Today’s solemnity celebrates the paradox of the Cross: we proclaim not only our faith in the searing reality and value of our Lord’s suffering for us, but our joy, too, in possessing so great a Redeemer. How dearly God has loved us! “To ransom a slave he handed over his Son!”

Introduction: The rite of Holy Week urges the faithful to participate in the solemn procession of the palms in order “to give public testimony of their love and gratitude to Christ the King.” Our Lord, it is true, enters Jerusalem to meet his death, but he goes as a champion of his people, a victor who will reign from the cross. The old blessing of the palms was shortened in order to accentuate the importance of the procession. This is the opportunity, therefore, for all Christians to proclaim their loyalty to their King and their acceptance of the cross as a way to salvation and glory for themselves.

Point 1: After the procession, however, a more somber note is struck. In the first two readings we find the paradox of the life of Christ and of our own: after defeat, victory; after dark, light; after death, life. The Gospel is Mark’s account of Christ’s sufferings; notice how the evangelist keeps citing the prophecies of the Old Testament to show that God willed these sufferings in order to save mankind. Notice, too, the patient obedience and self-effacement of our Lord, and how he looks always to his Father with complete trust to bring him out of this anguish and to give him its reward – resurrection, glory, and the establishment of the kingdom of the redeemed who will praise God forever.

Point 2: This is the time to ponder the immense love of God for me personally. Galatians 2:20: “He loved me and sacrificed himself for me.” Whatever spiritual good and gifts of grace I enjoy, my deliverance from eternal damnation, my hope of eternal happiness, are mine because of his merits. Whatever my failures to come up to the ideal of my Christian vocation, I can always feel a great love of me in the Lord’s Passion. Other thoughts to consider this week: the infinite wisdom and goodness of God, who devised so suitable a means of melting the hearts of men; the confirmation of our hope (see Romans 5: 9-10); our vocation to imitate Christ (see 1 Peter 2:21).

Point 3: The saints have always found inspiration and strength in the Passion. It is a concentrated, powerful summary of Christ’s life and of the love and obedience which characterized it, as we see from Mark 10: 45: “The son of man,” he said of himself, “did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” When we imitate him we “proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”

Conclusion: This week challenges all of us to decide how closely we want to walk in his bloodstained steps, whether we are content to be “delicate members of a thorn-crowned head.” Remember the Sign of the Cross. No one is completely free of trouble in this life. Pain, stress, tension, disappointment, sickness, failure, humiliation, depression, headaches afflict every person to some degree. By itself, this suffering has no meaning. When marked with the Sign of the Cross, however, it assumes spiritual, saving, and hopeful significance.

QUESTIONS THAT MAY LEAD TO OTHER THOUGHTS

What are some mistaken ways of coping with suffering?

Should we look for pain?

How do we tell the difference between psychological masochism and spiritual acceptance of suffering?

Who are some outstanding examples of bearers of the Sign of the Cross? Despite differences, is there something they have in common?

In what ways have you been challenged to love? Did it cause suffering?

How have you encouraged others in their struggle of faith, in their moments of suffering?

Reading 1 – Isaiah 50: 4-7

Isaiah discloses the inner sentiments of a man who has received the grace to suffer for his religious principles and belief. The man sees himself destined for martyrdom and realizes that the strength to face it comes from the Lord. He never believed he would find words to cope with his oppressors but the Lord has given him a bold language both to encourage the weary and to speak to the consciences of tyrants. At one time it would have been unthinkable for him to endure the inhumanity of beatings and humiliations. Now he finds unlocked within himself the splendid energy to offer his body to the persecutors and to accept whatever pain they choose to inflict. The important thing to remember is that this is not mere human bravery and grit but a grace from the Lord.

Reading 2 – Philippians 2: 6-11

One of the greatest problems we face is self-importance expanded beyond due proportion. There is no question the self is important but if we allow it to balloon into a preening self-indulgence then we will have very little hope of coping with the meaning of suffering and the significance of Christ’s passion. St. Paul tells the Philippians that Jesus walked in glory. Surely if anyone had the right to an exalted sense of self-importance, Christ would. Yet as Paul points out, Jesus laid aside the grandeur and the glory.

He emptied himself and walked the earth in simplicity and did not try to thunder his inner greatness against the frailty of people. Jesus shows how incredible inner greatness need not lead to arrogance but rather to the humble transformation of the sorrows of this life into genuine greatness, which is spiritual.

