Palm Sunday of the LOrd's Passion

Passion (Palm) Sunday A 

Readings: Entrance into Jerusalem: Matthew 21:1‑11

Isaiah 50:4‑7  Philippians 2:6‑11  

Matthew 26:14‑27:66

            Although the liturgy for Passion Sunday seems to move abruptly from Jesus' joyful entrance into Jerusalem to his passion and death, there is an inextricable connection between the two events.  By entering Jerusalem as the peaceful Messiah prophesized by Zechariah, Jesus precipitates the final conflict with the leaders which will lead to his death and resurrection.   With a deliberate sense of his Messianic mission, Jesus instructs two disciples to prepare for his entrance in fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy: "Tell the daughter of Zion,/ your king  comes to you without display/ astride an ass, astride a colt,/  the foal of a beast of burden."  Rather than entering upon a horse, the mount of the triumphant warrior Messiah expected by many, Jesus comes to Jerusalem "without display" as a meek and peaceful king.  And already there is a foreboding of division over him.  Matthew notes, "As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred to its depths, demanding, `Who is this?'"  At this point "the crowd" is supportive and answers, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."  But, in the course of the passion, they will be convinced by the chief priests and elders to ask for the release of Barabbas and "have Jesus put to death." 

            The Isaiah reading continues the theme of commitment to God's mission.  In an autobiographical report, the prophet Second Isaiah speaks of God’s mysterious servant’s tireless commitment to speaking a rousing word to the "weary" exiles who think that their Lord is powerless to save them from their Babylonian captors.  Because of his confidence that the Lord is his help, the servant, like Jesus in Gethsemane, has the courage not to turn back from his wearisome task, even though it involves suffering and rejection. 

            In the Philippians hymn Paul exhorts the Philippian Christians to follow the self‑emptying love of Christ, who did not grasp at being Godlike.  He, like the suffering servant in Second Isaiah (Isaiah 53), took the form of a slave and emptied himself by becoming fully human, even to the point of obediently accepting the degradation of death on a cross.  God responded to this act of self‑emptying love by exalting Jesus and bestowing on him lordship over the cosmos, so that at his name all beings in the universe might acknowledge him as Lord and Messiah.

            Matthew's passion story emphasizes Jesus' voluntary acceptance of his death as a meek and peaceful Messiah in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and in faith in his eventual resurrection.  I will concentrate on the opening Garden scene where Jesus embraces his mission. Even as they walk to the Mount of Olives, Jesus is preparing his disciples for what must happen.

“Tonight your faith in me will be shaken, for Scripture has it: `I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed.'  But after I am raised up, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”

In Gethsemane Jesus, nearly overwhelmed with "sorrow and distress," tells Peter and Zebedee's two sons, "My heart is nearly broken with sorrow.  Remain here and stay awake with me."  Although his disciples fail him by falling asleep, Jesus with great difficulty gradually conforms himself to his Father's will.  His first prayer asks, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by.  Still, let it be as you would have it, not as I."  By his second prayer, Jesus has come to accept his Father's will: "My Father, if this cannot pass me by without my drinking it, your will be done!"  When he finishes praying the third time, Jesus is fully prepared to embrace his mission.  He tells the sleeping disciples, "The hour is on us when the Son of Man is to be handed over to the power of evil men. Get up! Let us be on our way! See, my betrayer is here." 

            In the arrest scene Jesus is clearly in control and deliberately embraces the plan his Father has for him as the peaceful and suffering Messiah.  When "one of those who accompanied" him  attempts to prevent his arrest by slashing at the high priest's  servant, Jesus tells him to put back his sword where it belongs  and warns him that those who use the sword will die by it.  He concludes by saying, "Do you not suppose I can call on my Father to provide at a moment's notice more than twelve legions of angels?  But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled which say it must happen this way?"  Finally, Jesus' words to the crowd stress that he is following the path of the peaceful Messiah set out for him in the Scriptures.  "Am I a brigand, that you have come armed with swords and clubs to arrest me?  From day to day I sat teaching in the temple precincts, yet you never arrested me.   Nonetheless, all this has happened in fulfillment of the writings of the prophets."

LENT V A(ad quarantinus)

Carravaggio "Pieta" - a detail from the above painting of the raising of Lazarus

Detail of Jesus from the above painting

5^th Sunday of Lent A 

Readings: Ezekiel 37:12‑14  Romans 8:8‑11 

 John 11:1‑45

            As we move ever closer to the memorial of Jesus' death, this Sunday's readings remind us of the triumph of the resurrection which lies beyond the cross.  Even in the depths of our sorrow over sin during this Lenten season, let us sing with resurrection faith the refrain of the responsorial psalm: "With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption" (Ps 130).

