Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024

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Praying in solidarity with Jesus

Mark 14:1—15:47

The Conspiracy Against Jesus.

14:1 * The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread* were to take place in two days’ time.a So the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to arrest him by treachery and put him to death. 2 They said, “Not during the festival, for fear that there may be a riot among the people.”

The Anointing at Bethany.

* 3 When he was in Bethany reclining at table in the house of Simon the leper,b a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil, costly genuine spikenard. She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head. 4 There were some who were indignant. “Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil? 5 It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages and the money given to the poor.” They were infuriated with her. 6 Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. 7 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. 8 She has done what she could. She has anticipated anointing my body for burial. 9 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.”

The Betrayal by Judas.

10 c Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them. 11 When they heard him they were pleased and promised to pay him money. Then he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

Preparations for the Passover.

12 d 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?” 13 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. 14 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?”’ 15 Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” 16 The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

The Betrayer.

17 e When it was evening, he came with the Twelve. 18 * 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.” 19 They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one, “Surely it is not I?” 20 He said to them, “One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish. 21 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.”

The Lord’s Supper.

22 * While they were eating,f he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” 23 Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed* for many. 25 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.” 26 Then, after singing a hymn,* they went out to the Mount of Olives.g

Peter’s Denial Foretold.

* 27 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.’h

28 But after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” 29 Peter said to him, “Even though all should have their faith shaken, mine will not be.” 30 Then Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.” 31 But he vehemently replied, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all spoke similarly.

The Agony in the Garden.

32 * Then they came to a place named Gethsemane,i and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”j 33 He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be troubled and distressed. 34 Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch.” 35 He advanced a little and fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass by him; 36 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.” 37 When he returned he found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 * Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.k The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” 39 Withdrawing again, he prayed, saying the same thing. 40 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. 41 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. 42 Get up, let us go. See, my betrayer is at hand.”

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus.

43 l 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. 44 His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying, “The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him and lead him away securely.” 45 He came and immediately went over to him and said, “Rabbi.” And he kissed him. 46 At this they laid hands on him and arrested him. 47 One of the bystanders drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. 48 Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs, to seize me? 49 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.” 50 And they all left him and fled. 51 Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, 52 but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.

Jesus Before the Sanhedrin.

53 * m They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 54 Peter followed him at a distance into the high priest’s courtyard and was seated with the guards, warming himself at the fire. 55 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. 56 Many gave false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. 57 * Some took the stand and testified falsely against him, alleging, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build another not made with hands.’”n 59 Even so their testimony did not agree. 60 The high priest rose before the assembly and questioned Jesus, saying, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?” 61 * But he was silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him and said to him, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?” 62 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.’”o

63 At that the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further need have we of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as deserving to die. 65 Some began to spit on him. They blindfolded him and struck him and said to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards greeted him with blows.p

Peter’s Denial of Jesus.

66 q While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s maids came along. 67 Seeing Peter warming himself, she looked intently at him and said, “You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 * 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.] 69 The maid saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 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.” 71 He began to curse and to swear, “I do not know this man about whom you are talking.” 72 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.r

Jesus Before Pilate.

1a As soon as morning came,b 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. 2 Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”* He said to him in reply, “You say so.” 3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 Again Pilate questioned him, “Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of.” 5 Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

The Sentence of Death.

* 6 Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested.c 7 A man called Barabbas* was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. 8 The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed. 9 Pilate answered, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” 10 For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 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?” 13 * They shouted again, “Crucify him.” 14 Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.” 15 * So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.

Mockery by the Soldiers.

16 * d The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. 17 They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. 18 They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. 20 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.

The Way of the Cross.

21 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.e

The Crucifixion.

22 f They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull). 23 They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 * g Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. 25 It was nine o’clock in the morning* when they crucified him. 26 * The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left.h [28] * 29 * Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying,i “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself by coming down from the cross.” 31 Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, 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.j

The Death of Jesus.

33 At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 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?”k 35 * Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “Look, he is calling Elijah.” 36 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.” 37 Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 * The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 * l When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 40 * There were also women looking on from a distance.m Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome. 41 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.

The Burial of Jesus.

42 n When it was already evening, since it was the day of preparation, the day before the sabbath, 43 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. 44 Pilate was amazed that he was already dead. He summoned the centurion and asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 And when he learned of it from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 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. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched where he was laid.

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Lord, help me to walk with you on this dark journey. Teach me how to share in your pain, but also in your faith in your God and your love for others.

Companions for the Journey

From a Good Friday Homily by Father Brendan McGuire 2020:

Dostoyevsky, the great Russian novelist, says that
“Love is a harsh thing and that it costs, it costs everything.”
That is the profound message of the Cross and indeed of Good Friday,
it costs everything.
Nothing less than everything.

