Reflections on Fourth Sunday of Easter (year B) from “First Impressions”

Acts 4: 8-12 // Psalm 118 // 1 John 3: 1-2 // John 10: 11-18

by Jude Siciliano, O.P.  <jude@judeop.org>

Have you noticed how often we pray the psalms...at least some of us? Nuns, monks, priests, deacons pray the psalms, many psalms, every day. (It’s called the Divine Office. The prayer book they carry with those Psalms is called a Breviary.) But what about the rest of us Catholics? Some pray the psalms when we make retreats, others pick up their Bible daily to pray a psalm or two as part of their prayer. Does that describe us, is that what we do?

When asked, “How many Scripture readings are there at your Eucharistic celebrations?” we tend to say: “Two at daily mass, three on Sundays.” Notice we usually do not count the psalm response (“Responsorial Psalm”) to the first readings. I would suggest, for some, psalms are treated like a second-class form of scriptures, not as important as the rest of the biblical books.

As an overview: there are 150 poem prayers we call “The Psalms.” They are divided into five books (Psalms 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150). The particular numbering might vary. The fivefold division is an imitation of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. They were used in liturgical settings and for personal prayers – and still are. Jesus’ parents would have taught him the psalms. The psalms we call “Responsorial Psalms,” are frequently put to musical settings for our liturgical celebrations.

Every time we come to Mass, Sundays and weekdays, as well as for baptisms, funerals, and weddings, there is at least one psalm at each service. There are Psalms of praise, thanksgiving, petition, confession of sin, and lament. They are poetic prayers and so fit many human moods, needs, and hungers. You can find a psalm to express your mood and need for the day.

Did you notice the Responsorial Psalm after the first reading today? It was taken from Psalm 118 and is a thanksgiving psalm (suitable to pray more than on just Thanksgiving day). It can express, or even stir us, to thanksgiving and, if needed, make us aware of our all-loving God and the gifts God gives us daily. Psalm 118 has 29 verses. Nine have been chosen as a response to our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. We will focus on the chosen nine, but for a fuller reading why not go to your Bible and pray the full Psalm 118 from the Book of Psalms?

As poetic prayers the psalms can touch us, as poetry does, at a deeper level than ordinary words. They can help us slow down, stir our imagination to play with different words and images. So, for example, to pick a word from today’s Psalm 118, where and to whom do we go for “refuge?” How do we do that? How is God our refuge?

Psalms encourage us to pause over a word, or image; ask questions; explore the feelings the psalmist stirs up; cast a loving gaze on God. We do not just read a psalm and move on to what’s next, as when we read historical or informational document. We can approach a psalm from different perspectives. For example, how would a young person, widow, newlywed, infirmed senior, etc. hear and pray this Psalm? Try praying the psalm with one of them in mind.

Psalm 118 is prayed by a thankful person. There are about 20 psalms of thanksgiving; some are personal, others are the grateful prayers of the community. Thanksgiving psalms seem to overflow with joy and receptivity. The person praying a thanksgiving psalm seems surprised by God. We can sense that wonder and surprise when the psalmist prays, “By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.” Thanksgiving psalms build up a relationship of gratitude with God. Doesn’t that happen when someone does us a favor, or surprises us with a gift we haven’t earned and our singular response is, “Thank you?”

The first reading incorporates a verse from today’s psalm: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” (Acts identifies Jesus as the one who suffered, was rejected and then exalted by God.) The psalm encourages us and the community to give thanks for God’s marvelous deeds and, when necessary, to seek refuge in God who is trustworthy and will not fail us. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord God.…” Notice how the psalm uses repetitions. “Give thanks to the Lord….”, addressed to the community (The opening and closing verse), and, “I will give thanks to you for you have answered me.”, addressed to God. By repetition the psalmist is doing what we do when we want to stress an important point, we repeat, or use similar words for the same purpose.

Grateful acknowledgment of God’s gifts leads us to the Eucharist, our community prayer of thanksgiving. (The Greek word “eucharistes,” means to give thanks.) For what, or whom, shall we give thanks in our celebration today? The gifts of creation; our family; church community; sufficient food; good medical care, etc.? And, as we pray our psalm of thanks, we are also aware of those without food; healthcare; safety for their families; employment, etc. The psalm of thanks stirs our awareness of others in our world who are without and challenges us to ask, “How can I help them so they too will give thanks to God?”

