A Palm Sunday Reflection
For somebody who is beyond measure, God is very specific with the dimensions of space and time. The highly detailed instructions He gave to Moses on how to build the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:10-22) and the Tabernacle (Exodus 26) are overwhelming and impressive. This became the place of worship for the Israelites. One can only imagine what they looked like in real life in all its glory and splendour. Just like God Himself. God wanted His people to experience on Earth the same form of supreme heavenly worship.
For somebody who is beyond measure, God is very specific with the dimensions of space and time. The highly detailed instructions He gave to Moses on how to build the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:10-22) and the Tabernacle (Exodus 26) are overwhelming and impressive. This became the place of worship for the Israelites. One can only imagine what they looked like in real life in all its glory and splendour. Just like God Himself. God wanted His people to experience on Earth the same form of supreme heavenly worship.
The Tabernacle built by Moses became the precursor to the
Jewish temple which was initially constructed by King Solomon (1 Kings 6).
God told Moses to put a veil to separate the holiest part of
the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:33). Only a High Priest was allowed to enter the holy
place behind the veil once sacrifice has been made. During the time of Moses,
priests were handpicked by God and there were not many of them. God chose Aaron
and his sons to be priests of the Israelites (Exodus 28:1). There were only a
select few who can go through the veil to worship.
Today’s Gospel is the story of Christ’s passion and death
which I’ve heard and read countless times. Every word and sentence
carried a painful weight. I was full of sadness listening to the Gospel as told
by our parish during the online mass. But what broke me
to tears was when I heard the veil was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51).
Out of the quite lengthy Gospel reading today, this passage struck me the most.
God Himself made the sacrifice. He sacrificed His own Son.
God Himself tore the veil. He tore the veil that separates us from Him. He tore
a very old tradition and broke the barrier so we can be part of His holiness
and fully receive His love. And through Jesus, we can now move closer to Him.
This COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge hindrance to all of
us in physically experiencing Him during the Holy Mass. The social distancing
and shielding guidelines are also barriers to showing our love to our
neighbour. Similar to what St. Paul said in his letter to the Romans (Rom 8:38-39), I
firmly believe that nothing and nobody could separate us from God’s love. And
someday, in God’s beautiful and perfect time, we will be together again
celebrating Holy Mass in our churches and enjoying the freedom Christ has won
for us though His resurrection.
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