s develop a habit of doing the following: “a loving word a day keeps temptations away,” “a prayer a day keeps the devil away,” and “a Eucharist a day keeps Satan away.” By practicing these habits – we might have a “temptation free” week.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays out many of his basic life teachings. Several of them are extraordinarily difficult for us to understand, much less put into practice. Two of these are the famous "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemy" admonitions. To understand what Jesus is saying and what it means to us today, we first need to understand the context in which Jesus is speaking.

“Love your enemies… pray for those who persecute you…” Challenging words! If we embrace them, they empower us to become non-violence’s disciples; they energize us to become peace’s instruments; and they animate us to become reconciliation’s channels. But humanly speaking, the moment we hear those words, we instantly and vehemently snub them. We might be roaring: “Are you crazy? How can I love someone who murdered my family? How can I pray for someone who betrayed me, who destroyed my honor, and who hated me so much? IMPOSSIBLE!”

This week's Gospel is all about the Law. It starts with the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, which contains Jesus's teaching about loving your enemies, as well as the Beatitudes. We may never have given any thought as to why Jesus gave these teachings on the side of a mountain, but the time and place matter if we are to truly understand how radical Jesus's message was in his time.

Today’s gospel urges us to treasure forgiveness’ life-force. Jesus reveals to us the process on how forgiveness becomes a reconciling way of life; he said: “… if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

In order to understand what Jesus is telling us in today's Gospel, we need to consider what salt and light meant in his time. Because we can buy all the salt we could ever need at our local grocery and we have light anytime we want at the flick of a switch, we may not realize how special both were in ancient Israel. Salt was so valuable it was part of the pay of Roman soldiers. Light came only in the form of fire or small oil lamps. In both cases, salt and light were valuable.

When Joseph and Mary came to the Temple forty days after Jesus was born in order to fulfill the ritual of the presentation of the firstborn, Mary was adjusting to life with a new baby and a husband. She probably wasn’t thinking about all the struggles and hard times that would lie ahead for her baby boy.

The gospel tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds, he saw them, not with his eyes, but by the compassion of his heart. He saw every kind of life’s status: the poor and rich, the elderly and young, the orphans and widows, the proud and humble, homeless, the lame, the blind, the sick, and the strangers, then with love he told them “blessed are you...” Then he enumerated to them clearly the beatitudes, one by one. And the beatitudes ignited hope, and conversion in their hearts, because they are blessings that never fade and graces that never end.

In today's Gospel, we see Jesus's reaction to the news that his cousin John has been arrested: he goes into seclusion back at home in Galilee, maybe for one last visit home with Mary, and then begins gathering the band of followers who will become his apostles.

Jesus invites everyone to consider “servant-leadership” modeled on his leadership, and be “fishers of men” by following the gospel values.

When we say the words of the Agnus Dei, or Lamb of God, during Mass, we are directly quoting John the Baptist. The scene is set on the banks of the Jordan River. John has been gathering disciples by powerfully calling for repentance in light of the coming kingdom of God. One day, as he sees Jesus, he cries out, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!"

“Lamb of God” is Jesus’ identity! “Who takes the sin of the world” is his mission! And when the “Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world,” we witness a fundamental spiritual changing moment: we witness the power of Jesus’ creative love.

On this first Sunday of Ordinary Time, we recall the Baptism of the Lord. But, in addition to remembering this historical event, we also are asked to call to mind our own baptism. Why? Because our baptism isn't just an event from the past, but a present reality that impacts every aspect of our lives.