Palm Sunday, March 28, 2021, and Holy Week

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Praying in solidarity with Jesus

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Jesus, let me learn from your suffering and death what it means to be truly human and a child of God. Lord, you have given me a well-trained tongue that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Open my ears that I may hear. Help me not to rebel, not to turn back. Let me give my back to those who would hurt me, help me not to shield my face from the scorn of others. You O God, are my help, and I am not disgraced. I will set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from a homily by Catherine Wolff on The Exaltation of the Cross, September 14, 2008:

My early school days were spent at St. Agnes Grammar School up in San Francisco. I’m old enough that seeing a movie was a major treat in those days, and the nuns who ran St. Agnes must have invested all their savings in the one movie we had in our library—a Spanish film that came out in the mid-1950’s called “The Miracle of Marcellino.”

My memory of the exact plot is a bit sketchy—Marcellino was a poor little orphan who had been taken in by the monks in a very austere monastery, and there was an episode having to do with a scorpion bite, and a miracle involving bread and wine. But I do have vivid, enduring memories of the conversations that Marcellino would have with Jesus. He was a lonely little boy who visited the chapel regularly to pray out loud in front of a crucifix that seemed to be at least 15 feet tall. After awhile Jesus, from way up on the cross, started talking back in a deep, rich, sorrowful voice. It was a great comfort to Marcellino but it was absolutely terrifying to me as a 6- or 7-year-old. I was worried that any number of crucifixes that hung all over Catholic 1950’s San Francisco would start speaking to me, but really what was most disturbing was that Jesus was somehow still hanging on the cross, now, today.

Now this was in the days just before Vatican II, when there was still considerable emphasis on the cross as ransom for sin, and on our personal and collective culpability in Jesus’ suffering and death. The story of the cross was told in terms of the sacrifice necessary for the redemption of our sins, one that we find in the Synoptic Gospels. This was a story that implied that God was deeply offended, that he required appeasement, recompense, and that since no mere human could make up for the estrangement that we humans had chosen, God had to send His own son to make amends, and to require of Him the ultimate sacrifice of death.

But there is another way to understand the cross. If we consider God’s love to be the real basis for hope, instead of the terrible ransom of Jesus’ life, we can tell another version of the story. It starts with the story in Genesis of creation itself, where God begins to reveal Himself, freely and forgivingly. And in this story creation is not an event that is contained in the past but is actually ongoing in history, ongoing in our hearts.

The next phase in this unfolding revelation of God’s love is the Incarnation. This is not a desperate salvage job, where God has to intervene in human history to help set it right. We already see him intervening continuously throughout the Old Testament, through the covenant which He kept so lovingly and faithfully and His People kept so badly. The Incarnation is God breaking directly, physically, into history in human form in the person of Jesus. In fact, the great Franciscan Duns Scotus made a powerful argument that the Incarnation is God’s primary redemptive act. He said that the Incarnation was first and foremost in God’s mind from the beginning. It could not have been dependent on, or occasioned by, any action of humans, especially sin.

All of Jesus’ work was redemptive, all of it ennobled our human nature he took on for us—his healing, his teaching, and as we heard from Paul today, his obedience unto death, even death on a cross. Jesus was a prophet in a long tradition that believed in the power of suffering to atone for wrongdoing, and because he was so faithful to God’s will, he came to understand that he was to die, and that his death was a sacrifice for others. Jesus resolutely accepted his fate, and his faithfulness persisted throughout his terrible suffering and into his death. But so did the Father’s outpouring of love. We know that because Jesus was raised from the dead, and we are given new life in the Kingdom that came about as a result. And yet that Kingdom is often so difficult to realize. We still suffer. You do, I do. I think of my long walk with my brother down the road to his death from brain cancer. I think of my friend Mary who has carried her schizophrenic brother for twenty years now. I wonder where so many Katrina victims are—they never came home again. And when I see pictures of children in Darfur it seems as though much of humankind is still nailed to a cross.

How can we find hope in our suffering, in the suffering of Jesus on the cross? How can we come to comprehend the reality that the cross contains not only the suffering but also the incarnation and the exaltation of Jesus? That it contains not only failure and scandal and pain but also victory and the promise of eternal life? Jesus already triumphed, and yet you and I here today are not yet capable of living fully in the Kingdom he established. We are more like the Hebrews wandering around in the desert, complaining about wretched food and ravaged by serpents. In the rather mysterious passage we heard earlier, Moses had to appeal to God who told him to make an image of the serpent, mount it on a pole, and to have everybody who had been bitten look at it, and as a result, actually live. God had his people confront that which terrified them, and in doing so they were healed.