Gospel Reading – Mark 14: 1 to 15: 47 or Matthew 26:14 – 27:66 or 27:11-54

Scripture scholars like to say that Mark’s gospel is so short that it practically turns out to be the passion narrative plus a preface. Mark reminds us in this way of the extraordinary prominence which the preaching of the passion possessed in the apostolic mission. It is a fact, of course, that the original preaching of the apostles was first and foremost the passion and resurrection of Christ. They are concerned, as we should be, with the paschal mystery, the central object of our faith, for we are indeed saved by Christ’s death and resurrection. It should be clear to us that we can never hear enough about it. Given the forgetfulness of people, the Church makes sure that every Passion Sunday the narrative of the death of Jesus is read to all Catholic people. There is no human being who does not undergo a way of the Cross. Mark’s account of the passion teaches that the way of the Cross is the only real method for interpreting the significance of human suffering.

THE SEASON OF LENT and the FINAL SUNDAY IN LENT

The season of Lent has gradually unfolded to us the nature of the human condition. The first week focused on the temptations of man. The second week reminded us of how, in the context of this spiritual combat with the demonic, man wakes up to a PRESENCE who can do what He has promised. Gradually man experiences how long-suffering and patient God is (third week). He gives us time to repent, and mend our ways, like the prodigal son (fourth week). And thus our inward eye opens up to perceive the greatest of God’s deeds: His divine forgiveness (fifth week).

The sixth and final Sunday in Lent concentrates on what it costs to bring grace and life out of a situation of sin and death.

The cost is what Jesus had to go through trying to reconcile sinful humanity to God. The price of reconciliation is his Passion and Death. Indeed, there is no redemption without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9: 22). Jesus freely lays down his life with a heart full of love and forgiveness, even as others treacherously betray, deny murder and bury.

But there is a quality of life that cannot be murdered or buried. Those who are purified by the remembrance of what happened to Jesus will begin themselves to reflect this quality of life that not even death could violate or annihilate. Life reaches its perfect fulfillment when this quality enters into it.

It is the ability to give to the point of self-giving, forgiving and life-giving. All denials, betrayals and burials are blunted in the face of life that only wants to give and keep on giving, loving.

March 29, 2015 – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion – Lectionary: 37 and 38

At The Procession With Palms – Gospel – Mark 11:1-10

When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem,
to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
he sent two of his disciples and said to them,
“Go into the village opposite you,
and immediately on entering it,
you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat.
Untie it and bring it here.
If anyone should say to you,
‘Why are you doing this?’ reply,
‘The Master has need of it
and will send it back here at once.’”
So they went off
and found a colt tethered at a gate outside on the street,
and they untied it.
Some of the bystanders said to them,
“What are you doing, untying the colt?”
They answered them just as Jesus had told them to,
and they permitted them to do it.
So they brought the colt to Jesus
and put their cloaks over it.
And he sat on it.
Many people spread their cloaks on the road,
and others spread leafy branches
that they had cut from the fields.
Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out:
“Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!
Hosanna in the highest!”
At The Mass – Reading 1 – Isaiah 50: 4-7

The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.

The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 22: 8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24

R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
All who see me scoff at me;
they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, if he loves him.”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Indeed, many dogs surround me,
a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
They have pierced my hands and my feet;
I can count all my bones.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
They divide my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far from me;
O my help, hasten to aid me.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Reading 2 – Philippians 2: 6-11

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming 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,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Verse Before The Gospel – Philippians 2: 8-9

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.
Gospel – The Passion of the Lord According to Mark 14: 1—15:47

The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
were to take place in two days’ time.
So the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way
to arrest him by treachery and put him to death.
They said, “Not during the festival,
for fear that there may be a riot among the people.”

When he was in Bethany reclining at table
in the house of Simon the leper,
a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil,
costly genuine spikenard.
She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head.
There were some who were indignant.
“Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil?
It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages
and the money given to the poor.”
They were infuriated with her.
Jesus said, “Let her alone.
Why do you make trouble for her?
She has done a good thing for me.
The poor you will always have with you,
and whenever you wish you can do good to them,
but you will not always have me.
She has done what she could.
She has anticipated anointing my body for burial.
Amen, I say to you,
wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world,
what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve,
went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them.
When they heard him they were pleased and promised to pay him money.
Then he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,
his disciples said to him,
“Where do you want us to go
and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
He sent two of his disciples and said to them,
“Go into the city and a man will meet you,
carrying a jar of water.
Follow him.
Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there.”
The disciples then went off, entered the city,
and found it just as he had told them;
and they prepared the Passover.