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FAITH BOOK
Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run.

From today’s Gospel reading:
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Reflection:
There are a lot of voices out there that can only distract and scatter us. Perhaps we’ve paid too much attention to them at times in our lives. Through hard experience we have learned that they don’t have our best interests at heart and if we listen to them we are scattered. But the voice of the Shepherd, Jesus tells us, wants to gather us. His voice can help us keep our wits about us in an often misguided world.

So we ask ourselves:
Can I name the “false shepherds” I have listened to? How did they mislead me?
Where and how do I listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd?

Third Sunday of Easter, April 14, 2024

We are witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus

Luke 24:35–48

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way,
and how Jesus was made known to them
in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”

Music Meditations

• “Christ in Me Arise” [YouTube]
• “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” (Amen Choir of First Baptist Church and National Philharmonic) [YouTube]
• “Open My Eyes, Lord” (by Jesse Manibusan) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

How do we recognize you in our daily lives, O Lord? Do we ever fail to be mindful of your care and your presence, your comfort and your reassurances? Help us to live our lives fully in your presence and help us to bring the joy of your presence to others as we remember those especially in need of your love at this time…

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” 2015, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Who are these “two disciples” featured in the opening line of today’s gospel? Well, this is the continuation of the Emmaus story. After Jesus’ death the two were leaving Jerusalem when Jesus met them on the road to Emmaus. He opened their minds to understand God’s plan revealed in the Scriptures. Then they recognized the Risen Christ when he broke bread for them. The two disciples’ witness to the community is interrupted by the appearance of the Risen Christ himself, who wastes no time in offering them peace. They, like the people Peter addressed in Acts, had acted “out of ignorance” by deserting Christ in his moment of need. With Jesus’ words their failures are also “wiped away.” In fact, their vision, like a newly-cleaned window, has been cleared and now they begin to see with the eyes of faith.

It’s clear from today’s narrative and the Emmaus account that the presence of the risen Lord with us is not easily recognizable. What the Christ did for the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he does also for the gathered disciples in Jerusalem. “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” This part of the story suggests a primary spiritual practice for us disciples who are also on a journey, a road trip of sorts—turning our attention to the Scriptures. Each of us is in a unique place in our lives. Each of us needs to come to experience the risen Christ accompanying us on the journey so we can celebrate our joys and receive strength during the rough passages. We are not on our own, even when suffering and struggles tempt us to feel that way.

It isn’t just a matter of “reading the Bible” is it? Or, taking a Bible class—as helpful as that can be. Instead, we need to be “devotional” readers, inviting the Spirit of Jesus to “open our minds to understand the Scriptures” in the way he did for his incredulous followers. Note the sequence: after their minds were opened to the Scriptures and they came to understand the events that had just happened, Jesus commissioned his disciples and us to be “witnesses of these things.”

Life is never static for us. It is always in flux; we are “on the road.” Along the way the risen Christ appears to us and, like his disciples, we don’t immediately recognize him. But he would be more readily recognizable to us if we followed the guidance of these resurrection stories: continue to gather in community, especially in hard times; break open the Word for one another; share the bread and wine of the Eucharist and then, well prepared, witness to the risen Christ through our words and actions to help others come to believe that, “He is risen!”

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

You are witnesses of these things

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

• Why is the physical resurrection of Jesus important to us?
  Why are there so many conflicting stories of this event?
  Have you ever in your life tried to explain the inexplicable?
• Do the wounds of Jesus, which still exist in His resurrected form, tell us something important about Jesus?
  About God?
• In this gospel, there is an assertion that the disciples came to know Jesus in the breaking of the bread. What does that mean for me?
  What, exactly, does it mean to “know” someone?
• Jesus was unrecognizable at first. Are there people I my life whom I miss seeing for who they truly are?
• What am I anxious about or fearful of?
  What absolutely terrifies me?
• How did Jesus react when he met his friends for the first time after they had abandoned them?
  How have I greeted someone who has hurt me?
• What do Jesus’ outstretched hands mean to me?
• What does it mean to me to have Jesus say “Peace be with you”?
  Is it merely the absence of conflict, or something deeper?
  Can I talk to Jesus honestly about my struggles and doubts?
  Do I think He understands?
• When Jesus asks: “Do you have anything to eat?”, does it ground me in the reality of the risen Jesus and not some ephemera?
• What is the difference between meeting someone and encountering someone?
  How do I encounter Jesus in my ordinary little life?
• How do I encounter Jesus in others?
  Is the encounter different with different people?
  What elements are present in these encounters: love, fear, forgiveness, irritation, anger, hope, concern?
  Which elements do I mirror the most?
  What do I need to do in order to encounter Jesus in others more effectively?
• Have I recently encountered Jesus in the poor, the sick the needy, the annoying, those deserving and those undeserving?
  How did it go?
• What would it mean to open my heart to Jesus? Is it scary? Why?
• In what concrete ways can I be a witness to the message of Jesus?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican style/Asking Questions:

