Bryce
The Second Semester
Chapter 34 - Palm Sunday
Once again it happened that a Sigma Alpha Tau party was scheduled on a Friday before the regular bi-weekly trash pick-up to which the fraternity had committed itself on Saturday morning. Once again, this resulted in a less than full turn-out on Saturday. Nonetheless, Bryce and Damon were there at seven a.m., even though neither really wanted to be. The officers of the fraternity felt it incumbent on them to also be there, as did those who had declared their candidacy for office in the elections scheduled for later in the semester. But only about half the run-of-the-mill brother showed up. Terry Hoffman was assiduous in recording who was present and who was not, so there could be no question at the next business meeting. With such a low turnout, it took much longer to complete the area assigned to the fraternity along the highway leading to the airport, so it was late morning, nearing lunchtime, when they all got back to the fraternity house. One of the brothers who had slept in rather than help with the cleanup suggested a soccer match that afternoon. He was nearly lynched by his exhausted confreres.
Bryce and Damon grabbed a quick lunch, then returned to Clay Hall, where they collapsed into bed for several hours.
Then, remembering that the next day was DeShawn Quinlan’s birthday, the two went shopping for a suitable present. Of course, each of them had brought something back from Puerto Rico for the youngster, but something really special, such as they had for his buddy Malcolm, was definitely called for. After all, DeShawn was the original car watcher, who had recruited Malcolm, more or less, and who had made certain Bryce’s prized Mustang remained safe each Sunday while he and Damon worked at the soup kitchen run by the St. Vincent de Paul Society. After spending some time at the mall, at Damon’s suggestion and thanks to an enthusiastic salesperson who went beyond the ordinary to check on monthly charges, Bryce purchased a smartphone with all the latest features, and had it completely ready to use before the day was out. He was not certain who the young man would be contacting with his new phone and IM capability, but he knew he would enjoy the games and the photographic abilities of the device. They were able to find a good model HTC Wildfire S for just under $150, plus MetroPCS service, which included camera and unlimited music downloads as well as unlimited talk time and texting. Of course, Bryce also arranged to have the $60 bill for the monthly contract amount sent to him, as DeShawn clearly could not afford to pay that cost. Damon commented that he wished he had a fairy godfather like Bryce when he turned nine. Bryce then made a big deal out of being called a fairy, leading to some horsing around. Seeing a mall guard approaching, the two ducked out with their purchase, and made their way back to the dorm, where the interplay between them led to some very enjoyable results.
That evening, Bryce and Damon went to El Rincon Latina for dinner. As they expected, Isobel Sandoval confirmed that Mike, in his professional guise as Miguel, was working that evening, and seated them at his table. Almost immediately, Mike appeared and delivered his standard spiel.
“Burnos tardes, Seńores. My name is Miguel, and I will be your waiter this evening. What would you like to drink?”
As he went through this speech, Mike had a big grin on his face, knowing his friends were going to have something really shitty to say in return. Sure enough, as soon as he finished, Bryce ordered an Old Fashioned, and Damon stuck in his desire for a Gin Fizz. With a straight face, Mike took their orders, left menus, and departed. That left Bryce and Damon wondering what he was up to, which was exactly what he intended. After a reasonable length of time, Mike returned with drinks for both guys. Bryce’s was colored a tawny shade, while Damon’s was almost clear. The two were amazed, thinking for just a moment Mike had actually filled their orders. The first sip, however, revealed the deception, leading to a round of comments on the weak drinks served at this place, with added threats of what the two diners would do to Mike when they caught him unawares in a deserted location. Mike just grinned, enjoying having turned their trick back on them. He then took their dinner orders and again departed.
After dinner, the two returned to campus. Bryce had his second examination in Dr. Dickinson’s class on Eighteenth-Century Britain on Monday, and knew he would have little time for studying on Sunday until late. Damon likewise had an English test scheduled, so both of them spend Saturday evening hitting the books.
That Sunday was Palm Sunday. In preparation for the event, Bryce explained to Damon the significance of the feast. He talked about the celebration when Jesus appeared on the road into Jerusalem, leading to the crowd hailing him as the Son of David and the Messiah. This obviously sent shockwaves through the establishment, leading them to expect an armed rebellion. It would not be the first time the Jews rebelled against the Roman occupation of Palestine. None of them thus far had been successful, but there were memories of the successful uprising under Judas Maccabaeus about two hundred years previously. While a great national victory, that event did not presage the arrival of the Messiah, as Judas was not a member of the House of David. What neither the established powers nor the crowds realized was that, as Jesus put it when questioned by the Roman governor, “my kingdom is not of this world.” When there was no immediate call for an uprising against the Romans, the crowds turned on Jesus, and only a few days later they would be calling for his execution. Damon commented that he was familiar with the fickleness of crowds, having lived through several demonstrations in Chicago.