            The first reading proclaims God's power to bring the Babylonian exiles back to life by restoring them to the land of Israel.  It is the conclusion of Ezekiel's famous vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37).  Thinking that God has abandoned them, the exiles are crying out, "Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off" (Ezek 37:11).  In the midst of this despair Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy to the dry, lifeless bones, and, by the power of God's spirit, they are joined together and given life again.  In the Lord's name he goes on to announce: "O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel."  Ezekiel concludes by assuring the exiles that the Lord's promise is irrevocable: "’I have promised, and I will do it,’ says the Lord."     

            In the Romans reading Paul is both celebrating God's triumph over sin and death through Jesus' resurrection and encouraging the Roman Christians that "he who raised Christ from the dead will bring your mortal bodies to life also through his Spirit dwelling in you."  In this section he contrasts the way of the flesh with the life of the spirit.  For Paul, the flesh represents the baser desires of our human nature apart from God’s guidance, our sensual instincts which can lead to sin.  The Spirit, in contrast, is the power of God unleashed by Jesus' resurrection which enables us, even while living in our mortal bodies, to pursue a life of justice and charity.  Christians are now dead to sin (the flesh) but alive in the spirit through the power of God.     

            The Gospel story of the raising of Lazarus is the last and the greatest of the miracles in John’s Gospel. It reveals Jesus as “the resurrection and life” who triumphs over death and gives lasting life to whoever believes in him.  Like all the signs in John, this is a symbolic story in which Jesus is challenging his hearers, and us, to see the sign as a revelation of his glory.  For example, when Jesus first hears the news that Lazarus is sick, he solemnly announces to his disciples: “This sickness is not to end in death; rather it is for God's glory, that through it the Son of God may be glorified.”   This statement not only refers to Jesus' raising Lazarus, but also to Jesus' own death and resurrection which is his hour of glory in John's theology.  The raising of Lazarus sets these events in motion.  When many Jews come to believe in Jesus after the raising of Lazarus, the leaders begin to plot to kill him (see 11:45‑53).

            The dialogue with Martha challenges her to move beyond simply believing in Jesus' power to resurrect a corpse or even a belief in a general resurrection of the dead on the last day, a view held by the Pharisees.  When Jesus finally arrives, Martha says to him, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would never have died.   Even now I am sure that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”  When Jesus assures her, “Your brother will rise again,” she thinks he is speaking of “the resurrection on the last day.”   But Jesus challenges her with the proclamation: "I am the resurrection and the life: whoever believes in me though he should die, will come to life; and whoever is alive and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?". At this point neither Martha nor the other witnesses believe fully in Jesus as “the resurrection life.  As Jesus begins to weep before the tomb, some in the crowd say, “He opened the eyes of that blind man.  Why could he not have done something to stop this man from dying?”  When Jesus commands that the stone be taken away from the cave, Martha herself expresses doubt:  “Lord, it has been four days now; surely there will be a stench!”   In contrast to the disbelief of all

around him, Jesus is confident and prays only “for the sake of the crowd, that they may believe that you (the Father) sent me.”

            The actual miracle is a dramatic demonstration of Jesus' power and the liberating effects of the resurrection. It is accomplished simply by his command: “Lazarus, come out!”  We are told that when "the dead man came out, bound hand and foot with linen strips, his face wrapped in a cloth," Jesus then commands: “Untie him and let him go free.”  This causes “many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, to put their faith in him."  As we move closer to Holy Week, let us enter its mysteries with the same faith.

LENT IV A

4^th Sunday of Lent A

Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13   Ephesians 5:8-14   John 9:1-41

The Fourth Sunday of Lent presents a rich cluster of baptismal symbols and images (anointing with oil, light vs. darkness, sight vs. blindness) as it challenges us to learn that God’s ways often overturn human expectations and standards.  Let us entrust ourselves to the Lord’s mysterious guidance in the words of the responsorial psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want” (Ps 23:1).

In the first reading, both Samuel and Jesse are confronted with the Lord’s surprising choice of David as the future king of Israel despite his being Jesse’s youngest son who had the lowly job of tending sheep.  When Samuel is sent to Bethlehem to designate one of Jesse’s sons to replace the rejected Saul, he naturally expects to anoint the eldest son Eliab, but the Lord tells him, “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him.  Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.”  After Jesse has presented his seven oldest sons, Samuel again tells him “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”  Only as an afterthought does Jesse remember his youngest son David, who is tending sheep; yet, in God’s plan, this unlikely lad is designated as the anointed one who is endowed with the rush of the Lord’s spirit.

The Ephesians reading is an exhortation to the Gentiles, who before their conversion to Christianity were in “darkness” but have now become “light in the Lord.”  The letter constantly emphasizes the difference between the standards of the world and those of the Church which has been loved by Christ as a bride and is called to live that love in a hostile environment.  In this section, Paul is reminding these converts that at baptism they turned from a fruitless life of darkness (immorality, impurity, greed, obscene talk and idolatry).  Now he encourages them to “live as children of the light” by producing “every kind of goodness and justice and truth.”  The section concludes with what is probably part of an early Christian baptismal hymn which alerts the believer to the newness of life offered by Christ. “Awake, O sleeper,/ arise from the dead,/ And Christ will give you light.”

