Destiny and Palm Sunday
by Father Francis P. DeSiano, CSP
April 10, 2014

What do we think about destiny? Often it is claimed, but really, do things have to happen? Was our nation destined to be as it is – could not the Civil War have gone another way and made things different? Were we destined to live in the times we live, or is that the way we choose to see it?

Matthew’s Passion goes out of its way to show Jesus destined – from the preparation of the Passover meal, to the fleeing of the disciples, to the treachery of Judas. St. Matthew and the other early Christians combed the Jewish Scriptures, seeing pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. But it wasn’t only the Scriptures; it was the history of our human hearts that accounted for the destiny Jesus.

For the sin we have chosen, and still choose again and again, had to be shown before heaven and earth; surely, the way Jesus was humiliated and murdered reveals the meaning of just these choices. And the way death robs us of promise and hope had to be directly faced. How could our death be conquered without going through it, without tasting it, without transforming it into loving gift?

The destiny of Jesus is the destiny of the Kingdom of God, the slow but steady working out of God’s vision for humankind renewed and transformed. We begin this week in blood; but we will end this week with brilliant light shining from within a tomb. We may not know exactly how our different personal stories work out, but Jesus continues his invitation: be one with me, make your destiny mine, let me bring you through your fears, your pain, so you can forever drink wine anew with me in the sweetness of my Kingdom.