The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion invite us to meditate on the paradox of human nature that allows our praise and affection for people to become fear and hatred.
Paradox and Passion
The readings from the Gospel of Mark used as a blessing today tells of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
* [11:1–11] In Mark’s account Jesus takes the initiative in ordering the preparation for his entry into Jerusalem (Mk 11:1–6) even as he later orders the preparation of his last Passover supper (Mk 14:12–16). In Mk 11:9–10 the greeting Jesus receives stops short of proclaiming him Messiah. He is greeted rather as the prophet of the coming messianic kingdom. Contrast Mt 21:9.1
The reading from the Book of the 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.2
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).3
The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians declares Christ humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
* [2:1–11] The admonition to likemindedness and unity (Phil 2:2–5) is based on the believers’ threefold experience with Christ, God’s love, and the Spirit. The appeal to humility (Phil 2:3) and to obedience (Phil 2:12) is rooted in christology, specifically in a statement about Christ Jesus (Phil 2:6–11) and his humbling of self and obedience to the point of death (Phil 2:8).4
The Gospel of Mark recounts the Passion.
* [14:1–16:8] In the movement of Mark’s gospel the cross is depicted as Jesus’ way to glory in accordance with the divine will. Thus the passion narrative is seen as the climax of Jesus’ ministry.5
Larry Gillick, S.J. notes the word for across or over in Latin is “trans.” as he reflects on how often in the Gospel for today’s Eucharistic liturgy, there is the reality of “handing over.”
Into our hands He commends His Life and that is more than amazing. This Palm Sunday, First Passion Sunday, we too join the long line of poverty in reception into our hearts what He continually hands over to us, within us, the New Passover Bread of His Life, given for us and to us when we have the poverty of receptivity. The Paschal Lamb has been slain for our Exodus and now hands His Risen Body to us for our personal and communal rising.6
Don Schwager quotes “The following of Christ,” by Saint 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)7
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 14:1–15:47 urges us, as we go through Holy Week, to keep Jesus’ kingship in mind. Today he sits at the right hand of the Father, reigning in glory. But he is also the servant King who loved us enough to die for us and who still loves us enough to forgive every sin.
This is God’s way of royalty. It’s your way as well, because through Jesus’ death and resurrection, you have become grafted into the family of God. You have royal blood running through your veins! Through the grace that Jesus won for you, you can live out this royal calling as he did: in love, in service, and in laying down your life for his people. As you walk this road, know that a “crown of righteousness” awaits you—and all who serve in Jesus’ royal household (2 Timothy 4:8). “Jesus, you are my King. May I serve you every day of my life.”8
As we enter into this Holy Week, we reflect on this week's Passion readings with Fr Christopher, of the Franciscans of Halifax.
Friar Jude Winkler shares the unique features of the Passion narrative in Mark’s Gospel and the teaching that is connected to the people, places, and events in this account.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on the Scapegoat Mechanism that goes something like this: we compare, we copy, we compete, we conflict, we conspire, we condemn, and we crucify. If we do not recognize some variation of this pattern within ourselves and put an end to it in the early stages, it is almost inevitable. That is why spiritual teachers of any depth will always teach simplicity of lifestyle and freedom from the competitive power game, which is where it all begins. It is probably the only way out of the cycle of violence.
It’s hard for us religious people to hear, but the most persistent violence in human history has been “sacralized violence”—violence that we treated as sacred, but which was, in fact, not. Human beings have found a most effective way to legitimate their instinct toward fear and hatred. They imagine that they are fearing and hating on behalf of something holy and noble: God, religion, truth, morality, their children, or love of country. It takes away all guilt, and one can even think of oneself as representing the moral high ground or being responsible and prudent as a result. It never occurs to most people that they are becoming what they fear and hate. This week we enter Holy Week, the days leading up to Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. As long as we deal with the real meaning of evil and sin by some means other than forgiveness and healing, we will keep projecting, fearing, and attacking it over there (“scapegoating’’), instead of “gazing” on it within ourselves and “weeping” over it. The longer we contemplate the cross, the more we recognize our own complicity in and profits made from the sin of others. Forgiveness demands three new simultaneous “seeings”: I must see God in the other; I must access God in myself; and I must experience God in a new way that is larger than an “enforcer.” That is a whole new world seen in three dimensions. The real “3-D”!9
The surrender of Jesus to the Will of the Father is also our challenge as we seek the guidance of the Spirit against looking for scapegoats.
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