Jesus’ curing of the man born blind in John 9 continues the baptismal theme of Jesus as the light of the world.  Before he cures the blind man, Jesus announces to his disciples that the man’s physical blindness is not due to sin.  Rather, his blindness will serve to manifest the works of God done through Jesus as “the light of the world.”  For John, the only sin/blindness is the unbelief of the Pharisees who refuse to accept Jesus as coming from God.

In the dialogues which follow the cure, the blind man comes to gradual belief in Jesus despite official opposition from the Pharisees.  During the interrogation by his neighbors, the man admits that he is the one cured by “the man called Jesus.”  But when questioned by the Pharisees, who will not accept Jesus as a man from God because he has cured on the Sabbath, the man confesses that Jesus is a “prophet.”  His parents, however, will not make any profession of faith, “because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.”  In a second highly ironic dialogue with the Pharisees, the cured man insists that Jesus must be from God if God has listened to him in opening the eyes of a man born blind.  At the same time the Pharisees ironically say that both Jesus and the former blind man are “sinners,” while they are “disciples of Moses.”  Finally, after the Pharisees have “cast him out,” the man comes to Jesus and to full belief in him as “Son of Man.”

The incident ends with a final dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees which ties together the themes of seeing/belief and blindness/sin.  After the cured man has worshiped him, Jesus solemnly announces, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”  The Pharisees then asks, “Are we blind also?” Harkening back to the blind man’s physical blindness and the Pharisees righteous refusal to accept him, Jesus responds, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

As we move toward the renewal of our baptismal commitment at Easter, we are called, like the man born blind, to open our eyes in courageous faith and embrace Jesus as light in a darkened and hostile world.

LENT III A

3^rd Sunday of Lent A

Readings: Exodus 17:1-7   Romans 5:1-14  

 John 4:5-42

“Is the Lord in our midst or not?”  This question tested the Exodus generation in the wilderness and the Samaritan woman and her kinsfolk, and it continues to challenge the Christian community as it moves toward the renewal of its baptismal commitment at the Easter Vigil.  We Christians thirst for the life-giving water of Jesus’ revelation while we live in the time between his saving death and resurrection and the completion of God’s kingdom.

The story of the water from the rock in Exodus 17 has been chosen for its relation to the Gospel selection from John in which Jesus proclaims to the Samaritan woman that he is “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  The Israelites’ journey from Egypt through the wilderness is a time of danger and testing.  They encounter numerous obstacles as they move from one camping place to another: bitter water, lack of food and water, and an attack from the fierce Amalekites.  In most cases they are fearful and complaining, unprepared for the challenge of faith and nostalgically longing for a return to the security of Egypt.  In this Sunday’s reading, they grumble against Moses and say, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?  Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?”  Their whole demeanor can be summed up in the words spoken at Massah and Meribah as they quarreled and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”  Yet the Lord consistently meets their grumbling with his provident care.  In our selection, he gives instructions for Moses to use his staff to bring forth water from the rock “for the people to drink.”

In the reading from Romans, Paul exhorts the Roman Christians to joyfully live out the consequences of Christ’s saving death and resurrection.  He uses several metaphors to express what Christ has done for them by dying and rising from the dead.  He has “justified (them) by faith,” made them “at peace with God,” given them “access to grace.”  But, although in one sense salvation has been achieved in Christ, Paul is also aware that it is not complete.  Christ’s death has made salvation accessible, but the Christian community must endure in faith and hope until Christ’s return.  The source of Christian hope in this time of suffering and testing is what God has already done for humanity through the death of Christ.  “But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8).

In the unforgettable dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, John presents Jesus as the gift of God who offers “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” to a woman who is a sinner and outcast by the standards of contemporary Judaism.  By the end of this long, but intricately interconnected episode, the woman has become an apostle whose testimony brings many Samaritans to belief in Jesus.