I would like to talk about the cross in three ways to keep it easy: the 3 C’s:
Commitment.
Community.
Courage.

Let me talk about Commitment.
Love is a strange thing.
True love requires of us an all-in;
it requires of us, if we are serious, a deep love.
It requires a full, deep commitment.
Nothing less will work.
Ron Rolheiser says that if we want a deep love
then we have to have a deep commitment
to sweat blood and to die to self.
And that is what the Cross represents.
Jesus dies to himself and sweats blood in the Garden of Gethsemane
to share that love to all to the point of death on the Cross.

This message of dying to self, this sweating blood,
is not something that our culture is keen to embrace.
Our culture is good at many things
but sweating blood and dying to self it is not good at.
Commitment it is not good at.
And we are getting worse at commitment not better.

You see, it requires a deep commitment for love
whether it be family or spouse; whether it be friendship;
or whether it be religious vows.
Our society has a hard time with that commitment
because we want it all.
The struggle that we have in our society is
that we do not think any of us want to do evil
we are sure there are some people who do
but we think that most all of us are not caught up
in ill will, malice or really tempted by the evil one.
We are tempted to do the lesser of two goods.
When we choose the lesser of two goods
then we give in to the lesser commitment.

For example, we think we want to be saints
but we still want to have all the sensation of a sinner.
We want to be able to have it all.
We want to be faithful in our marriage
but we also want to be able to glance and flirt
with everyone who is attractive.
We want to be good parents but we are not willing to make the sacrifice
that it takes to be a good parent,
the sacrifice of our career
to be that good parent.
Or the sacrifice of not being liked by our child
for a couple of hours or a couple of days
while we teach them what is the right thing to do;
and to sacrifice while they learn it.

We want to be loyal friends but we enjoy our individuality
and we rather resent the imposition that we have to experience
when our friend or somebody else wants something of us.
You see, deep love requires an all-in commitment.
The love of the Cross costs everything.
There is nothing left behind.
That is what the Cross symbolizes, Jesus leaving nothing behind.
He understood the deep commitment of love even to the point of death.
We have to be very clear that when and if we want to be true disciples,
one who is committed,
commitment at all costs is commitment to the end.

That brings me to the second C , Community,
Community is where we do the loving.
If we think we can be a disciple on our own,
we are completely misinformed because it is not a solitary reality.
It is a communal reality.
We love someone and they love us back;
and then we love them back;
and we love someone who may not be capable of loving us
but that is shared inside the community.
It is what a community does when somebody, for example, dies.
And the community wraps its arms around the loss of that spouse
and helps that family through that period of loss.

It is what we miss so much in this pandemic,  the gift of community
and why this technology has been so critical to us
to recognize that community is still alive
and that the love we share operates inside this community
and that is where the clarity comes in.
We cannot pretend that we love alone.
We love inside the community:
Family, the greater community, our nation, our community.

That brings me to the last C, that of courage.
It takes courage to love.
To take heart is what the word courage literally means.
It takes courage to stand for one’s values.
It takes courage to love and to give the commitment at all costs.
It takes courage to put one’s self out and be vulnerable to others.
It takes courage to do the right thing for the right reasons.
That is courage.

Let me give you an example:
There was a young man, who wanted to go to medical school
and was determined to go to medical school.
So he saved up and he and his wife saved hard;
with great cost to him and to his family,
he headed off to medical school, leaving the wife and children at home.
He gets to medical school.
It was a huge honor even to do the medical entrance exam as they came in.
The proctor goes around and hands out all the entrance exams
and proceeded to leave the room at which moment.
All the other young men and women in the room
started to take out a little piece of paper from under their sleeve,
from inside a book, from inside a pocket.
And he thought to himself as a flush came over him,
“It is impossible to compete against cheaters.”
So he stood up at the back of the room and he said,
“To every single one of you who have a piece of paper out,
I will absolutely report you.
I left my wife and my children behind so that I can be in school.
I have no intention of being beaten by cheaters.”
And he sat down.
All the little pieces of paper went back into the sleeves.
That class went on to be one of the best classes
that school had ever had because of that moment of courage
that built a community around a commitment to truth.
We hold each other accountable to our commitment
to love inside the community and that takes courage.
It is never easy.
And in the pandemic it is as hard as any other time if not harder.

So when we come to the Cross today,
we see what Christ gave us.
It was courage.
It was commitment.
It was community.
And it was all in love.
Love that costs everything.

When we go home tonight, we spend this weekend
and look around at those whom we love
and may we renew our commitment;
may we renew our community;
and may we renew our courage in the Cross of Christ.