The Son of Man lifted up on the cross is a dreadful sight to see. It requires us to confront not only Jesus’ suffering but our own demons, and our own suffering borne in His body. This is a powerful lesson of the cross—that we cannot turn away from suffering. We must assume our crosses as faithfully as Jesus did; we must suffer in order to be healed. In being healed we will be able to accept Jesus’ reassurance that the cross is the occasion for the great manifestation of God’s love for us, not a condemnation of the world but a promise that the world is saved.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

A Reflective Reading of the Gospel (Mark 14:12—15:47)

Adapted from Surrender, A Guide for Prayer; “The Way of the Cross”, (pp 92-93 of book four of the “Take and Receive” series, based on the Ignatian Exercises)

The Last Supper

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.”

  • This event surely did not go as Jesus’ disciples had planned; it was not the normal Passover meal.
  • Have I ever experienced an event that did not go as I had expected? or one that I was bothered by later?

PAUSE

Jesus predicts Peter’s denial

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.

  • Have I ever made a promise that I found I was unable to keep? How did it make me feel? Did it change my relationship to the one to whom I had made the promise?

PAUSE

Gethsemane

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.”

  • Have I ever counted on friends at a stressful time in my life? How did that work out? Have I ever failed to be present to someone who needed me? How did I feel later?

PAUSE

Jesus Arrested

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.

  • Have I ever been publicly shamed or even betrayed by a relative or friend? How did I react?

PAUSE

Jesus Before the Sanhedrin

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,
“What 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 took him and beat him.

  • Have I ever experienced being misunderstood, “condemned” unfairly? How did I deal with it? Did Jesus come to mind, or the example of someone else?

PAUSE

Peter Disowns Jesus

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.

  • Has fear of embarrassment or losing my reputation at work, at home with relatives, or out with friends ever caused me to deny a conversation, an action, or a relationship and to lie about what was really true?
  • Have I dealt with it?

PAUSE

Jesus Before Pilate

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.

  • How did I react in the face of anger and hatred, when a bunch of people turned on me, made fun of me, or worse?
  • Was I silent and dignified, was I belligerent and accusatory, or did I react in another way?

PAUSE

The Crucifixion of Jesus

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.

  • I think of someone who, like Simon, was there to lift a cross from my shoulders. Have I ever expressed gratitude? How would it feel to be mocked and laughed at when I am in physical or emotional pain?

PAUSE

The Death of Jesus

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.

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.

  • Have I ever felt alone or forsaken by everyone, wondering if even God forgot me?
  • Did I fail to notice those who actually were there for me?

PAUSE

The Burial of Jesus

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.

  • What in my life holds me entombed? Where in my life do I experience death?

At the conclusion of the reading, reflect on the part or line that touched you the most.

Reflection Questions

  • What is there about Jesus that draws me to him and keeps me as his follower?
  • What can I do to reflect Jesus’ simplicity and humility in my daily actions?
  • What, exactly, do we expect of our religious and civil leaders—magical powers to fix what is broken in our lives and our government, or a beacon of right thinking and right action?
  • Jesus’ passion refers to His willingness to accept powerlessness, to receive, without physical resistance, what was being done to him. Have I ever been in a situation where I was not in control? How frustrated was I? Did I consider giving the experience back to God as Jesus did?
  • In what ways is God passive? According to Nouwen, it is in waiting for our response to God’s love instead of commanding it… Can I think of times in my life when I realized I could not be pro-active, but had to be passive, waiting for another’s action?
  • Has there been a time in my life when I was treated unfairly? How did I react?
  • Have I ever counted on friends to be with me in a stressful time in my life? Were they there for me or did they “fall asleep”?
  • Peter denied Jesus three times. What is a time when I found it difficult to witness to the values I believe in?
  • In His poignant words on the cross, there is a suggestion that Jesus might have felt completely abandoned by God at that moment.
    Have I ever felt abandoned by someone I counted on to have my back? Was it true? How did I react?
    Have I ever felt abandoned by God? Was it true? How did I react?
  • Do I really believe that “with the Lord there is mercy and redemption” (Psalm 130)? Why or why not?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style:

