"Dare To Believe" Mar 31, 2023

Dare to Believe!

Jesus looked so weak on that hill that day. He had no sword and no spear, not even one soldier on His side. All of the cards were stacked against Him The only thing He could do was pray, depend on God, forgive His enemies, and then die. Has the world ever witnessed a more pitiful display of weakness than that?

How much more impressive it would have been if He had grabbed a sword from one of the soldiers and defended Himself. But that did not happen, He simply died. And when the struggle was over, it certainly seemed that violence was the victor.

But two thousand years later, we gather on Palm Sunday not in honor of the military might of the Roman Empire, but in honor of a Man who died on a cross. His apparent defeat at Calvary has turned out to be a strange kind of failure. It has given Him a place in history like nothing else that has ever happened. Without striking a blow. No violence, no hate, only love.

He has conquered more hearts and changed more minds than Caesar’s soldiers ever dreamed. Jesus showed us that the cross really is a symbol of victory. Love is stronger than hate, faith really is more valid than cynicism, peace really is more powerful than brute force.

The question for us this Lent is, do we dare to believe it? Do we dare to try it?
Fr. Robert T. Cooper, Pastor
Divine Mercy Parish and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School