The Day called “Good”: Palm Sunday

The Day called “Good”

Palm Sunday

April 10, 2022

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

 

          Luke’s Passion story contains moments of goodness in an otherwise tragic story – the Daughters of Jerusalem, the Good Thief, Joseph of Arimathea, the faithful women, and we have to look for those moments in times of darkness and despair. The story of the Passion is eternal because we see it personally meaningfully during each stage of our life. In our youth, we see the injustice done to a good man who worked miracles and spoke truthfully for God. We want to join the brigade of good to be a part of the solutions. In mid-life, we know there is something more to his death that is difficult to explain, but we see our participation in the sinful structures of the world, and yet this good man stands out as the model for right living. In our maturity, we see all the chaos and turbulence in the world that is beyond our comprehension, and we need Jesus to die for us because it gives us greater meaning to all the dysfunction that we cannot explain or control.

 

         We are ever so aware of the uncontrollable chaos surrounding us and only thing we can do is ask Jesus to bring it to the Cross with him, so he can offer it to the Father, so that the troubles can be transformed in the Resurrection. The Passion is the moment we place our worldly cares before Jesus at his weakest moment and he consents to take it to his death. In fact, as his troubles get heavier, he often begs us lay more of our troubles at his feet because that is the reason he came. He came so that we know that the Father understands human suffering and that wants to bring us closer to God’s heart as the work of reconciliation happens at all levels. Through the Passion, God lives eternally with a broken heart, until we all come closer to God and come home.

 

         Suffering separates us from one another. The goal of suffering is to isolate us and keep us apart from those who love us, and yet, mercy reconnects us and heals. The moment of the death of Jesus is when God is most vulnerable and weeps for creation, and yet, God’s mercy begins at this most fractured moment, and we see those moments of goodness in the people around Jesus who show him mercy. Mercy is what transforms badness into goodness, and if our eyes are open, we are able to see these acts of goodness that remain in our consciousness. These are the memories that sustain us and keep life moving forward.

 

         Life is difficult and each of us carries burdens that are almost too much – the loss of a loved one, an illness, a thoughtless action – but when we look around, we find people are there with outstretched hands to stay in friendship, to forgive us and to heal us, to love us even when we do not think we deserve it. This is what God the Father is doing at the Cross. That hand of friendship remains stretched out for you to hold it, for you to grasp, and to feel the warmth of the invitation. No matter how difficult death is, because of the Passion, evil, death, sin, will not ever have the last word. God’s mercy has the last word, and that is why we call this Friday Good, because God’s goodness is never-ending.

 

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 today 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 in the Roman calendar this week.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

·      April 10, 1585. At Rome, the death of Pope Gregory XIII, founder of the Gregorian University and the German College, whose memory will ever be cherished as that of one of the Society's greatest benefactors.

·      April 11, 1573. Pope Gregory XIII suggested to the Fathers who were assembling for the Third General Congregation that it might be well for them to choose a General of some nationality other than Spanish. Later he expressed his satisfaction that they had elected Everard Mercurian, a Belgian.

·      April 12, 1671. Pope Clement X canonized Francis Borgia, the 3rd general of the Society.

·      April 13, 1541. Ignatius was elected general in a second election, after having declined the results of the first election several days earlier.

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

·      April 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.

·      April 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 Aprilil 2nd. The Pope's letter nobly defends the innocence of the Society.