When it was evening, he came with the Twelve.
And as they reclined at table and were eating, Jesus said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me,
one who is eating with me.”
They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one,
“Surely it is not I?”
He said to them,
“One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish.
For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”

While they were eating,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them, and said,
“Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,
and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
“This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you,
I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine
until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Then, after singing a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus said to them,
“All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be dispersed.
But after I have been raised up,
I shall go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him,
“Even though all should have their faith shaken,
mine will not be.”
Then Jesus said to him,
“Amen, I say to you,
this very night before the cock crows twice
you will deny me three times.”
But he vehemently replied,
“Even though I should have to die with you,
I will not deny you.”
And they all spoke similarly.
Then they came to a place named Gethsemane,
and he said to his disciples,
“Sit here while I pray.”
He took with him Peter, James, and John,
and began to be troubled and distressed.
Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death.
Remain here and keep watch.”
He advanced a little and fell to the ground and prayed
that if it were possible the hour might pass by him;
he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you.
Take this cup away from me,
but not what I will but what you will.”
When he returned he found them asleep.
He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep?
Could you not keep watch for one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
Withdrawing again, he prayed, saying the same thing.
Then he returned once more and found them asleep,
for they could not keep their eyes open
and did not know what to answer him.
He returned a third time and said to them,
“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
It is enough. The hour has come.
Behold, the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.
Get up, let us go.
See, my betrayer is at hand.”

Then, while he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived,
accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs
who had come from the chief priests,
the scribes, and the elders.
His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying,
“The man I shall kiss is the one;
arrest him and lead him away securely.”
He came and immediately went over to him and said,
“Rabbi.” And he kissed him.
At this they laid hands on him and arrested him.
One of the bystanders drew his sword,
struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you come out as against a robber,
with swords and clubs, to seize me?
Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple area,
yet you did not arrest me;
but that the Scriptures may be fulfilled.”
And they all left him and fled.
Now a young man followed him
wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body.
They seized him,
but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.

They led Jesus away to the high priest,
and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.
Peter followed him at a distance into the high priest’s courtyard
and was seated with the guards, warming himself at the fire.
The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin
kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus
in order to put him to death, but they found none.
Many gave false witness against him,
but their testimony did not agree.
Some took the stand and testified falsely against him,
alleging, “We heard him say,
‘I will destroy this temple made with hands
and within three days I will build another
not made with hands.’”
Even so their testimony did not agree.
The high priest rose before the assembly and questioned Jesus,
saying, “Have you no answer?
What are these men testifying against you?”
But he was silent and answered nothing.
Again the high priest asked him and said to him,
“Are you the Christ, the son of the Blessed One?”
Then Jesus answered, “I am;
and ‘you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power
and coming with the clouds of heaven.’”
At that the high priest tore his garments and said,
“hat further need have we of witnesses?
You have heard the blasphemy.
What do you think?”
They all condemned him as deserving to die.
Some began to spit on him.
They blindfolded him and struck him and said to him, “Prophesy!”
And the guards greeted him with blows.

While Peter was below in the courtyard,
one of the high priest’s maids came along.
Seeing Peter warming himself,
she looked intently at him and said,
“You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
But he denied it saying,
“I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.”
So he went out into the outer court.
Then the cock crowed.
The maid saw him and began again to say to the bystanders,
“This man is one of them.”
Once again he denied it.
A little later the bystanders said to Peter once more,
“Surely you are one of them; for you too are a Galilean.”
He began to curse and to swear,
“I do not know this man about whom you are talking.”
And immediately a cock crowed a second time.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him,
“Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.”
He broke down and wept.

As soon as morning came,
the chief priests with the elders and the scribes,
that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council.
They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
Pilate questioned him,
“Are you the king of the Jews?”
He said to him in reply, “You say so.”
The chief priests accused him of many things.
Again Pilate questioned him,
“Have you no answer?
See how many things they accuse you of.”
Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them
one prisoner whom they requested.
A man called Barabbas was then in prison
along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion.
The crowd came forward and began to ask him
to do for them as he was accustomed.
Pilate answered,
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
For he knew that it was out of envy
that the chief priests had handed him over.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd
to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
Pilate again said to them in reply,
“Then what do you want me to do
with the man you call the king of the Jews?”
They shouted again, “Crucify him.”
Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?”
They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.”
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged,
handed him over to be crucified.

The soldiers led him away inside the palace,
that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort.
They clothed him in purple and,
weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him.
They began to salute him with, AHail, King of the Jews!”
and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him.
They knelt before him in homage.
And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the purple cloak,
dressed him in his own clothes,
and led him out to crucify him.