On this Sunday morning, rather than go directly into the church when they arrived, Bryce and Damon gathered with others, including the Sandovals, near the parish school. There, in a porch providing some protection from the breeze which was blowing that morning, the celebrant, Father Payne, began with the blessing of the palms. Bryce pointed out to Damon two tables piled high with palm branches. The choir began the service with an antiphon based on the clamor of the crowds on that original Palm Sunday: “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” After a brief prayer, Father Payne then blessed the palm fronds, sprinkling them with holy water as he prayed, “Almighty and ever-living God, sanctify these branches with your blessing, that we, who follow Christ the King in exultation, may reach the eternal Jerusalem through him, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.” This was followed by a reading from the Gospel According to St. Mark relating the story of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, including the incident of Jesus riding on a young ass. The priest then admonished the crowd to continue to follow Jesus, and not to be lukewarm and fickle, like the crowd on the original Palm Sunday.
Then, led by Father Payne with altar servers with processional cross, thurible, and candles, and carrying the blessed palms, the congregation set out in procession to the church. As they did, led by the choir, they sang a psalm beginning, “The Lord’s is the earth and the fullness thereof,” based on Psalm 24. The refrain, repeated six times, was the verse, “The children of the Hebrews, carrying olive branches, went to meet the Lord, crying out and saying: Hosanna in the highest.” As they walked in procession, some irreverent wag said in the hearing of Bryce and Damon, “Jesus had it better than I do on the way to work. At least he got to sit on his ass, but I have to stand on the damn bus most mornings.” A woman nearby, presumably his wife, shushed him.
As the procession entered the church and began to find their seats, they, led by the choir, sang the familiar hymn attributed to St. Theodulf of Orleans, who was a contemporary of Charlemagne around the year 800.
All glory, laud, and honor to you Redeemer, King!
To whom the lips of children made loud hosannas ring.
You are the King of Israel, and David’s royal son,
Who in the Lord’s name comes now, the King and Blessed One.
The original was in Latin, of course. By the time they had finished the third verse, everyone in the congregation was in a pew, the choir was in the choir loft, and Father Payne, the deacons, and the altar servers were in the sanctuary. These rituals took the place of the usual introductory and penitential rites at the beginning of Mass, so they were ready for the first reading, taken from the fiftieth chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. This was followed by another responsorial psalm, consisting of verses taken from Psalm 22, with the refrain, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Then came a reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians, in which the apostle writes, “he emptied himself, taking on the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
These readings were followed by the lengthy Passion Gospel, taken this year from The Gospel According to St. Mark, like that earlier about the entry into Jerusalem. The account of the Passion of the Christ in this version runs from chapter 14, verse 1 through chapter 15, verse 47, a much longer reading than was usual on Sundays. This was a so-called dialogue reading, in which the priest, two other readers, and the congregation all had parts to read. It covers the account of the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfumes, the prediction of the Passion, the institution of the Eucharist, the Agony in the Garden, the arrest of Jesus and his trial before the High Priest, the denial of Jesus by Peter, the trial before Pontius Pilate, the unruly crowds demanding the release of Barabbas rather than Jesus, the scourging of Jesus, the carrying of the cross to Golgatha, the mocking, and the death of Jesus. At this point, when the narrator read the line, “Jesus gave a loud cry and expired,” the entire congregation sank to its knees for a moment to consider the momentous event just recounted. Then, in a kind of codicil, the narrator read the account of the burial of Jesus.
This lengthy reading was carried out with an unusual silence on the part of the congregation. There was less of the usual coughing, child crying, shuffling, and other background noises common on most Sundays. Fortunately, Damon had been briefed by Bryce, and knew what to expect, so he was not caught unawares by these unusual ceremonies. From this point on, the Mass was continued in its usual pace. Bryce noticed that Damon seemed to be paying greater attention than usual, and to be considering what he was witnessing.
It was later than usual, because of the additional elements in this Sunday’s Mass, by the time they got to the Olive Garden, so Bryce, Damon, and the Sandoval contingent had to wait a bit before being seated. It was impossible to carry on much conversation, except about insignificant things, while waiting in the crowded reception area, so that’s what they talked about. Only when seated did Damon say, “That was a very powerful ceremony this morning.”
“Powerful in what way?” Mike asked.
