[CS-FSLUG] [OT] A poem for Palm Sunday

[Michael Bradley, Jr.]

                                                            JMJ + OBT

The following poem is a favorite of mine; and well-suited I think to
accompany the commemoration througout the world today of Our Lord's
triumphant entrance into Jerusalem just days before His Passion, Death, and
Resurrection.  Enjoy!




THE DONKEY

When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings
The devil's walking parody
On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.

-- G.K. Chesterton

http://www.chesterton.org/




Actually, I first heard this poem (or a slight variant) recited by the late
Archbishop Fulton Sheen in a recording of one of his last great public
speaking events.  Billy Graham once publicly described Fulton Sheen as "the
greatest communicator of the 20th Century."   Back in the day when Sheen had
his own half-hour television show on network television (in the 50's), his
prepared material, especially the jokes, could border on "cheesy."  But much
of his preaching, incredibly powerful, moves my soul and makes chills run
down my spine whenever I hear it.

The recording I alluded to above is in 3 parts, and may be accessed freely
via EWTN's streaming audio servers (RealAudio proprietary codec; can be
dumped to file and transcoded via mplayer).  In part one, the late
archbishop meditates on Our Lord's entrance into Jerusalem, and then recalls
Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of the city to occur some 40 years.  Part
1 concludes with some thoughts on Our Lord's overturning of the tables of
the money changers in the Temple.

Here is the URL for the audio stream:

         Christ - His Passion and Death, part 1
         rtsp://rx-
wes-sea130.rbn.com/farm/*/ewtn/g2ewtn/g2demand/odaudio/iq_3394.ra


"On April 8, 1977, a record crowd of over 6,000 worshippers came to St.
Agnes Catholic Church in New York City to attend the Good Friday Service
given by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. This was the very same church where, 50
years before, Sheen delivered his first three-hour Good Friday Service as a
young priest. Now the church was filled to capacity, along with the school
cafeteria, gymnasium and classrooms. Finally, NY Police had to shut down
traffic on 43rd and 44th streets to protect the faithful who crowded the
sidewalks outside the church, where loudspeakers carried the inspired words
of the beloved prelate. The TV networks broadcast the Archbishop's remarks
on the evening news and the enlightening event made the front page of the
New York Times. This was truly Archbishop Sheen's finest hour."


With Holy Week upon us, some of you might like to listen to parts 2 and 3 as
well, in which Sheen concentrates on the meaning of Our Lord's suffering,
death, and Resurrection.


rtsp://rx-wes-sea130.rbn.com/farm/*/ewtn/g2ewtn/g2demand/odaudio/iq_3395.ra
rtsp://rx-wes-sea130.rbn.com/farm/*/ewtn/g2ewtn/g2demand/odaudio/iq_3396.ra


Archbishop Fulton Sheen was, of course, a consumate Catholic in His teaching
and worldview; but much of what's contained in this 3-part recording will
have tremendous appeal to Christians of all backgrounds and denominations as
the themes are universal.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do (but I
won't be offended if you don't, tastes differ), and I can only hope they
will help you prepare to celebrate a grace-filled commemoration of Jesus
Christ's resurrection from the dead next Sunday.

In Christ,

Michael Bradley, Jr.

--
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life . . ." (John 14:6)

My home on the Net ::
   http://www.michaelsbradleyjr.net/

IC XC NIKA
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