From “First Impressions 2012”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

It’s clear from today’s narrative and the Emmaus account that the presence of the risen Lord with us is not easily recognizable. What the Christ did for the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he does also for the gathered disciples in Jerusalem. “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” This part of the story suggests a primary spiritual practice for us disciples who are also on a journey, a road trip of sorts—turning our attention to the Scriptures. Each of us is in a unique place in our lives. Each of us needs to come to experience the risen Christ accompanying us on the journey so we can celebrate our joys and receive strength during the rough passages. We are not on our own, even when suffering and struggles tempt us to feel that way.

A little self-examination might be appropriate at this point:
How attentive am I to the reading/proclamation of the Scriptures at Eucharist? If I am a Lector, how well do I prepare to help people hear the message? If I am in the pews do I ever prepare for liturgy by reading the Scripture passages in advance? Do I read and pray the Scriptures daily? Do I turn to them for guidance when I come to crossroads and the need to make important decisions that will influence the course of my future? I make a simple plan to do one thing that increases my involvement with the scriptures.

A Meditation in the Ignation Style/Imagination:

Adapted from “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

I am there in that Jerusalem room as two of the disciples begin to recount their meeting with Jesus on the way to Emmaus. Did the story surprise you? How did you react when you turned around and a stranger was in the room with you all? How did others react? When did you recognize that it was Jesus? How did you recognize him? How was he different? What feelings did you experience as you saw his hands and feet? How did you react when he asked for something to eat? How did the others react? Can you sense the emotions of Jesus as he greets you, his friends, for the first time since you thought he was taken from you forever? What did he tell you about how the law and what was written in the prophets and the psalms was fulfilled through him? What did you understand that to mean? Did the phrases repentance and forgiveness of sins as central to the preaching that must be done in his name surprise you? What would you have said was the most important message you would wish to impart? Do you feel ready to go forth with Jesus’ mission? Do the others? Pray for the strength and the insight to carry on Jesus’ mission to the world you live in now, picking especially one or two instances where it would be most important to get the message of Jesus concretely to those you encounter…

Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

From At Home with the Word:

Jesus opens the disciples’ minds and presses them to understand the true import of the scriptures now fulfilled, telling them: “You are the witnesses of these things”. His message is urgent, as his time on earth is coming to a close. He wants them to know that the hope of salvation depends on their witness and asks them to carry his message of hope to the nations. Many families in America have no dwelling, no security and very little hope. Give these families hope.
Find a local Habitat for Humanity or similar charity where you can volunteer.
Enroll in a bible study course so you can understand more fully how Jesus is the culmination of God’s relationship with humanity, as described in scripture.
Consider how you can tell someone of your reason to hope.

Literary Reflection:

Read the following poem by Mary Oliver. How does she view Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist and in her life?

“The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist”

Something has happened
To the bread
And the wine.

They have been blessed.
What now?
The body leans forward

To receive the gift
From the priest’s hand,
Then the chalice.

They are something else now
From what they were
Before this began.

I want
To see Jesus,
Maybe in the clouds

Or on the shore,
Just walking,
Beautiful man

And clearly
Someone else
Besides.

On the hard days
I ask myself
If I ever will.

Also there are times
My body whispers to me
That I have.

Closing Prayer

From a reflection on the Gospel from Creighton University:

Lord, be with me as I try to pay attention to the many ways that you seek to encounter me in my life. Keep me close to you so that I may grow in the love you shower so abundantly. And help me to respond like the disciples by sharing those encounters with sisters and brothers of the human family.

