Catholic Sunday Mass 28th March 2021 Palm Sunday
HOW ARE YOU OPENING YOURSELF TO THE PASSION OF JESUS?
Today we have two gospels – the first is about Jesus’ triumphant entry. The second is the narration of the Passion.
(1) Mark presents Jesus as journeying from Galilee to Jerusalem, the place where the crucial events of his life unfold – his death and resurrection. Jesus’ faithfulness to his call and journey becomes for us the way of moving away from the things that block the experience of God’s love.
The triumphant entry into the Holy City revealed Jesus as a peaceful King, seated on a donkey. He did not ride on a horse and came as a warrior king. For Jesus, to be a king is not to lord over people the way temporal kings usually act. Jesus’ kingship is one of serving the needs of the poor and marginalized. His service ends with his brutal death.
The people responded to Jesus’ entry with great joy. Yet, far too quickly that joyful cry turned to a bitter yell shown in the trial of Jesus. From the “hosannas” of Palm Sunday to the jeering “crucify him” of Good Friday, it showed how fickle they were!
(2) We are invited to read the Passion with our hearts and imagination. We enter into the Passover supper and hear Jesus predict, “One of you will betray me.”
We become “distressed” and tell each other and him, “Not I, Lord.” He offers his body, his blood, his life to us. We leave dinner in a confused state, as we walk with him to the Garden.
It is there that he takes us aside and says, “Stay here while I pray.” He tells us of his sorrowful agony, even unto death. He begs us to remain with him. But it’s so very hard to stay with suffering.
We see Jesus arrested. We watch Peter’s denial of Jesus and his sense of guilt when it happened. We see the Jewish leaders accusing Jesus. We hear the hesitation in Pontius Pilate when he addresses the leaders. Then the sound of the people, “crucify him”. We watch the scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross, the stripping of his garments, the crucifixion, the taunt and the mockery, and finally Jesus breaths his last.
The more deeply we can be with Jesus in his suffering, watching his humiliation and suffering, the more we know He suffers with us in all of our pains. It is not enough just to be aware of our own sufferings and shortcomings, but more importantly, we must know that Jesus has come to share them with us.
We have the tendency to return to focusing on ourselves, our own flaws and sins. We overlook or neglect the pain of others. There are the sick, hungry, lonely, misunderstood, alienated. Too often, when we can do nothing to alleviate their pain, we want to avoid them. The way of escape is to focus on our own sins and pains.
Contemplating the Passion of Jesus is about opening ourselves and entering into the suffering of others, and knowing that Jesus is with us, allowing Him to share in that experience.
Catholic Sunday Mass 28th March 2021 Palm Sunday
For the Palm Sunday Gospel, we return to the Gospel according to Mark. The account of the Passion takes up nearly one-third of Mark’s entire Gospel and, of all the evangelists, he is the one who presents the details most graphically. He depicts the humanity of Jesus most intensely, describing his sufferings thoroughly. Mark portrays Jesus as a complete fulfillment of the “Suffering Servant” of Isaiah, the obedient, humble slave dying on a cross of whom Paul speaks in Philippians. But it is important to remember that we call this “Holy Week” and not “sad week” or “suffering week,” for each of the readings today, even the lamentations of the psalm, end in the promise of the strength and hope that is granted by God to those who faithfully give of themselves in love. As we enter into this week through these readings, we must reflect deeply on the sufferings of Jesus, but still be confident in the joy of risen, eternal life that awaits all of us who faithfully walk with him through these days.
Copyright ©️ J. S. Paluch Co.
TODAY’S READINGS
Gospel at the Procession with Palms — Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-10).
First Reading — In spite of my sufferings I am not disgraced. I am not put to shame (Isaiah 50:4-7).
Psalm — My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? (Psalm 22).
Second Reading — Christ emptied himself, and God filled this emptiness with exaltation (Philippians 2:6-11).
Gospel — The account of Christ’s passion according to Mark (Mark 14:1 — 15:47)