[00:00] Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, tomorrow we will be waving palms as we enter into the holiest week of the year. Those palms represent the glorious entrance of the Messiah into Jerusalem. But today we commemorate the gathering of the storm clouds because the final battle

[00:37] is about to begin. It's the battle on the hill of Calvary that Jesus wins with His death, His self-sacrifice, and ultimately His resurrection. But today we look at this mystery; it's the Christian paradox of the fact that the victory, which is a new and a vigorous life, the life of the resurrection, begins in exile, suffering

[01:13] and death. And those are the instruments that God uses to bring about the new life of the resurrection. In the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, we have a prophecy, a messianic prophecy of a glorious future, a time when God will take all the exiled Israelites and purify them and bring them into one nation under a new David, establishing a sanctuary among them

[01:48] forever. That prophecy really describes Easter Sunday and that victory that comes about through the risen humanity of Jesus Christ, the true and eternal sanctuary. How does God bring this about? We heard in the Gospel of John the prophecy of Caiaphas: "this dark, even you could say

[02:23] almost malicious and cunning political solution to the problem that Caiaphas sees." So he plots murder out of political fear. But God uses this wicked plot to accomplish the prophecy of Ezekiel. Jesus will die not just for the nation, but as we heard in the prophecy, to gather into one the dispersed children of God.

[02:53] The old covenant is ending and the kingdom of God is being opened to the world. Consider the contrast between the high priest Caiaphas and the mother of the true High Priest, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Caiaphas decrees the death of Jesus with cold and self-serving calculation, and he treats

[03:26] the Son of God as a political pawn. Mary, too, knew that Jesus had to die, and at the foot of the cross, she stood there. But unlike Caiaphas, she was not plotting. She gave her assent, and we recently have focused on the doctrine of the co-redemption

[03:57] and the title co-redemptrix. And there's controversy and debate, but ultimately, the cardinal prefect for the Dicastery on the Doctrine of the Faith did admit that the term could be used for those who know what it means. And for those who know what it means, it's important that we explain so that everybody understands. And so the Second Vatican Council spoke of this and said that the Blessed Virgin Mary

[04:33] "devoted herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her Son, freely cooperating in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience." When the sword of sorrow pierced her soul, she did not curse the men who crucified her Son. Instead, as the co-redemptrix, she united her immaculate heart to His sacred heart. Her motherhood was not merely passive.

[05:04] It was a fully active cooperation in the Father's plan of salvation. Caiaphas sacrificed Jesus to save his own power, but Mary sacrificed her maternal rights over her Son to save our souls, and that's what the co-redemption is. The Redeemer, coming to do the will of His Father, coming as a sacrifice for mankind, was assisted by His mother, who participated actively, as we hear, by assenting to the

[05:42] will of God, and thus also to the sacrifice of her Son for the salvation of souls. So indeed, by His death, Christ has gathered into one the scattered children of God. For us, this truth means that we're also invited to participate in the mystery of redemption. We too are called to be co-redeemers.

[06:14] That's just part of being a Christian. We are the dispersed children of God whom Jesus died to gather. We are the children given to the Blessed Mother at the foot of the cross. When we face our own moments of exile, suffering, or feeling as though the world is plotting against us, we must remember that God uses these very trials to bring forth new life.

[06:49] Like Mary, the new Eve, who untied the knot of disobedience with her faith, we're called to say yes to God's difficult will. So as we approach Holy Week and enter into this holiest moment of purification in anticipation of the glory, we should enter and make our pilgrimage through Holy Week to the foot

[07:21] of the cross, holding the hand of Mary, our mother, and co-redemptrix. And when we look at the cross, let us not remember only the physical suffering of Jesus, but look beside Him and see the spiritual martyrdom of His Blessed Mother. And let's ask her to give us a share in her courage and her perfect obedience.

[07:54] Through Christ, death gives life. His sacrifice, united with the compassionate suffering of His mother, opened the gates of heaven and gathered us into the eternal sanctuary. So let us enter Holy Week with hearts made ready to suffer for Him and with Him, that we too may also share in the glory of His resurrection, along with His Blessed Mother,

[08:26] who did not sin, but suffered for us with her Son in His sacrifice for our purification. Praise be Jesus and Mary. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.