Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

 Lectionary: 37

As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. They proclaimed: 

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.”

Several years ago, the banner of The Onion, the satirical American magazine, announced, "Kim Jong-Un Named The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive For 2012."

"With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true. Blessed with an air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side, Kim made this newspaper’s editorial board swoon with his impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle, and, of course, that famous smile."

Kim Jong-Un is the dictator of North Korea. The incident garnered little attention beyond Onion readership until NPR ran another story, "Sexiest Man Alive Gets 'The Onion' Taken Seriously." 

The Onion's ardor was so persuasive that the official Chinese People's Daily English language website not only ran the "Sexiest Man Alive" dispatch word-for-word, but added a 55-photo slideshow of Kim, riding a gray and white stallion and touring factories.

It seems that totalitarian regimes like North Korea have little sense of humor and no sense of irony. They cannot -- dare not -- distance themselves from their beliefs, attitudes, or powerful leaders. They must not smirk, titter, or roll their eyes in his presence, and his presence is everywhere. A wink at a comrade may cost your life. Nor can they recognize satire when their enemies turn it upon them. They cannot image such humor; the very instinct has atrophied beneath the fear of their own leadership. 

Those inclined to totalitarianism have a clear sense of what is good: the dear leader, his ideas, abilities, and personal traits, plus his friends, family, and supporters. Evil includes other opinions and all opposition to the leader. 

From ancient times this humorless approach to life is known as Manicheanism, the belief that the differences of good and evil are very clear. People choose either one or the other, and they know which they're choosing. Evil people knowingly, intentionally choose evil. Good people, of course, do the right and sensible thing; they choose good. (You and I are obviously on the side of the angels.) 

Palm Sunday celebrates the arrival of Jesus into the Holy City of Jerusalem. The annual feast is touched deeply with irony, for the "holy city" will erupt in savage violence within a week of Jesus's arrival. Both leaders and people will demand that their Roman overlords exercise their ruling responsibilities and crucify the intruder, the very man they'd welcomed with hysterical energy. The City of God will destroy God. 

To add to the irony, the Church reenacts Palm Sunday, as the faithful carry palm leaves in welcome; and, a few minutes later, declaim with the populace, “Crucify him!  Crucify him!” We again overrule the Roman procurator who asks, “What evil has this man done?"

The ceremony exposes our hypocrisy and we confess it without hesitation. We love the Lord but we also love our self will; we show our love for the Lord and his Church in many ways, and yet we betray our own good intentions habitually. In our better moments we're more likely to pray with Saint Paul, "I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want." than we are to declare with the psalmist (Ps 44), All this (violence) has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, nor been disloyal to your covenant."

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving have prepared us for this moment - I write this with more than a touch of irony for I know my own halfhearted attempts to observe the season -- and we pray that the God who is just and merciful will not spit us out of his mouth.