Palms and Passion

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary bring the Word to the liturgy which begins the journey to the celebration of the Easter Triduum of Lord’s Supper, Passion and Resurrection. Holy Week is approached with the attitude of the Suffering Servant from the Book of the prophet Isaiah. We will understand through the liturgy today that this servant suffers patiently in faith and trust in God and does no harm as evidence of his innocence. This is the role of Jesus in obedience to the will of the Father. The ancient hymn which is presented in the passage from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians proclaims the will of God that Jesus should empty Himself of His status as Son and be as slave to serve humanity inviting them to communion with God. The obedience of Jesus to His mission of humility and service is our example for the life giving attitude which will bring enhanced life to our journey. The account of the Passion from the Gospel of Luke is an experience of reading, hearing and contemplation which is offered in the liturgy today. An abstract of the experience might be phrased as below.

The account of the servant king, son of David, who has attracted many followers by His action to show the loving nature of God, as His final journey to Jerusalem to celebrate His last Passover with His friends leads Him from exultant praise to burial in the tomb of an influential Jewish leader as the betrayers and the religious leaders convince the Roman leadership, through need to control the angry mob, that He might be crucified as a common criminal for crimes against the religious practice of the Jewish people. The turmoil and tension between celebration and suffering and brotherhood and betrayal is shown in the poor decisions of Peter and Pilate and one prisoner crucified next to Him. The victory for truth and the nature of the path offered to all who are in communion with the King Who serves in suffering is the proclamation of the pagan Roman guard that He truly is innocent and the action of Joseph of Arimathea, the influential Jewish visitor, to prepare a proper tomb for Jesus. Larry Gillick, S.J. of the Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality comments that the Liturgy of Palms and the Liturgy of the Passion bespeak the duality of our human response to God throughout history. He suggests that we begin, with the whole Church, on Palm Sunday to pray with the various daily invitations to our being faithful to the crosses of our humanity and those of others. He advises us “The root meaning of the word “innocence” is not “guiltless”, but “no harm”. There is not much we can do with the memories which make up this liturgy and this coming week. Praying might be nothing more than staying “awake” to what is being done, offered, and remembered.”