The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to seek the message for our lives that the Spirit reveals in the events of praise and passion on Palm Sunday.
The readings from the Gospel for Blessing in Matthew describes Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
* [21:1–11] Jesus’ coming to Jerusalem is in accordance with the divine will that he must go there (cf. Mt 16:21) to suffer, die, and be raised. He prepares for his entry into the city in such a way as to make it a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zec 9:9 (Mt 21:2) that emphasizes the humility of the king who comes (Mt 21:5). That prophecy, absent from the Marcan parallel account (Mk 11:1–11) although found also in the Johannine account of the entry (Jn 12:15), is the center of the Matthean story. During the procession from Bethphage to Jerusalem, Jesus is acclaimed as the Davidic messianic king by the crowds who accompany him (Mt 21:9). On his arrival the whole city was shaken, and to the inquiry of the amazed populace about Jesus’ identity the crowds with him reply that he is the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee (Mt 21:10, 11). (Matthew, CHAPTER 21, n.d.)
The reading from the Book of Prophet Isaiah describes the Servant’s humiliation and vindication.
* [50:4–11] The third of the four “servant of the Lord” oracles (cf. note on 42:1–4); in vv. 4–9 the servant speaks; in vv. 10–11 God addresses the people directly.
* [50:5] The servant, like a well-trained disciple, does not refuse the divine vocation.
* [50:6] He willingly submits to insults and beatings. Tore out my beard: a grave and painful insult. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 50, n.d.)
Psalm 22 is a plea for deliverance from suffering and hostility.
* [Psalm 22] A lament unusual in structure and in intensity of feeling. The psalmist’s present distress is contrasted with God’s past mercy in Ps 22:2–12. In Ps 22:13–22 enemies surround the psalmist. The last third is an invitation to praise God (Ps 22:23–27), becoming a universal chorus of praise (Ps 22:28–31). The Psalm is important in the New Testament. Its opening words occur on the lips of the crucified Jesus (Mk 15:34; Mt 27:46), and several other verses are quoted, or at least alluded to, in the accounts of Jesus’ passion (Mt 27:35, 43; Jn 19:24). (Psalms, PSALM 22, n.d.)
The reading from the Letter to the Philippians is a hymn to Jesus kenosis.
* [2:6–11] Perhaps an early Christian hymn quoted here by Paul. The short rhythmic lines fall into two parts, Phil 2:6–8 where the subject of every verb is Christ, and Phil 2:9–11 where the subject is God. The general pattern is thus of Christ’s humiliation and then exaltation. More precise analyses propose a division into six three-line stanzas (Phil 2:6; 7abc, 7d–8, 9, 10, 11) or into three stanzas (Phil 2:6–7ab, 7cd–8, 9–11). Phrases such as even death on a cross (Phil 2:8c) are considered by some to be additions (by Paul) to the hymn, as are Phil 2:10c, 11c. (Philippians, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)
The Gospel of Matthew is the Passion of Jesus.
* [26:1–28:20] The five books with alternating narrative and discourse (Mt 3:1–25:46) that give this gospel its distinctive structure lead up to the climactic events that are the center of Christian belief and the origin of the Christian church, the passion and resurrection of Jesus. In his passion narrative (Mt 26 and 27) Matthew follows his Marcan source closely but with omissions (e.g., Mk 14:51–52) and additions (e.g., Mt 27:3–10, 19). Some of the additions indicate that he utilized traditions that he had received from elsewhere; others are due to his own theological insight (e.g., Mt 26:28 “…for the forgiveness of sins”; Mt 27:52). In his editing Matthew also altered Mark in some minor details. But there is no need to suppose that he knew any passion narrative other than Mark’s. (Matthew, CHAPTER 26, n.d.)
Eileen Burke-Sullivan ponders why do we humans despise the one who loves and saves us? Because we are so arrogant that we do not want to NEED to be loved and saved. We hate the one who rescues us because we don’t want to need rescuing. We project the fear and hate we feel for our fragility and limitedness on the one who will redeem us from such limitedness and join us to Divine life.