Easter Triduum 2024

Holy Thursday (John 13:1-15)

Commentary:

From: “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Foot washings were a part of hospitality in this culture. The roads were dusty and guests coming for a visit or meal would welcome the chance to have the dust from the road washed from their feet. Normally the washing would have been done before the meal and was the task of the youngest or lowliest servant or slave. The importance of the event is underscored by Jesus’ breaking the pattern of what was customary and acceptable: he interrupts the meal and does the washings himself. His final hour is at hand and he is already emptying himself. His dying has begun; our new life is about to begin. In fact, a sign of the community’s new life brought about by Jesus’ action will be that they will be “foot-washers”, servants to the needy among them. But much more is implied by his actions.

John is writing for a community like our own who, since their baptism, have many things from which they need cleansing. This account is encouraging for the community members who have failed, as Peter did, to live up to their Christian calling. After he betrayed Jesus, Peter must have been heartened by his remembrance of this incident and the possibility Jesus holds out to be washed from the soil of the road. Since the incident also took place at the table, the suggestion is that forgiveness is offered us through the meal we share in remembrance of Jesus. In our Eucharist, the first thing we do is ask for forgiveness of our failings. It’s as if each eucharistic meal begins with a foot washing. And we are the grateful recipients as we are reminded that what Jesus did for Peter, he does for us.

Thus, there is another way we can imitate the example of the One we call “teacher and master.” We can follow the example he set for us. Besides the call to service, so evident in the foot washing, another response Jesus may be asking of us tonight is to forgive one another as he has forgiven us. Since the ritual will be performed in many places of worship this day, we may want to look around at who else is present at the table with us and wash their feet by forgiving them what we hold against them.

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

In today’s gospel John says that Jesus, “was fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power....” Then we are told that Jesus rose from supper”, and I wonder, is this going to be one of those, “Oh, oh, here it comes” moments? Will Jesus use the power he has been given to overcome his enemies? Will he name and condemn his betrayer? Will he smite the Roman army? Dash over to the Temple and cast out his religious opponents and banish the unfaithful? Will he break his previous pattern of patiently instructing his disciples, dismiss them and go get a better and brighter crop of followers? What will Jesus do when he rises from table with all that power available to him?

Well, he certainly surprised his disciples. And he continues to surprise us this day. Jesus rises and washes his disciples’ feet. That’s not how they, or we, would use all the power, were it available to us. How do we know? Because it isn’t the way power is usually used in our world: nations dominate nations; one ethnic group purges its rival; one religion proclaims its dominance over others; some parents, by word and example, teach their children to succeed at any cost; some church officials cut off dialogue over disputed issues; news commentators shout down one another on talk shows; businesses take over weaker rivals, etc. It does seem that when some nations, organizations, religions and individuals come to power, other groups must shudder and say, “Oh, oh, here it comes!” – and suffer the consequences. Having power is not necessarily a bad thing and Jesus’ life and today’s gospel are examples of ways to use power to the benefit and for the good of others. His use of power is also an example to us.

Do I see myself in a position of power, even if it is just being the dominant one in a relationship? Where have I ever misused the power that I had by taking advantage of the neediness of another? Have I ever admitted that “my feet were dirty” and needed washing by the mercy of God? Have I shown that mercy to another? How do humility and pride fit together? I speak to Jesus about the ways I have taken advantage of the power I had, including the power one has as a “victim”. I ask for him to wash me clean of these tendencies and fit my heart for serving others.

Good Friday (John 18:1–19:42)

Commentary:

Exaltation of the Cross
Sept. 14, 2008
by Catherine Wolff

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 a while 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 creation itself, where God begins to reveal Himself, freely and forgivingly, as we see in today’s first reading about his care for his hungry and confused people wandering in the desert. 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.

The language of John’s Gospel, which we hear today, does not stress Jesus’ death as ransom, sacrifice, atonement, as the Synoptic Gospels do. In John and Ephesians, in Duns Scotus and Karl Rahner, the crucifixion is part of Jesus’ glorification, not only a sacrifice but a manifestation of the lengths to which God is willing to go to bring us closer to him.

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 come 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.

