03/30/2026
A reflection on Palm Sunday from Archbishop Grob:
I invite you now simply to take a moment. Take a moment to prepare yourselves. I will do the same. Let us take a moment to prepare ourselves to ponder what we are about to enter into. Not just the reading of the story from of old, but the continual unfolding of God’s love and God’s salvation.
Surrender is often times seen as a “dirty” word in a control-focused culture. Surrender smacks of defeat, of failure. Surrender is to give up. To admit that we’ve made a mess of things, to let go of our dreams and wants. To see our respect and pride disintegrate before our crushed spirit. Some will say only losers surrender. And yet, surrender takes many forms. We can surrender to the truth of situation rather than resist it. We can surrender our need to be in control for the betterment of another. We can even surrender our own agenda for the greater good.
On Golgotha, Jesus does the hardest thing anyone can do. He surrenders. He gives back everything to God. The Passion according to Matthew that we hear this year, emphasizes that fact. It states that he, Jesus, gave up his spirit, at least that’s how it ends on the cross. He surrendered himself so that all might come to pass and be completed. St. Paul, in the second reading that we already heard, uses a more compelling word. Paul uses the word empty. To empty. Recall the passage: 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.
For the fulfillment of God’s reign, for the sake of all of us, Jesus surrenders. He gives up. He empties. He gives back to God what God has given to us, namely his life. His very self. And so, as we continue the journey of this Holy Week, are you and I willing to surrender at all? What will we still hold on to and refuse to let go of? Let's find ourselves now in the Passion as it unfolds.
