Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

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April 14, 2019

Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

Holy Week has begun, and the confusion, turbulence, and disorder of Holy Week is played out in the last days of Jesus, but also in our lives as well. The Prince of this world raises his head and causes us to be unsettled as the Evil Spirit attacks our emotions and throws us off balance. We often do not understand what is happening to us because much of the time we just want to pay attention to the suffering of Jesus, but we get sidetracked by the muckiness of our own lives. Someone says or does something hurtful that is ill-timed, or someone does something insensitive or as a betrayal. Do not be alarmed. This week is the battleground between the evil spirits and the Holy Spirit, and the Evil One will do everything possible to stop a good person from moving closer to Christ, but we have the good news: Jesus Christ has secured victory over the forces of the world, over sin and death. We have to remember that so that we can be balanced as we move forward this week.

In gratitude for the ways Jesus has stood by us this past year, we can offer him something meaningful as he goes through this trying week. What does a person who is going to his death most need? Compassion. He needs someone to understand his suffering because that eases his pain. Normally, we avoid someone else’s pain, but we give the other person a gift when we try to understand a bit more of his experience. Jesus has to go through his suffering, and we have to stay out of the way of the world’s events around him, so it is best that we not try to carry his cross or solve his problems or deny what will happen to him or to tell him everything is going to be okay. Those words do not help. Our work is simple. It is to stay with him and to ask him what he is going through. Our work is extraordinarily difficult because it is challenging to hold someone’s pain.

How do we show to compassion to Jesus in our prayer? As we pray or read Scripture before him, we sit there with him and if he has something to say, we listen to him without speaking. We let him tell us what is moving in his mind and heart. We may offer a comforting word, but we simply accept what he says, and we hold his words with silent reverence with our prayerful support. This is our week to find stillness and quiet. We sit with him, watch, observe, and lift him up to God.

If we cannot stay quiet, we can at least ask helpful questions. We can ask, “What are you experiencing? Can you tell me how you are feeling? What is going on with you as these events unfold? Please tell me anything that will help me understand.” We stay away from questions where the answer leads to a “yes” or a “no,” but we leave room for questions that help him to clarify, to explain, or to help him process his emotions. Every year for him is different because our story changes each year. Imagine the great assistance you give to Jesus as he goes to his death knowing that he is partially understood, that you understand his suffering a bit more, that he has confided in a friend who will hold his suffering in reverence. We give each other a tremendous gift by honoring each other’s pain, and we are healed by it.

Keep yourself in emotional balance this week, and you can help yourself by remembering to take deep breaths. Hold steady and refrain from acting immediately. Texts, emails, and phone calls can be returned after 48 hours when you’ve given yourself some time to process and figure out a plan. There is no rush. You can slow down the pace of life. Remember that the final word has not been spoken. Easter is on the horizon, but these events must play out. Our compassion upon Jesus will be returned in surprising ways, but until then, we stay together as believers and have compassion on each other. We are all we have, and that is pretty good.

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday of Holy Week: We hear from Isaiah 42 in the First Oracle of the Servant of the Lord in which God’s servant will suffer silently but will bring justice to the world. In the Gospel, Lazarus’ sister, Mary, anoints Jesus’ feet with costly oil in preparation for his funeral.

Tuesday of Holy Week: In the Second Oracle of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 49), he cries out that I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth. In deep hurt, distress and grief, Jesus tells his closest friends at supper that one of them will betray him and another will deny him three times before the cock crows.

(Spy) Wednesday of Holy Week: In the Third Oracle of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 50), the suffering servant does not turn away from the ridicule and torture of his persecutors and tormentors. The time has come. Matthew’s account shows Judas eating during the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread with Jesus and their good friends after he had already arranged to hand him over to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver. The Son of Man will be handed over by Judas, one of the Twelve, who sets the terms of Jesus’ arrest.

Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday: Only an evening Mass can be said on this day and we let our bells ring freely during the Gloria that has been absent all Lent. In Exodus, we hear the laws and customs about eating the Passover meal prior to God’s deliverance of the people through Moses from the Egyptians. Paul tells us of the custom by early Christians that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. In John’s Gospel, Jesus loves us to the end giving us a mandate to wash one another’s feet.

Good Friday: No Mass is celebrated today though there may be a service of veneration of the cross and a Stations of the Cross service. In Isaiah, we hear the Fourth Oracle of the Servant of the Lord who was wounded for our sins. In Hebrews, we are told that Jesus learned obedience through his faith and thus became the source of salvation for all. The Passion of our Lord is proclaimed from John’s Gospel.

Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil: No Mass, baptisms, or confirmations can be celebrated before the Vigil to honor the Lord who has been buried in the tomb. The Old Testament readings point to God’s vision of the world and the deliverance of the people from sin and death. All of Scripture points to the coming of the Righteous One who will bring about salvation for all. The Old Testament is relished during the Vigil of the Word as God’s story of salvation is told to us again. The New Testament epistle from Romans tells us that Christ, who was raised from the dead, dies no more. Matthew's Gospel finds Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at dawn arriving at the tomb only to find it empty. After a great earthquake that made the guards tremble, and angel appears telling the women, "Do not be afraid." The angel instructs them to go to the Twelve to tell them, "Jesus has been raised from the dead, and is going before you to Galilee."

Saints of the Week

There are no saints celebrated this week.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Apr 14, 1618. The father of John Berchmans is ordained a priest. John himself was still a Novice.

·      Apr 15, 1610. The death of Fr. Robert Parsons, the most active and indefatigable of all the leaders of the English Catholics during the reign of Elizabeth I.

·      Apr 16, 1767. Pope Clement XIII wrote to Charles III of Spain imploring him to cancel the decree of expulsion of the Society from Spain, issued on April 2nd. The Pope's letter nobly defends the innocence of the Society.

·      Apr 17, 1540. The arrival in Lisbon of St Francis Xavier and Fr. Simon Rodriguez. Both were destined for India, but the King retained the latter in Portugal.

·      Apr 18, 1906. At Rome, the death of Rev Fr. Luis Martin, twenty-fourth General of the Society. Pope Pius X spoke of him as a saint, a martyr, a man of extraordinary ability and prudence.

·      Apr 19, 1602. At Tyburn, Ven. James Ducket, a layman, suffered death for publishing a work written by Robert Southwell.

·      Apr 20, 1864. Father Peter de Smet left St Louis to evangelize the Sioux Indians.