In fact, Jesus recalls that very event in the gospel we heard today – He tells us that as Moses raised up the serpent for his people, the Son of Man is also lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 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.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

We want to be careful how we view about suffering and death during these days. I wonder how we can think of them as positive? In the Scriptures of the Jewish people, suffering and death are to be avoided and, where possible, alleviated. The hope we have as Christians is that God will do away with both at the end. It seems to be always the poor who suffer the most, who always are the victims. So, during these days we might wish to become more fully involved with God’s plan to alleviate suffering by alleviating the suffering of the poor by deeper involvement in social programs. Good Friday, for example, should not be a day that keeps a silence of inattention to the suffering of others. If we keep a silence this day it may be to ponder the suffering of those around us and to resolve to do something about it. For example, was a victim of the death penalty. The church has a very strong stand against the death penalty, and yet we seem unable to eradicate this evil. Sr. Helen Prejean, SCJ has worked tirelessly on behalf of those on Death row. What can you do to get involved in this issue? For starters, here is a prayer she has written that you might want to pray every day:

God of Compassion,
You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust.
Expand and deepen our hearts so that we may love as You love,
even those among us who have caused the greatest pain by taking a life.
For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance
as we fill up death rows and kill the killers in the name of justice,
in the name of peace.
Jesus, our brother,
You suffered execution at the hands of the state
but you did not let hatred overcome you.
Help us to reach out to victims of violence
so that our enduring love may help them heal.
Holy Spirit of God,
You strengthen us in the struggle for justice.
Help us to work tirelessly for the abolition of state-sanctioned death
and to renew our society in its very heart
so that violence will be no more. Amen.

Easter Vigil (Mark 16:1-8)

Commentary:

From “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

For those of us who have experienced the death of loved ones over this last year, this feast brings a message of comfort. Our bonds with our beloved dead are not perpetually broken, left in ashes. Our faith assures us that we, with them, will rise again. Those of us approaching the end of our lives, because of sickness or advanced age, also are encouraged today. What seems like a certain victory for death, is not. God has the last laugh over death and so our faith assuages our fears.

But this feast isn’t just about the next life. Resurrection also challenges us for this life; what difference will the resurrection make for us now? There is enough evidence in our world to urge us to stay in whatever tomb we dwell. The world is a scary place, especially these days and withdrawal from meaningful engagement with it is a temptation. We have lots of help if we want to skip out and disengage: alcohol, work, long hours in front of the tv, going through the motions until retirement, avoiding the large social problems around us, etc. We can take refuge in the day-to-day routine, it numbs us and facilitates our exemption from new life. For those injured by life, the fear of the unknown future also keeps us in the tomb. The heavy stone that covers a possible exit to new life helps us stay sheltered and protected from what seems threatening -- and yet holds the promise of renewal. The resurrection says God has other plans for us. God does not leave us on our own as we face the heavy task of emergence from the tomb. What the women saw as an insurmountable burden (“Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”), God was already addressing. The stone was removed and new life had already left the place of death and is spreading that life just up ahead in Galilee.

The young man at the tomb, dressed as a heavenly messenger, refers to “Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified.” The emphasis here is on the human Jesus. The references to Jesus as a Nazarene and as the one crucified, are also derogatory terms. He is from a small town, not respected by the more urbane people of Jerusalem (“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” John 1: 46) and he was crucified – he suffered the death of a criminal. Yet this very one from Nazareth, crucified as a criminal, the messenger tells the women, has been raised. This is Isaiah’s Suffering Servant whom we heard about yesterday, Good Friday (Isaiah 52:13-53-12), the one who was misunderstood, rejected, condemned and executed. What a complete reversal has just happened!