“Well, you know, usually we just sit there, or engage in your Catholic aerobics – standing, kneeling, bowing, and sitting. But this time there was the procession beforehand. Then, when that long passage about the crucifixion was read, there were different parts, including group readings for those of us in the pews. That was different. It got you involved more. I felt really weird when we were supposed to read the words of the crowd, ‘crucify him!’ We had to do that twice.”
“It was not always so,” Isobel Sandoval commented. “It used to be that the congregation just stood for the entire reading, like we usually do for the reading of the Gospel on any other Sunday. But this dialogue version has been around for some time now. It seems to work if, like you say, it gets you involved. That’s the idea.”
“I like the part where everybody kneels for a minute when Jesus dies, too. That’s really cool,” Kyle added.
“I agree with Damon that reading the words ‘crucify him!’ makes me uncomfortable,” Bryce admitted.
“In that case, this way of doing things is accomplishing it’s purpose,” Isobel reminded him. “After all, the theology involved says we are all guilty of the death of Christ. He died to redeem all of us from our sins. It wasn’t just a bunch of people in Jerusalem a long time ago who brought this about.”
“Is that so?” Damon asked. “You guys believe we are all guilty, like the crowds who were there?”
“Yes, Mrs. Sandoval is right,” Bryce said. “I remember now covering this in a class back in high school. If we humans did not sin, there would have been no need for the Son of God to come to earth as a human – like what St. Paul said in the second reading this morning, ‘taking on the form of a slave.’ That means God, in his manifestation as the second person of the Trinity, actually became human in order to redeem the human race from the consequences of its sinfulness. Only God could satisfy the insult done to God by our sinfulness, but he loved us so much he went through all that so we could have the possibility of eternal happiness.”
“Back home, in Brother Timothy’s church where my mom goes, I guess the basic message is the same, but it’s presented in a much more emotional way, with lots of shouting and people bursting into tears. And I never heard any kind of real explanation, just believe it or you’re going to hell,” David added.
“Well, despite all the differences, your mother’s church and mine are still manifestations of the Christian Gospel. I just think my version makes a lot more sense,” Mike said.
“So do I,” David agreed.
“That’s something to think about,” Damon said. “Not just the comparison between what we experienced this morning and what goes on in places like David’s church – oops, sorry, David. I should have said your mother’s church – but the whole thing. The thought behind it, and the way it is conveyed to people.”
“Of course,” Bryce said, “there are people who feel no need for redemption. Remember our encounter with Jason a couple of days ago. As far as he’s concerned, all this is ... what did he call it? ... ancient myths and superstitions, or something like that.”
“Well, if Jason thinks people don’t need redeeming, he’s just sticking his head in the sand. How can you even listen to the news, or read a newspaper, and not realize that something is wrong with us?” Damon declared with unexpected warmth.
Kathy, Kyle’s pregnant girlfriend, began to weep. “Hey, what’s with the tears?” Kyle solicitously asked.
“It’s me. I caused the death of Jesus,” she cried.
“Whoa. What makes you think you are any more responsible than the rest of us?” Kyle enquired.
“How can you ask that? Look at me!” Kathy insisted, standing up and placing her hand on her swollen belly.
There was a pause, then Bryce jumped in. “Kathy, I think you kind of missed what we were saying before. All of us are responsible, not just a few. And I think you’re making a mistake thinking whatever went on between you and Kyle is any different than what most people do on a daily basis.”
“How can you say that?” she cried. “Look at me!”
“You’re kind of asking the wrong person if you’re wanting a romantic response, Kathy. But I think you look beautiful. There’s nothing wrong with pregnancy and childbirth. Maybe you and Kyle kind of jumped the gun here, but you’re sure not alone in that. As I see it, you’re being very responsible, and even very caring, in carrying your child, and so is Kyle in standing by you. After all, you couldn’t do this by yourself. It takes two to make a child. Actually, it takes three.”
“Three?” Kathy asked.
“You, Kyle, and God,” Bryce explained. “Not every time a man and a woman have sex does it result in a child. God has to be there, too. It was God who infused the human soul, the immortal soul, into the flesh you and Kyle provided. Think of it as a partnership. In that sense, it’s like the entire process of salvation. As hard as we try, we humans still screw up every day. We could not attain eternal salvation alone. But God steps in because he loves us. God only knows why, and I mean that literally. God grants us his grace. He makes it possible for us to go that extra mile, and actually make our fumbling efforts mean something. Salvation, like childbirth, is a cooperative effort between us and God.”
“But Kyle and I had sex ...,” Kathy began.
