This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the liturgical celebration of Jesus' final Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem. As the Torah commanded, He traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover
in the Spring, Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks fifty days later, and
Tabernacles in the fall (Ex.23:14-17; 34:22-23). Keeping the feasts allowed the Jewish people to not only
relive Israel’s deliverance, the giving of the Law, and entrance into the
Promised Land; but to look ahead to the time when the Messiah would usher in a
period of unequaled freedom, faithfulness, and prosperity. That reached a fever pitch when Jesus entered Jerusalem amidst the other pilgrims on Palm Sunday.
Why make pilgrimage to Jerusalem? Because of the Temple! It is impossible to overstate the Temple's importance in Judaism. It was the only place on earth from which
legitimate sacrifice, avodah, could
be offered by Israel’s Levitical priests.
The synagogue and prayer in the home were never a substitute for the sacrificial worship of the Temple, but means for those living at a distance to unite themselves to it. Prayer in the synagogue took place facing the Temple, at the same time as the morning and evening sacrifice.
And although Jews recognized that the universe itself couldn’t contain God, His presence in their Temple was utterly unique. It was “His House.” Just look at the love and esteem Jesus showed for His "Father's House" throughout the gospels.
And all of these elements have of course been carried over into Christianity - pilgrimage, the centrality of sacrifice (Jesus' sacrifice, made present in the Eucharist), and even our church buildings as "God's House."
Now, in the title of this post I mentioned that there is an ironic aspect to making a pilgrimage. I do not mean to discount the wonderful experience that pilgrimage can be - traveling to the places where the awesome events in salvation history took place and being able to pray there. It simply strikes me that the most important pilgrimage we can make is the one we make down the road each Sunday morning to the local parish where Jesus, God Himself, is present in the tabernacle. We visit God's House, where we enter into Jesus' Passover from earth to the Heaven in the Eucharistic celebration! There are surely wonderful benefits to be gained in making a pilgrimage overseas, but it cannot objectively bring you into any more intimate contact with God than your mini-pilgrimage to Palm Sunday Mass in your local parish. And that is something to celebrate!
It is a snowy Palm Sunday, and I just finished re-reading the Martyrdom of Polycarp (written c.155 A.D.). After the Acts of the Apostles' recounting of the martyrdom of Stephen, MoP is the earliest Christian writing focused on the martyrdom of an individual. Polycarp was an amazing figure by all accounts - instructed and ordained bishop of Smyrna by the Apostle John, he spent over half his life in ordained service to the Church; and he finished strong.
When told that his life would be spared if he but swear by Caesar and curse Christ, he responded, "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any
injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour? ... You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and after a
little is extinguished, but you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and
of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. Why do you hesitate? Bring
forth what you will."
Polycarp's courage at that moment was a participation in Jesus' own when facing the Cross - and God did not want the Church or the world to miss that truth: the magistrate who had Polycarp hunted and taken into custody bore the name Herod, and he had Polycarp led into the city on a donkey - like Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
