Isaiah 50:4-7 / Philippians 2:6-11 / Mark 14:1 -15:47
During the last couple of days of national mourning for the founding father of our nation, there were long queues to the Parliament House where the body of the late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew is lying in state.
On Friday when the numbers swelled by the thousands, there was an astonishing announcement by the State Funeral Organizing Committee.
Singaporeans were “strongly advised” not to join the queue to pay their last respects as the waiting time in the queue could be as long as 8 hours or even 10 hours!
Then on Friday night the queue to pay last respects to the late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew was suspended until further notice for the safety and wellbeing of those in line.
What was astonishing was that Singaporeans were advised NOT to join the queue to pay their last respects.
It was astonishing because the higher the number of people paying respect, the more impressive it would be in terms of publicity.
But the huge crowds made it too overwhelming for crowd control.
But it is understandable that Singaporeans want to pay their last respects to the man who made what Singapore is today.
In the gospel we hear of another man whom the people had cheered and then later on jeered at.
In the gospel passage on the entrance to Jerusalem, the people spread their garments on the road and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields as Jesus rode on a colt.
The crowds cried out “Hosanna!” to acknowledge Jesus as the Saviour.
But Jesus didn’t ask for the adulation of the crowds or for their tribute.
Then in the long gospel passage on the suffering and death of Jesus, we heard of the crowd again. And this time they cried out “Crucify him!”
The crowd had turned against Jesus and even His disciples had abandoned Him.
In the depths of His distress, Jesus even cried out “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”
The man who sacrificed His life to save humanity was abandoned, mocked and humiliated to a shameful death on the cross.
Today, we the Church honours and praise Jesus for saving us through His dying on the cross.
As we enter into Holy Week and into the Holy Triduum, what Jesus is asking of us is to stay close to Him as we recall His suffering and death.
If our nation can be overwhelming in paying respect and tribute to the man for what he did for us and for our country, then all the more we must unite ourselves more fervently with Jesus in recalling His suffering and death.
Jesus suffered and died to save us because of His love for us.
Suffering and dying without love is futile and worthless.
In meditating and uniting ourselves with Jesus in His suffering and death, may we also offer up our lives to Jesus and die to ourselves so that we will discover the meaning of love and sacrifice.
May the love of Jesus overwhelm us so that we will be able to offer our lives for the salvation of others.
Jesus did it. The late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew did it too. Will we be willing to do it too?
(The Roman Catholic Church, along with the rest of Singapore, mourns the loss of our nation’s founding father, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. In memory of the late Mr Lee, Archbishop William Goh celebrated Mass at St Joseph’s Church (Victoria St) on Friday, 27 March. A copy of his homily "The Founding Father as a Befitting Title Given to Mr Lee Kuan Yew" can be found here)