“Stop right there,” Bryce interrupted. “Like a lot of people, you’re making a big theological mistake. Sex and sin are not synonymous. Both the fire and brimstone preachers on television, and the entertainment media, make it seem that the only real sin is sex. That twists what Jesus taught us. Of course, the entertainment industry tries to make out that sin is a good thing. They even taught us to use the word ‘bad’ when we mean something is good. But that’s twisted, too.”
“Are you trying to tell me that sex is not sinful?” David asked.
“Exactly!” Bryce insisted. “Sex is a gift from God. It’s the most intense way one person can show love for another person. It’s not sex, but the abuse of sex, which is sinful. It’s just like alcohol. Despite what people like your mother’s preacher say, there is absolutely nothing in the Bible saying wine or beer or any other strong drink is sinful. But drunkenness is clearly condemned. Some people can’t make the distinction between the use of strong drink and the abuse, just like with sex. If you use sex in the wrong way, that’s surely a sin, no doubt about it,” Bryce declared.
“What do you mean by ‘the wrong way’?” Damon asked.
“It’s like what I said to Jason the other day,” Bryce reminded his partner. “If you use another person as a thing, that’s a sin. That’s what’s wrong with anonymous sex. It’s using a real, live, human being as nothing more than a cum towel, like a dirty sock you use to clean up after jerking off, just somewhere to dump your semen. There’s no feeling for the other person. It could be anyone. That’s probably the most common abuse of sex, as I see it. Then, there is using sex as a means of control. That’s most clearly the case with rape. Rape is not really about sex, it’s about dominating someone. It’s a power trip. But there are less spectacular ways of using sex as a means of control. How about the guy who says, ‘If you love me, you’ll have sex with me,’ or even worse, ‘I paid for the tickets, so you owe me sex.’ The implication is that if you don’t do what I want, I’ll break up with you. That’s using sex for control. Or the woman who says, ‘Unless you go shopping with me this afternoon, there will be no sex this evening.’ Another kind of abuse of sex. I think those uses of sex are definitely sinful in a serious way.”
“That’s what my generation was taught to call a mortal sin. Mortal in the sense that it kills the spiritual life,” Isobel Sandoval said. “But what about the kind of sex Kyle and Kathy had? Are you trying to tell us there is nothing sinful there?”
“Well, I wasn’t there when Kyle and Kathy had sex,” Bryce said, giving the two an exaggerated leer. They responded with comments indicating their appreciation of his absence, but were clearly interested in what Bryce had to say.
“Sex is one of the most intense and pleasant experiences anyone can have,” Bryce asserted, and no one disagreed with that. “These youngsters clearly are not mature enough to regulate that intense natural urge, so that mitigates any guilt.” At that, both Kyle and Kathy raised loud objections, even as they blushed at this discussion of their intimate relations. The youngest member of the Sandoval family, thirteen year old sister Terry, was paying close attention, her mother noted.
“So,” Bryce continued over the objections of Kyle and Kathy, “assuming there was strong feeling to go along with the strong urges, I would have to say what we have here is more a venial sin than a mortal one.”
“How can you say that?” Kathy asked, more interested than challenging this time. “I’ve been told that having sex is always a mortal sin.”
“This is the kind of analysis I was taught to make in my religion classes in high school,” Bryce informed them. “One, there was no violence, neither physical nor emotional, employed. Two, you two were not just using each other, but the sex was an expression of genuine love. Three, you’re still teenagers, feeling the powerful urges of the reproductive instinct. And I was kind of serious about what I said about not having learned to control those urges yet. If it makes you feel any better, neither have I. Four, no one was hurt. You’re not cheating on anyone else. You’re not using sex to get back at anyone. Five, the pressures of society, which is obsessed with sex, are a mitigating factor as well. But the most important consideration is number six. You are not putting sex in the place of God in your lives. That’s obvious from the fact that we meet most often at Mass on Sunday. For some people, sex is the most important thing in their lives, and that’s a violation, not of the fifth commandment, but of the first, ‘I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me.’ I don’t see you making sex into your god, or rejecting God because of it. I’m not saying anything goes, but let’s not go to the other extreme, either.”
“I like what you said about sex not being the same as sin,” David said, “and I can see that something like murdering someone is much worse, but that does not apply to most people. Very few of us kill someone or launch a war or something. What could you or I do, practically speaking, that is worse than violating the commandments about sex?”
“What is this, quiz Bryce day?” Bryce objected.
