KOTA KINABALU: The St Simon Catholic Church Likas parish priest Fr Cosmas Lee reminded the community to face the reality of Christ’s Passion during Palm Sunday, April 9.
“We imitated the Jews, the followers of Jesus, who greeted and saluted the Messiah with exultation, boisterously, in joy,” he said, referring to the procession from the parish hall to the main church.
“But we must face the reality of accepting the Messiah and the reality of His passion, the journey of His suffering has been read and given to us. This Word of the Lord’s Passion should be received in our heart, put before the vision of our spirit the whole week.
“It is very sobering, it has to be taken seriously because after all the exultant shouting, we must now take the cross with the Lord in humility, in patience, to complete it.
“If you have listened to the Passion read to you, you would have noticed the terrible tragedy, the indecisiveness of different people and that the victim of all this was Jesus. And yet in a strange way, Jesus was in complete control over all these tragic turns of events.
“He was the Lord of His suffering. How did He do it? Why was He in control? Because, brothers and sisters, He did the will of God. He chose the will of God, He chose to be free.
“To be free, brothers and sisters, is to choose what God asks us to do. Not what we plan, design and wish to do – let Your will, not mine, be done. That’s freedom, that’s salvation, that’s control – real control in our lives.
“So through this week, brothers and sisters, let us choose what God wants us to do – to follow Jesus. When we have decided to do that, we will be free. Never mind the insults, pains – we will be free – for we shall rise with Him at Easter,” he said, concluding his sermon.
St Simon Catholic Church Likas 