I read Mark 14:22–42. I imagine that I was one of the disciples asked to accompany Jesus as he went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. I had plenty to eat and drink, and the night was so quiet. I could hear the far-off laughter from other homes as people celebrated the Seder meal. I could hear animals rustling in the dark, and then the quiet, even breathing of my two companions. In the dimness, I could see the shape of Jesus all by himself in a distant part of the Garden. He was sort of hunched over, folded in on himself. He seemed alone. I must admit that I was a little pleased when asked to be one of those to accompany him outside, but I felt a little rejected by his desire to go off alone. Why did he ask us to come in the first place? Sometimes, that man was an enigma. The others and I started to talk, but the conversation seemed flat somehow. I tried then to pray, but I kept falling asleep. He came back a couple of times and quietly woke us, but just as quietly he returned to his former position far from us. We were so embarrassed to be caught napping, but, really, there was nothing to do. Only later did we come to realize what Jesus was doing and what agony he was going through. After the soldiers came, I couldn’t look him in the eye; I was so ashamed. I often wonder what Jesus thought as he prayed there in the garden. I wonder if he thought we let him down in some way? I will never be able to explain or apologize for my failure. I often wonder what I could have done for him had I known. Every now and then, the scene returns to my mind and I try to share with Jesus my thoughts and feelings about his agony. Somehow, I think he understood and still understands.

—Anne Greenfield, from Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Spend some time listening to music meditations on the Passion… Can any of these pieces help you identify and understand what Jesus was going through?

  • Faure: Requiem
  • Bach: St. Matthew Passion
  • Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Christ
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Pick one segment from the Palm Sunday Gospel, and imagine yourself in the scene. Which scene especially speaks to you? Take the place of each of the characters and flesh out the events. With whom do you identify, sympathize, take issue? Why? Where do you actually see yourself in those events? Be honest. Speak to Jesus about your triumphs of spirit and your failings in this very human condition we call life and relationships.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Jesus: A Victim of Capital Punishment

We worship a God whose Son died as a common criminal despite His innocence. During this week when we recall the execution of Jesus Christ, we remember that our Pope and Bishops call us as Catholic Christians to work for an end to the death penalty in our state and in our nation. The Catholic bishops of the United States issued a paper in 2005 called “A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death.” They acknowledged that sentences such as “life in prison without parole” provide non-lethal alternatives and called for an end to the use of the death penalty in the United States, stating “it is time for our nation to abandon the illusion that we can protect life by taking life.”

What can you do?

Literary Reflection:

Enjoy this very poignant picture of the scene in Jerusalem, which is described in our Entrance gospel on Palm Sunday:

“The Poet Thinks of the Donkey”

On the outskirts of Jerusalem
the donkey waited.
Not especially brave, or filled with understanding,
he stood and waited.

How horses, turned out into the meadow,
leap with delight!
How doves, released from their cages,
clatter away, splashed with sunlight.

But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.

Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.

I hope, finally, he felt brave.
I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,
as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.

—Mary Oliver

Literary Reflection:

Read W.S. Di Piero’s poem “Gethsemane” (from The Restorers). How does it feel to be the betrayer? Have I ever disappointed or betrayed anyone? How did I feel?

“Gethsemane”

He had nerve enough to follow,
dogging his heels, for what? To learn
a new vocabulary, a prayer,
down there in yellow iris that smelled
like carcass? He came back smiling.
The dog had its day, rolling in meat.
This meat was news: The Word of God
wants what we want, to be unchosen.

He must have made up his mind then
What if he said, I don't see Him here,
we’ll check later? Instead he gagged
on words, like a mouthful of water
brought from the garden, that blood squirms
from the blossom loads and cracked boughs,
and in the stagnant lake of the heart
the sprouting trunk splits, groans,
spilling wine, the spongy dirt
inhaling any blood that falls,
and I'm falling into the tree
and dogs at lakeside bark at clouds.

Like that. As if his own speech could
infuriate time while he waited
for an act to come upon him
(as joy sometimes happens). The soldiers
(were they his joy?) got impatient.
So finally his bloodless lips
screamed More life! More salt!
before he gave away his kiss.

Now read this poem by Mary Oliver. How is its emphasis a little different?

“Gethsemane”

The grass never sleeps.
Or the roses.
Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning.
Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.

The cricket has such splendid fringe on his feet,
and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,
and heaven knows if it ever sleeps.

Jesus said, wait with me. And maybe the stars did, maybe
the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn’t move.
Maybe the lake far away, where once he walked
as on a blue pavement,
lay still and waited, wild awake.

Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not
keep that vigil, how they must have wept,
so utterly human, knowing this too
must be part of the story.

Closing Prayer

Jesus, give us the lessons we need to learn from your last days commemorated here today. You showed us love and mercy, even unto death. Your cross declares solidarity with all those who suffer, especially… [Take time to think of a person or people in particular for whom you wish to pray.] Be with those in pain, in need, those facing ruin or death. Give us the ability to find joy in our sorrows. Just as you were able to transform your last days into grace, forgiveness and eventually resurrection, help us to transform the difficulties WE face into grace, forgiveness and new life in you… Amen.