Tag: Palm Sunday

“Their voices prevailed.” | Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

From the verse before the Gospel: “Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 22:14—23:56, today’s readings)

Again Pilate addressed them, still wishing to release Jesus, but they continued their shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate addressed them a third time, “What evil has this man done? I found him guilty of no capital crime. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him.” With loud shouts, however, they persisted in calling for his crucifixion, and their voices prevailed.

In the final prayer over the people at the Palm Sunday Mass, the priest prays: “Look, we pray, O Lord, on this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ did not hesitate to be delivered into the hands of the wicked and submit to the agony of the Cross. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.” The Gospel begins as Jesus prepares for the Passover, the Last Supper, in which he institutes the Eucharist, the foretaste of eternal life he calls us to as adopted sons and daughters: “I shall not eat it again until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” In his passion and death, he freely chooses to do the will of the Father and not his own, and he recognizes in the betrayal of Judas that it is “the time,” in his own words, “for the power of darkness.” Understand that as much as he spoke to those who crucified him, he does as much to reconcile us to God as he continually intercedes for us, praying “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

God, I am overwhelmed by the readings for Palm Sunday and the Lord’s Passion. In reflecting on them, I want to take to heart the core meaning that brings them all together. Let me sit with them today, drawing from them what you see that I most need. The coming darkness that Jesus speaks of as Judas betrays him comes to its culmination as darkness covers the whole land after Jesus is crucified. How many times will I repeat, “Father, forgive them” without understanding the depth of your gift of mercy that makes that forgiveness possible? Give me the grace to put all power of forgiveness into the hands of your Son. Let my prayer be his: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Jesus, teach me to pray.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.'” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed. . . ! He deserves to die!”

In this Sunday’s Gospel, the Lord’s Passion as told by Matthew, the Mass readings for today are rich in symbolism and meaning. At the start of the Gospel, Judas Iscariot makes a deal with the chief priests to hand over Jesus to them for thirty pieces of silver. Later, Jesus gathers the Twelve together for the Last Supper, where Judas Iscariot’s betrayal is made clear and where Jesus institutes the Eucharistic: “Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew goes on to relate how Jesus was handed over to the chief priests and then Pilate; how he was scourged, stripped of his clothes, and carried the cross to Golgotha where he died on the cross. At his death, Matthew tells us, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two, the earth quaked, and tombs were opened, and the bodies of many were raised from the dead. Seeing this, the centurion and the men appointed to keep watch over Jesus, said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” In witnessing this, do I have the same sense of awe and wonder as the Roman centurion?

God, the passion and death of your son is simultaneously the single greatest act of love for humanity—and for me personally—yet hard to keep my gaze fixed on. The high priest asked Jesus to tell him whether he was the Son of God. Eons, centuries, decades, and finally days and hours would pass before the truth of Christ was revealed through his resurrection. He is the Son of God, your only son. Help me take from it a means to know you, love you, and to do your will. Just as the centurion was transformed by his realization of the significance of Jesus’ death, help me by your grace keep my eyes fixed on the Son of Man who sits at the right hand of the Father.

Lord, help me today by keeping my gaze fixed on the passion and death of your son and giving praise to your name. With Saint Paul, let me proclaim: “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. . . . Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings