Palm Sunday: The Divine Power Of Non-Violence
Franciscan Reflections From The Hermitage –
The Divine Power Of Non-Violence
Palm Sunday Year C – Luke 22:14-23:56
This is our proclamation following the Christ event: the spirituality of reciprocal violence, the culture of death, the nature of just war and self-preservation… all, all have been overthrown… a dead God, hanging from a cross of shame shows us the way that ends the circle of violence that has plagued our world since the murder of Abel.
A proclamation that is an act of divine power, of non-violence that is seditious to the core of every cultural institution known to human history, caught in endless spirals of scapegoating violence. On the one hand, there is the wisdom of the world that is foolishness in God’s sight. On the other, there is the wisdom of the Gospel that is the most potent subversive force in human history. A grandmother offering sunflower seeds to a herald of death understands this power superbly.
We have journeyed with Jesus through the wilderness of the desert and have been stripped of all bravado, all the masks have dissolved, the idols exposed, and in the words of Hosea, the ‘re-espousal of God’s beloved’ promises a new beginning, the undoing of what was done.
Joining ourselves to this act of universal forgiveness undoes and re-frames all our suffering, our longing, for this is the subversion and the reversion of our consciousness that unfetters the bonds enslaving us to the sufferings of the time before now. The false self and its addiction to the re-enactment of suffering, now gives way, and we begin to see ourselves reflected in the eyes of the Lover and no matter who or what institution may deem me as less holy, less innocent, of less value; this is who I am!
This act of love, redemption, and healing is seen reciprocated by the beloved as Mary Magdalene anoints Jesus on behalf of us all, totally vulnerable and forgetful of self. The heart-constancy of a lifetime compressed into this single moment as the hearts of Lover and beloved beat as one. Yesterday and tomorrow come together in this moment of now, our heart beats now with Jesus, beats with the Christ, becomes one with the Christ beyond our fourth dimension of time.
When we experience this ‘oneing with God’, we participate in this act of universal forgiveness, acknowledging the real over illusion, becoming the reality of whom we were created to be with ‘I Am’.
Let us replace our wining and dining of the influential, the judges, the buyers, and the benefactors, with a true and deeper presence to those who are lonely, those rejected by society, those considered of little or no value in the supply chain, the outsiders and all those considered “the least among us”. As we go out into our streets, we find them everywhere. Take this time of Holy Week to be present to them, to talk to them and spend time with them, acknowledging them.
DEATH is the greatest teacher of all.
Greater than all human philosophies.
Truer than any religion.
Death strips away the lies, the pretence.
Death makes a mockery of our resentment.
It burns our greed, grudges and grievances.
Death invites us to be utterly present.
To let go.
To forgive.
To meet, without history.
Death makes it plain that only love matters.
That only love makes life worth living.
And all else is dust.
Death is a ruthless portal.
Worldly riches are powerless against it.
Hatred cannot survive it.
Only love can pass through it.
We return to our True Nature.
The cycle is complete.
– Jeff Foster
- The Church Year and Advent - December 1, 2024
- Easter Sunday Reflection: The Way – Love Overcomes Violence & Death - March 29, 2024
- Palm Sunday Reflection: Re-Espousing And Anointing - March 22, 2024
