Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord
The Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, also called Palm Sunday, represents the gate through which we enter into Holy Week. This is a time in which we contemplate the last moments of the life of Jesus. We recall Jesus’s entrance into Jerusalem, welcomed by a festive crowd, and then we recall his Passion. As early as 400, a procession with palms took place.
The liturgy is entirely characterized by the theme of Jesus’s Passion. This is true particularly regarding the Gospel texts which, according to the liturgical year, present the passion narrative. The first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (the Song of the Suffering Servant, Isaiah 50), becomes a prayer in Psalm 22 with the refrain “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” The terror that Jesus bore in obeying the Father “to the point of death, even death on a cross” is attested to in the Second Reading from the Letter to the Philippians. This is not so much the celebration of “grief” and “lament”, as much as a week that expresses the “heart” of the Paschal Mystery when Jesus gave His life for our salvation. Jesus became man because he loves us, and because of love He gives His life. It is through this obedience that Jesus loves the Father and loves the men and women He came to save.
On Palm Sunday, we are offered an interpretation of our life and destiny. All of our sufferings and grief find a response in Jesus. In the face of every question regarding why there is suffering, why there is death, why there are so many choices that are incomprehensible to the human mind, Jesus does not give us vague responses. With His life, he has told us that He is with us, at our sides. Until the end. We will never be alone – neither in our joys nor in our sufferings. Jesus is with us. It is a celebration that is understood through silence and prayer rather than through words, so as to enter into it with the heart.
“Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress…. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” …Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests and the elders of the people. His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying, “The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him” (see Mt. 26:36-39, 47-48).
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.] … “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. (Mk. 14:66-72).
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. [Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” They divided his garments by casting lots…. Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God?” …Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last. (Lk. 23:33-34, 39-46).
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
in the midst of the festive crowd,
you entered Jerusalem.
Obedient unto death,
you handed over your spirit to the Father,
giving your life to save us.
The lips of those who today
acclaim you as the “Son of David”,
will tomorrow shout “Crucify him!”
The same disciples that promised
To remain with you unto the end, abandon you.
And I, Lord?
I realize that I struggle to keep up with you.
I realize that I struggle
to express myself in prayer.
I babble. I stop. I reflect.
I realize
that, like Judas, I am ready
to betray Love with a kiss.
Like Pilate, I am ready
To defend the truth
as long as it doesn’t cost me anything.
Like Peter, I am ready
to promise you many things,
but I am equally ready to abandon you.
Like the disciples, I am ready
to promise fidelity to you,
and then disappear in anonymity.
I also discover that…
like the sorrowful Mary,
I know how to accompany you in silence
with a wounded heart
along your Way of the Cross.
Like the beloved disciple,
with Mary, I know how to remain
at your side even under the cross.
Like the good thief,
I know how to acknowledge my errors
and entrust myself to your merciful heart.
Like the centurion,
I know how to recognize
you as my Lord and my God.
Jesus, Crucified One,
Son and brother,
have mercy on me!
Help me stay behind You,
with You,
to live in You and for You.
Written by Father Andrea Vena