“Go ahead, Honey,” Isobel encouraged him. “You’re doing fine, and most of the rest of us have not had your advantages in having serious religion classes, where we could actually think about such things rather than react to them emotionally.”
“Okay, if you insist. David asked what can most of us mundane types do that is comparable to sexual sins. Let me remind you again that there are ten commandments, and only two of them touch on sex, ‘thou shalt not commit adultery,’ and ‘thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.’”
“What about coveting you neighbor’s ass?” Damon could not resist inserting, to the groans of the others. But the humor contributed to making the session more real, less an abstract lecture, for all those concerned.
“If I might continue,” Bryce said, giving Damon an exasperated sigh, “there are lots of thing we see around us every day which are not spectacular violations of the laws of God or the dignity of us humans, but which can be literally damning if they go unchecked. What about the businessman who cheats his customers? How about the worker who cuts corners and does a shoddy job? Think of the neighborhood gossip who ruins the reputations of others. Consider the person who ignores the Salvation Army collector at Christmas time but goes into the store to buy himself some additional luxury to add to those he already has. What about the person who votes against a candidate because he or she is black, or gay, or a member of the wrong church? What about the person who regularly puts down whole categories of people, calling them wetbacks or Chinks, or queers, and never even considers the person as an individual? There are lots of other examples, and I’m sure you could fill in a few of your own, but you get the idea. When we treat a person as nothing but a thing, that, in my opinion, is a sin, and when we allow those biases to become fixed and dominating our decision making process, then it becomes a mortal sin. When Pope Leo XII issued his stinging indictment of unregulated capitalism called Rerum novarum back in 1891, it was on the basis of treating people as no more than things, commodities, that his condemnation was based. The same applies to our personal relations.”
By this time, everyone had finished eating. As they prepared to depart, Isobel remarked, “We got two sermons today, and Bryce’s was a lot better than Father Payne’s.”
The lunch that Sunday was more serious, less carefree, than usual, but everyone still enjoyed being with friends.
Bryce’s telephone conversations that afternoon involved his father as much as his mother, which was unusual. Sterling wanted every detail about the handling of Cory Blaine. He congratulated his son and his son’s friends, but noted that the methods they employed could never be used by the normal law enforcement agencies. After all, they were guilty of keeping Cory trapped against his will, of illegally entering his apartment, and of stealing his property. “If I were you and your friends,” Sterling advised, “I would not go spreading that story about, just in case Cory or his family decided to take you to court on one or more of these charges.” That was sobering advice.
Just as they had done for Malcolm’s ninth birthday two weeks before, Bryce and Damon arrived at the apartment complex where their car watchers lives earlier than usual, and were met by the boys. They were escorted by DeShawn, who was obviously proud to have these college students as his friends, coming to visit him on his birthday. They were introduced to DeShawn’s parents, Mr. & Mrs. Quinlan, and to a bevy of youngsters. It seems DeShawn had five younger siblings. In the course of the visit, Bryce learned that Mr. Quinlan had suffered a serious back injury on the job, which put him out of work. He had been a roofer, but you can’t go crawling about on roofs if you have a bum back. Now all he could find were odd jobs, which helped, but were not enough to support his family. His wife worked at the check-out counter at a local grocery, but it was little more than minimum wage. They were, therefore, both very grateful for the gifts DeShawn had received from Bryce over the past few months.
When Damon and Bryce presented DeShawn with his birthday presents, he was excited and clearly loved each one. Bryce held back the smartphone so it would not detract from the other gifts. When he presented the boy with his last present, however, it was as if the heavens caved in. DeShawn yelled and shouted his appreciation, so that Bryce thought the entire building could hear. The boy danced about in his happiness, so it was a real joy to see him. He thanked Bryce, hugging him over and over, insisting that his new phone was just like Bryce’s. Well, Bryce admitted to himself, not quite, but why bring that up?
When cake and ice cream were served, DeShawn was still so agitated that he had trouble eating anything. He even broke into tears of happiness and could not finish his ice cream. He just grinned through his tears, looking at his smartphone. Bryce was embarrassed to see how much the boy was affected by his gift. When you grow up in an affluent family, you don’t realize how much such things mean to those who don’t have them.
When they arrived at the shelter house, unlike his usual conscientious attention to Bryce’s car, DeShawn abandoned the others, running in and showing off his new toy to everyone who would look. Malcolm grinned and said, “I’ll keep an eye on things out here until DeShawn calms down.”
Just as they did two weeks before, Bryce and Damon took the boys out to dinner rather than eating at the soup kitchen. They barely got back in time for DeShawn’s party with his peers.
It had been quite a day.