But the resurrection comes only through Jesus’ death—he is “the crucified.” Mark won’t let us forget that the shadow of the cross is still present in this new age inaugurated by Jesus’ resurrection. Our world may not believe in the resurrection; the word may be very strange to moderns. But people certainly know about the cross and suffering. Even unbelievers will say, “I have a heavy cross to bear.” We keep the crosses of our world in mind as we celebrate the resurrection. The cross casts its long shadow over our earth and its peoples. The messenger reminds us that our God is no stranger to pain. God isn’t just the God of sunsets, pretty flowers and innocent children. A sober appraisal of our world will not allow us such a clean, sterile God. We look at the recent mass killings in two of our cities, the half million in our country who have died of the Covid virus—not counting 125 million worldwide who have had or died from the virus; the 25% of our children in this country below the poverty line; sex slavery and spousal abuse, etc. Jesus is called the “crucified one,” and we are reminded that our God entered our world, the world we know all too well, whose sorrow seems to dwarf the “lilies of the field” and the “birds of the air.” We gathered with the suffering messiah and the tormented of the world at the cross on Good Friday. We believed our God was there with us, despite the fact that we got no immediate answers and were defeated. Evil seemed so large and powerful, we felt impotent and dwarfed. We need Good Friday to remind us that we are not alone in our suffering; God is no stranger to our pain. In Jesus, God too has lost everything in death. After it was all over, we asked the same question the women did, “Who will roll away the stone?” Who will open the tomb; who will set us free and destroy death? On Good Friday and Holy Saturday we and the women weren’t thinking too optimistically; we weren’t thinking “Springtime thoughts.” Dead bodies don’t rise on their own. But the Genesis story tonight reminds us that God can create from nothing. God spoke over the formless wasteland and into the darkness of the abyss and created light. God can completely reverse a helpless situation. And God did; for while God stood with us at the cross on Good Friday, God has also acted boldly and unexpectedly on Easter morning. Once again, as in Genesis, God spoke a mighty word, this time into the tomb’s darkness. Again God created light for us. God rolled away the stone of death with a life-giving word. God now turns towards us as we ask the women’s question, “Who will roll back the stone for us?” God responds, “I will.”

This story should give us courage to face what has died in our lives and we can be reassured that God stands with us as we grieve our deaths. But God still has something new in store for us. Each of us knows Good Friday; but we are not stuck there. Though we have reached a dead end, some new life will be shown to us, some new possibility up ahead will open for us. We believe the messenger’s words, “He is going before you to Galilee.” The young man’s announcement to the women, “He has been raised; he is not here,” becomes our shout at this liturgy, “Christ is risen!” We love this feast, it bursts upon us with song, drama and color after a drab Lent. But after the glow, does its reality stay with us? So often we have seen good defeated by hostile forces and declared “Finished.” (“Nice try, but you lose.”) Today we celebrate God’s choice to be with our vulnerable humanity, engage death and come out victorious. Now we are asked to believe, with the women, the message at the empty tomb; to take seriously that God has exposed the lies death has given us. Today’s gospel ends with us holding our breath. Will the woman and we, struck with amazement go out following the trail of the risen Christ and trust he will be with us each time we face down death’s debilitating effects on our lives?

Mark has avoided the spectacular in his account. There is nothing extraordinary about the young man at the tomb, or in the fact that the stone was rolled away. In fact, this gospel originally ended with the very next verse, “When the women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over. They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened” (12:8). The women go off and tell no one what they have seen. In the original ending there were no appearance stories of the resurrected Christ. By the messenger’s emphasizing Jesus’ humanity (“Jesus of Nazareth”) and his suffering (“the crucified”), Mark is downplaying the glorious and emphasizing Jesus’ sharing our human condition. Mark wants his persecuted Christian community to soberly reflect on the meaning of the resurrection in its own struggling life. He seems to encourage them to face their fears and doubts with hope. To their question, “When will finally we see him?” Mark provides the messenger’s promise, that Jesus is up ahead, in Galilee, the place they expected to meet him when he did return at the end of time in his glory. We will see the glory, Mark is suggesting. That is what now sustains us with hope amid our doubts and struggles.