They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon,
a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
to carry his cross.

They brought him to the place of Golgotha
— which is translated Place of the Skull —
They gave him wine drugged with myrrh,
but he did not take it.
Then they crucified him and divided his garments
by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
The inscription of the charge against him read,
“The King of the Jews.”
With him they crucified two revolutionaries,
one on his right and one on his left.
Those passing by reviled him,
shaking their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would destroy the temple
and rebuild it in three days,
save yourself by coming down from the cross.”
Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes,
mocked him among themselves and said,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
come down now from the cross
that we may see and believe.”
Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.

At noon darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”
which is translated,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some of the bystanders who heard it said,
“Look, he is calling Elijah.”
One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed
and gave it to him to drink saying,
“Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion who stood facing him
saw how he breathed his last he said,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”
There were also women looking on from a distance.
Among them were Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome.
These women had followed him when he was in Galilee
and ministered to him.
There were also many other women
who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

When it was already evening,
since it was the day of preparation,
the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea,
a distinguished member of the council,
who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God,
came and courageously went to Pilate
and asked for the body of Jesus.
Pilate was amazed that he was already dead.
He summoned the centurion
and asked him if Jesus had already died.
And when he learned of it from the centurion,
he gave the body to Joseph.
Having bought a linen cloth, he took him down,
wrapped him in the linen cloth,
and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock.
Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses
watched where he was laid.
OrMK 15:1-39

The soldiers led him away inside the palace,
that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort.
They clothed him in purple and,
weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him.
They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him.
They knelt before him in homage.
And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the purple cloak,
dressed him in his own clothes,
and led him out to crucify him.

They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon,
a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
to carry his cross.

They brought him to the place of Golgotha
—which is translated Place of the Skull —
They gave him wine drugged with myrrh,
but he did not take it.
Then they crucified him and divided his garments
by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
The inscription of the charge against him read,
“The King of the Jews.”
With him they crucified two revolutionaries,
one on his right and one on his left.
Those passing by reviled him,
shaking their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would destroy the temple
and rebuild it in three days,
save yourself by coming down from the cross.”
Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes,
mocked him among themselves and said,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
come down now from the cross
that we may see and believe.”
Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion who stood facing him
saw how he breathed his last he said,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Listen to the Scriptures: Click on the link below:

http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/15_03_29.mp3

BIDDING PRAYERS

For Pope Francis: that God will fill him with strength and guide him in leading the Church in fulfillment of its mission and in loving service of those most in need, let us pray to the Lord.

For the Church: that we may speak a word of hope and renewal to all who are burdened and yearning for life, let us pray to the Lord.

For the grace to forgive: that we may be guided to forgive freely all who injure us just as God has forgiven us, let us pray to the Lord.

For a spirit of service: that we may help others bear their suffering and be instruments of God’s love and compassion to them, let us pray to the Lord.

For the grace to empty ourselves: that we may join Christ in surrendering ourselves into God’s hands and allowing God to raise us to new life in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who are suffering: that their hearts may trust God more fully and remain open to God’s invitation, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who have been humiliated or denigrated: that they may find their value and worth in being children of the Father, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who have been unjustly accused: that God will give them strength and hope as they endure suffering and hardship, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who have been condemned to death: that God’s light and truth will touch their hearts and give them hope, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who work for justice: that the reign of God will be manifest in their words and deeds, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who have been the victims of crime: that they may find healing, peace, and freedom in the wounds of Christ, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who have suffered abuse: that God will heal their pain, renew their sense of dignity as a child of God, and help them to fully live life, let us pray to the Lord.

For all world leaders: that they may follow the example of Christ and make service of the least a guiding principle of their work, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who have lost jobs or cannot find employment: that God will open pathways for them to use their gifts for the good of the human family, let us pray to the Lord.

For all the Elect and Candidates: that God will deepen their desire for the Eucharist and fill them with love through the Holy Spirit, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who are ill: that they may find healing and hope in the sufferings of Christ, let us pray to the Lord.

For the Jewish people: that as they celebrate Passover this week, they may deepen their covenant with God and be touched more fully by God’s Word, let us pray to the Lord.

For the people of the Holy Land: that God will give courage to all leaders to make new efforts for peace and justice for who live in the biblical lands, let us pray to the Lord.

For peace: that God will inspire new efforts for peace and the resolution of all conflicts, let us pray to the Lord.