Further reflection:

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:

Reflection Questions

  • Have I ever experienced an event which did not go as planned?
    Or one which I was bothered by later?
  • Have I ever counted on friends in 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?
  • Have I ever been publicly shamed or even betrayed by a relative or friend?
    How did I react?
  • Have I ever experienced being misunderstood, “condemned” unfairly?
    How did I deal with it?
    Did Jesus’ humiliation come to mind, or the example of someone else?
  • Has fear of embarrassment or losing my reputation in work, home or 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?
  • 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?
  • I think of someone, like Simon, who was there to lift a cross from my shoulders.
    Have I ever expressed my gratitude?
  • How would it feel to be laughed at and mocked when you are in physical or emotional pain?
  • I think of a time when I was called to love unconditionally, even to forgive, when there seemed to be no return. Have I ever felt alone or forsaken by everyone, wondering if even God forgot me?
  • What in my life holds me entombed; where in my life do I experience death?
  • PAUSE
  • How am I feeling right now?
    The “Revelation Question”: Do I feel, sense, hear, intuit the voice, movement, or will, of God in the events of my own life?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Spend some time and put yourself in the person of Judas. What has brought you to this state of discontent with Jesus? Do you still care about Him even though you are angry or disappointed? How was your experience with the chief priests? How do you feel when He declares that someone at the Passover table will betray him? How hard is it to sit calmly eating, drinking and laughing with Jesus and all your fellow disciples? Are you afraid the others will turn on you, or have you gotten past any concern for those you spent three years of your life with? Do you have any doubts? When Jesus leaves the banquet what do you do? When you come upon Him in the garden what thoughts run through your mind? How hard is it to kiss your former friend? Now that the deed is done, how do you feel? What are your plans for the future? What if you made a mistake in giving Jesus to the Sanhedrin? Do you think Jesus will forgive you? Does God figure into any of your thoughts right now?

Spend some time reviewing your own life: Have you ever reacted angrily or impulsively and hurt another? Did you get a chance to apologize or to make amends? Did you ask Jesus for forgiveness, knowing that He will never say no? Spend some time with this understanding, then keep in mind your need to forgive someone who has hurt you through neglect, selfishness or cruelty. Keep in mind that you need to forgive yourself for past mistakes, having asked God for His forgiveness.

Pray for Judas…

Poetic Reflection:

One of the hallmarks of Ignatian Spirituality is a discipline called “Active Indifference”. We are invited to look at our gifts and choices and instead of telling God what WE want, we wait to find out what God hopes and desires for us, confident that God will reveal such hope to us. The end result is to desire only what God wants for us, and by doing so, to find God in all things. This section of the poem “Ash Wednesday,” by T. S. Eliot, captures this belief and this hope:

Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated
And let my cry come unto Thee.

Sit still for a moment and imagine what Jesus was going through in that garden after the last supper. Jesus had to make a choice, and He did so in accordance with the Father’s will. How hard was for Him to care and not to care? Then reflect on what you think God might be calling you to right this very moment. Is it something you want, or maybe, is it something you have refused to consider? Allow God to speak to you, giving you reassurance that all will be well, and then see if you can respond as Jesus did: Let it be as you, not I would have it. Ask for the grace to know and draw closer to Jesus’ will for your life.

Poetic Reflection:

How do you think Jesus felt on this night, in the garden, when Peter, and the others, still did not understand what he was going through?

“Lonely Christ”

Lonely Christ
I pray to you.
You are a puzzle to me
as those I love
always are.

My soul is at odds
with the words.
What mad reach of mine
touches any thread of you?
Or what of mine, arms or eyes,
ever shares with people
where they may lie—
as they always do—
in a hard place!

What of mine shall make good
their taking of a breath,
their rising, caring, feeding
their sleeping in fear—
what shall make good
their slight faith,
their enormous promises
made in iron
for a child, man, a woman—

what of mine shall be with the people
as they caress a special grief
fondled again and again
In bludgeoned love?

What do I bring
with which to clutch
the merest hint of your shadow?

—Rev. Ed Ingebretsen, S.J.

Poetic Reflection:

What must Jesus have felt like in the garden as he was praying for comfort to his “Abba”? Judas has slipped away, not doubt to complete his nefarious plan; his buddies are all snoring—sleeping the sleep of those without a care, and uncaring, it would seem, of the struggle Jesus is experiencing:

Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the garden
Speaking to the sacred trees
Their branches bear his light
Without harm

Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the ruins
Seeking the lost disciple
A timid one
Too literate
To believe words
So he hides
Christ rises on the cornfields
It is only the harvest moon
The disciple
Turns over in his sleep
And murmurs:
“My regret!”

The disciple will awaken
When he knows history
But slowly, slowly
The Lord of History weeps into the fire

—Thomas Merton “Cables to the Ace” (stanza 80)