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

My name is Mary Magdalene. I have been a close friend and follower of Jesus bar Joseph for almost three years. His understanding and kindness was life-saving to me when my family thought I was insane, when I was, in reality, very depressed. He always welcoming to those who followed him to offer support in his journeys up and down Galilee. In a culture that relegates women to the invisible, especially when men are around, is was so refreshing to be treated as an equal partner in this venture. Jesus and his twelve closest male disciples had decided to celebrate the Seder supper together, as was appropriate. I am not sure what some of the others thought about those of us women who followed Jesus from place to place, or who welcomed them into their home, like Mary and Martha of course, their brother Lazarus was a dear friend of Jesus, so people sort of understood. On the morning after that memorable meal and the events that followed, we heard that Jesus had been taken into custody by the High Priest, but we could not get much detail from inside the compound. It was truly alarming to hear that Jesus had been taken to Pontius Pilate for a further ”trial” and possible sentencing. We were part of the crowd that gathered outside the Praetorium and watched the debacle that ensured. It was almost a forgone conclusion that Jesus would be crucified that day. When I looked at his bruised and battered face, his torso damaged by whips and chains, I could hardly recognize him. I was devastated. He looked close to death even then. It got worse as they led him up to the hill where the unthinkable was about to happen. I and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome followed the procession, painful as it was to see, but kept our distance. The crowd was a bit riled up and we feared for our own safety, but could not stay away. It was absolutely heart wrenching to seen those last hours when Jesus was in such agony. His cry ‘My God, My god Why have you forsaken me?” seemed torn from the depths of his soul. We were paralyzed with grief, but managed to follow Joseph of Arimathea as he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, lovingly wrapped it in burial cloths and laid it in a tomb not far away. Mary and I watched to see where they laid him so that after the feast of the Passover, we could bring spices and oils to anoint the body, since that had not yet been done.

When that day after the Sabbath arrived, we crept out as early as possible, without considering how we were to get into the tomb, because of the huge stone. Still devastated and confused, we worried about this all the way to the burial site. What a surprise to see that the stone had been rolled away! It was frightening to consider who had done this and if the body of Jesus had be stolen or desecrated in any way. So much had gone wrong in these last few days, and the whole situation seemed filled with danger. Our apprehension grew as we saw a young man we did not recognize, dressed in a white robe and apparently waiting for us. He told us that Jesus had risen and that we were to tell the disciples that he had gone ahead and would meet them in Galilee. We were absolutely frozen with fear. When know what was going on, and who knew how those disciples would react to our news. Would they blame us for the information we brought or accuse us of lying? In a panic we fled and retuned to where we had been staying; we simply did not know how to react or what to do. On top of everything that had happened, it was just too much…

Jesus, I place myself in those horrific events and wonder how I might have reacted. I think I might have been frightened as well. Lord, help me to contemplate the mystery that is your death and resurrection, not from 2000 years away, but as if I were really there. Help me to see and feel what Mary and the others did. Help me to remember when I acted out of fear at something I did not understand or was afraid to face. Let me see your kindness and understanding, with the knowledge that you are ahead of me and will meet me in my own private Galilee when the time comes. In the meantime, help me to be strong and hopeful, and helpful to others in my life undergoing trials and sorrows. Be with them as you are with me.

Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024

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.

1^a 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

• “My God, My God, Why (Psalm 22)” (The Psalm Project) [YouTube]
• Psalm 22 (Marty Haugen setting)
• “Jesus Remember Me” (Taizé) [YouTube]
• “Your Will” (composed by Tony Eiras; sung by Michael Amaral) [amazingradio.com]
  Scroll down to find "Your Will"; the song can be played in its entirety for free.

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:

• on “Active Indifference” >>
• Reflections on Palm Sunday (year B) from “First Impressions” >>

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)

Reflections on Palm Sunday (year B) from “First Impressions”

Processional Gospel: Mark 11: 1-10 or John 12: 12-16
Isaiah 50: 4-7   Philippians 2: 6-11   Mark 14:1- 15:47

By Jude Siciliano, O.P.

Today we have Mark’s passion narrative. We have been hearing Mark’s gospel since Advent of this liturgical year (B). In the beginning of the gospel, John the Baptist was turned over to Herod, who gave into the pressure of others, and had him killed (6:26). Early in Jesus’ ministry Pharisees and Herodians plotted to destroy him too. Jesus predicted his death three times in the course of the gospel (8:31, 9:31, 10:33--34). In Mark’s the disciples are particularly dense, and they do not understand what Jesus is saying.

Mark’s passion narrative begins close to Passover. In the tense atmosphere, a woman admirer of Jesus symbolically prepares for his death by anointing his body for burial. Meanwhile, the leaders are plotting with a disciple about his death (14: 1 – 11). Mark describes Jesus’ death using scriptural quotes about God’s righteous servant put to death by evil forces.For example, he interprets Jesus’ death in terms of Isaiah’s “Suffering Servant.” This servant is faithful to God while being tortured, mocked and killed (Is. 42:1--4; 49: one-- 7; 50:4--11). Meanwhile, the rulers of the world do not understand the identity of the one they are killing.