The dialogue uses John’s typical instruction pattern of irony and misunderstanding.  Jesus is tired from his journey through Samaritan territory and sits down in the heat of the midday sun at Jacob’s well in Shechem.  When he asks the Samaritan woman for a drink, she apparently refuses and points out the well-known antipathy between Jews and Samaritans.  Jesus then challenges her to request the “living water” which he can give as God’s gift (salvation).  Ironically, she thinks Jesus is referring to running spring water and points out that he has no bucket to draw water from the deep well and that he is surely not greater than the Samaritans’ ancestor, Jacob, who founded this well.  Jesus then replies that the water he gives will overcome thirst and become “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The Christian reader understands this as a beautiful description of baptism, but when the woman still interprets his language on a natural level, Jesus offers her a sign of his supernatural knowledge of her sinful past: she has had five husbands and the man she is now living with is not her husband.  This moves the woman to recognize Jesus as a prophet, and she proceeds to question him about whether the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim or the Jewish temple in Jerusalem is the proper locale for worship.  Jesus responds by proclaiming that an hour is coming when authentic worship of the Father will not depend upon place, but will be done “in Spirit and truth” (a reference to the gift of God’s love through the Son).  With this revelation, the woman realizes that God’s Messiah may be standing before her, and, with Jesus’ proclamation that “I am he” ringing in her ears, she leaves her now useless water jar and goes to invite the townspeople to see the man “who told me everything I have done.”  By the end of the episode the Samaritan woman has become a full believer and witness to Christ.  In fact, as the other Samaritans come to believe in Jesus on the basis of his own word, the Samaritan woman, like John the Baptist (3:22-30), rejoices greatly as she decreases and Jesus increases.  Let us, like the Samaritan woman, take the challenge of today’s psalm response and turn to the life-giving water that is Christ: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps 95). 

LENT II A

2^nd Sunday of Lent A 

Readings: Genesis 12:1‑4  2 Timothy 1:8‑10  Matthew 17:1‑9

            In this Sunday's readings God calls us to journey in trust that his promises of blessing will be fulfilled in Jesus, who by his death and resurrection "has robbed death of its power and has brought life and immortality into clear light through the gospel" (2 Tim 1:10).  Let us embrace our Lenten penance, as we sing the refrain for this week's responsorial psalm: "Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you" (Ps 33).

            In the Old Testament reading, Abram's obedient trust stands in sharp contrast to Adam and Eve in last Sunday's first reading.   Rather than obediently trusting God's command to not eat of the tree of knowledge, Adam and Eve grasped at godlike power for the sake of sensual, aesthetic, and intellectual fulfillment.  With the call of Abram, God begins again with one man to try to restore blessing to a curse-ridden human family.  God commands Abram to abandon land, family, and home and to journey to an unknown land that he will show him.  A series of promises, offering hope for a new future, accompanies the call.  The Lord promises to make Abram a great nation; he will be blessed; his name will be so great that it will be a blessing; and all the families of the earth will find blessing in him.  Despite his advanced age and Sarai's barrenness, Abram in obedient trust departs "as the Lord directed him."

            In the second reading Timothy is being asked to bear his "share of the hardship which the gospel entails" by preaching the gospel without fear and protecting it from false teaching.  The reason Timothy may confidently undertake this task is the very gospel itself which Paul states in a summary fashion.  Christians are saved from the power of evil and called to live holy lives, not by any merit of their own, but because of what God has done for them in Christ. In the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, God has defeated sin and "robbed death of its power and has brought life and immortality into clear light through the gospel."

            On the second Sunday of Lent, the Gospel reading is always the story of Jesus' transfiguration.  Early in our Lenten journey on the path of the suffering Jesus, we‑‑ like Peter, James, and John‑‑ are given a vision of Jesus' glory as God's beloved Son which will not be fully revealed until his resurrection.  In the previous chapter, after Peter confesses Jesus as "the Messiah, the Son of the living God," Jesus goes on to speak of his destiny to go to Jerusalem to suffer, be killed and on the third day be raised.   When Peter rebukes Jesus over the idea of his suffering, Jesus harshly condemns him as a "Satan" and warns of the need for his followers to take up their crosses and follow him.  In this frightening context, God's transfiguration of Jesus and the command to listen to his words takes on an added importance.

            In Matthew's account of the transfiguration God reveals Jesus as his final word, the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets.  The event occurs on a high mountain, a place of revelation for Matthew (Matthew 5‑7; 28:16‑20; see Exodus 19‑40).   The radiance of Jesus' face and garments is reminiscent of Moses' transfiguration on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34) and indicates that now Jesus manifests the divine presence.  At the sudden appearance of Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus, Peter proposes to build three booths honoring them equally.  But at that moment, a bright cloud overshadows them and a voice commands: "This is my beloved Son on whom my favor rests.  Listen to him."  As at the baptism scene (Matt 3:17), God's heavenly voice reveals Jesus as the fullness of revelation in completion of the Law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah).  When the disciples hear the divine voice, they prostrate on the ground in fear.  But the scene ends with tender reassurance.  Jesus comes forward and lays his hand on them with a healing gesture (8:3,15;  9:25,29) and commands: "Get up!  Do not be afraid."   Having been given a reassuring preview of Jesus' glorious destiny, they resume their journey with Jesus to his death in Jerusalem.  As they descend the mountain, Jesus commands them: "Do not tell anyone of the vision until the Son of Man rises from the dead."   The only path to that glory is through the suffering and death which Jesus must endure.