At the end of the second week of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius we pray for the gift of true humility – that is for the truth of ourselves to be known and loved. Then, in this process of spiritual awakening, we enter the Third Week where our prayer is answered in-so-far as we align ourselves with Jesus, who accomplished perfect humility. “Though he was in the form of God he did not deem equality with God something to be stolen (grasped at)” Saint Paul tells us in the New Testament reading before the Gospel of the Passion is read. Here at the center of the word we are handed the key to the whole week ahead of us. If we would be faithful to our baptismal promises and live in the Body of Christ we must embrace this humility of God’s own Son. (Burke, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “The following of Christ,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Come, follow Me, says the Lord. Do you love? He has hastened on, He has flown on ahead. Look and see where. O Christian, don't you know where your Lord has gone? I ask you: Don't you wish to follow Him there? Through trials, insults, the cross, and death. Why do you hesitate? Look, the way has been shown you." (excerpt from Sermon 64,5) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 21:1-11 asks” Who is this? “ in the events of the Passion in the Gospel of Matthew.
“Jesus, as I begin this Holy Week, may I come to know you ever more deeply.” (Meditation on Matthew 21:1-11, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler connects the Scripture of today to Jewish and Christian religious culture. Jesus fully manifests the Love of God on the Cross. Friar Jude explains some of the unique portions of the Passion according to Matthew in light of the events and culture of Jesus' time.
Peter Edmonds SJ, a member of the Mount Street Jesuit Community, explains how hearers of the series of Lenten Sunday readings follow Jesus from the desert to the tomb – a journey that begins just after Jesus’s baptism – and in so doing prepare to renew their own baptismal promises.
Matthew's account helps us understand better the meaning of the events. Jesus announced at the start of the drama, ‘My time is near’ (Matthew 26:18). At his Last Supper with his disciples, he explained the sacrificial nature of his death; it was for the ‘forgiveness of sins’ (26:28). At his arrest in Gethsemane, he admitted that twelve legions of angels were his for the asking (26:53); his refusal to resist reflected his own teaching in his Sermon on the Mount (5:39). As he died, his enemies mocked him as ‘Son of God’ (Wisdom 2:13), but we know from the story of his temptations that he will not misuse this intimacy with his Father for his own benefit (Matthew 4:6-7). His divine sonship was proclaimed at the beginning of the gospel (2:15; 3:17) and his disciples recognised it during the ministry (14:33; 16:16). The title on the cross, ‘Jesus, king of the Jews’ was no error, since it was as a child king that the wise men from the East had given him gifts (2:2) and he had entered Jerusalem as a humble king riding on a donkey (21:5-9; Zechariah 9:9). (Edmonds, 2017)
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, considers what Jesus meant when he promised “the sign of Jonah”.
Faith is the leap into the water, now with the lived experience that there is One who can and will catch us—and lead us where we need to go. Religion, in some sense, is a necessary first half of life phenomenon. Faith is much more possible in the second half of life, not necessarily chronologically but always spiritually. To paraphrase Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), “Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backward.” [1] Jonah knew what God was doing, and how God does it, and how right God is—only after emerging from the belly of the whale. Until he has first endured the journey, the darkness, the spitting up on the right shore—all in spite of his best efforts to avoid these very things—Jonah has no message whatsoever to give. Jonah is indeed a symbol of transformation. Jesus had found the Jonah story inspiring, no doubt, because it described almost perfectly what was happening to him. [2] (Rohr, 2023)
We find in the Gospel account of Matthew many events in which the Spirit invites us to imagine our responses to Jesus' Passion.
References
Burke, E. (2023, April 2). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/040223.html
Edmonds, P. (2017, March 2). An itinerary for Lent: Sunday gospels. Thinking Faith. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/itinerary-lent-sunday-gospels
Isaiah, CHAPTER 50. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/50?4
Matthew, CHAPTER 21. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/21?
Matthew, CHAPTER 26. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/26?14
Meditation on Matthew 21:1-11. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/04/02/643275/
Philippians, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/2?6
Psalms, PSALM 22. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/22?8
Rohr, R. (2023, April 2). The Only Sign Jesus Offers — Center for Action and Contemplation. Daily Meditations Archive: 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-only-sign-jesus-offers-2023-04-02/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Blessed Is the King Who Comes in the Name of the Lord. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=apr2
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