What can we say after journeying with Jesus during his last days of suffering and death? True discipleship comes through the suffering symbolized by the cross. In Mark’s narrative there are no human supports at the cross, just God alone. We disciples are totally dependent on God. Jesus does not abandon his cross, and so salvation comes to us by our acceptance of his cross.

Some critics have reacted negatively to Mark’s stark narrative of Jesus in Gethsemane. Some well-intended readers have noted that Jesus’ sorrow, even terror as he faced death, was because he shank from all the evil due to sin in the world. Others say, Mark really was describing Jesus’ reaction to death as he prayed, “Father all things are possible to you, take this cup away from me….” Mark’s passion begins on a somber note, and the darkness grows more intense as we move on to Jesus’ death. He receives no support from his followers and he dies alone. Jesus is very much on his own these last hours of his life as he tells them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death” (14:34). Mark’s telling of the passion is different from the other evangelists. In even harsh language, he stresses the totality of abandonment by even those closest to Jesus. For example, note the disciple (?) who flees naked from the garden, when Judas and the armed guard come to take Jesus. He is symbolic of the disciples who left family and property to follow Jesus, but now cannot wait to flee the scene.

This passion narrative is long and detailed. For this writing, we cannot examine each section. But as an overview, we note how severe and multilayered were Jesus’ last hours: he was abandoned by those closest to him; betrayed by one of them; rejected by the crowd that favored a murderer; mocked by the religious leaders, the Roman soldiers, and those around the cross; enveloped by darkness, and even seemed to be forsaken by God. But God vindicated Jesus: the veil in the sanctuary was torn in two at Jesus’ death, standing for the end of the old order. Now God has a new temple in the Son who will draw to himself both Jews and Gentiles.

There is one person at the foot of the cross, who sees what others, including those closest to Jesus, miss. Even the women kept a safe distance from Christ on the cross. But a Roman centurion is there as well. He looks on the dying, crucified victim and declares what others miss, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” In all of Mark’s Gospel he is the only person to come to this insight. Not just him, but us too, who have been hearing this gospel from its opening, “Here begins the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1). Now we have come to the fuller message of the gospel, the cross, as we await the resurrection.

Mark’s Gospel seems to have been written for Roman Christians who had undergone severe trials and martyrdom. As they heard this gospel, they would have come to believe that suffering and defeat were not the last word, but an opportunity to embrace the cross and follow Jesus, just as we are invited to do. The German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was killed by the Nazis, warned of “cheap grace,” if we do not take seriously the gravity of sin, or the call to servanthood. We disciples of Christ are called to follow and die with him; to die to sin and self. This week in its entirety must also be kept in focus, for Christ’s death and the subsequent despair of his disciples are not the end of the story. The full story is revealed on Sunday morning when Christ defeated death and was raised to new life. What was an ending, was also an occasion for a new beginning. We will draw parallels from our lives this week with Christ’s suffering and we will also experience the transforming power of our God who raises the dead to new life.

Who and where are we in Mark’s passion narrative? Are we with the disciples who cannot accept a suffering Messiah? Or, are we with the Centurion, who sees the truth of the moment. Probably we are both. Perhaps we too easily identify with the frail disciples. But with them, on Easter Sunday, we have the promise they heard at the empty tomb from the young man dressed in white: “Go now, and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee, where you will see him, just as he told you’” (16:7)

FAITH BOOK

Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run.

From today’s Processional Gospel reading Mark 11: 1-10:

Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches. Those preceding Jesus as well as those following kept crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Reflection:

Despite the fact that Jesus’ appearances were humble, this did not turn people off or drive them away from him. We tend to be impressed by splash and displays of power that fill us with awe. Jesus doesn’t draw attention by such grandiose spectacles, but because his words and actions hold out hope to the weary and hopeless. Today we join the crowds who greet Jesus as he enters Jerusalem. And add our own “Hosannas” to theirs. So we ask ourselves:

What is there about Jesus that draws me to him and keeps me as his follower? What can I do to reflect his simplicity and humility in my daily actions?