[Salvation]

The Drama of Holy Week

The Word for Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032518.cfm

Bishop Robert Barron on this Sunday:

https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/homily/the-return-of-the-king/958/

Friends, the holiest week of the Church year begins for us this weekend with the celebration of Passion (Palm) Sunday.  There we move quickly through strong memories and emotions.  We begin with Jesus triumphal entry to Jerusalem in which the adoring crowds proclaimed him "Hosanna - the King."  While that may sound appropriate, and indeed it is, we can only imagine how the leaders of the Jewish people might interpret this as the final threat to their authority.  Not only does Jesus claim to be the Messiah, he also claims to be God and that comparison portrays Jesus as a great threat to the stability of the Jewish order but also a direct confrontation with their authoritative position.  The crowds amass around Jesus and the appearance of a revolution against the Romans and the Jewish leaders may be on the horizon.  Or so it is thought.  This is enough!  Something must be done to destroy this threat directly.

Our Sunday liturgy contains the reading of the Passion, this year from St. Mark the Evangelist, and our mood of joy changes to one of shock and sorrow.  Historically how much time elapsed between the singing of the crowds and Jesus' arrest seems very short.

The rest of our Week on Holy Thursday and Good Friday moves to the establishment of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper and that of the Priesthood.  Here, knowing that his time was short on the earth, Jesus gives us himself in the meal of remembrance, our Mass, and appoints his Apostles and successors with authority to lead the community in prayer and make his presence true among the people.

Good Friday, of course, is a day of mourning and sorrow.  Yet, as Christians far removed from the original event, we well know that sunrise and great rejoicing is just on the horizon as Jesus' horrible death is replaced by his glorious resurrection from the dead and his promise of forgiveness, mercy, love and eternal life to all who would follow his Way.  Through Jesus' death and resurrection humanity is reconciled with God and our celebration of the Holy Mass each time makes this event present to us.

What greater moment and gift could their possibly be?  So, let's enter this dramatic week with joy and anticipation.  Let's enter our many liturgies this week with participation.  If you've never been to Holy Week services, make this the year you will begin - with your families as well.  If you've never been to the great Easter Vigil service on Saturday evening, come this year.  There we hear the Old Testament stories of salvation, give birth to new members in Baptism and Confirmation, and rejoice in the resurrection of the Lord as we feast on his presence in the Eucharist.

Give thanks for our generous and merciful God!

Almighty ever-living God, 

who as an example of humility for the human race to follow

caused our Savior to take flesh and submit to the Cross,

graciously grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering

and so merit a short in his Resurrection.

Who lives and reigns with you 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God for ever and ever. 

(Collect of Mass)

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

March 25, 2018 – The Messiah Finally Reveals Himself

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
Father James Swanson, LC

Mark 11:1 – 10

When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately on entering it, you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone should say to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ reply, ‘The Master has need of it and will send it back here at once.'” So, they went off and found a colt tethered at a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. Some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They answered them just as Jesus had told them to, and they permitted them to do it. So, they brought the colt to Jesus and put their cloaks over it. And he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out:
“Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!
Hosanna in the highest!”

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I wish to accompany you closely on the road to Calvary. If I were to contemplate you more often as you hang scourged and bloody upon the cross, I’m certain I would be able to rest in your love and base my actions on that one truth. I know that you have loved me with an eternal love: you have proven it there on the wood of the cross. So, I long to respond with gratitude, peace and the firm determination to spread your love to everyone.

Petition: Lord, Jesus, grant me the grace to proclaim you as Messiah and Savior.

1. A Different Kind of Messiah: Up until now, Jesus has never publicly accepted the title of Messiah. He had confirmed privately to his apostles that he is the Messiah, but he had commanded them to tell no one. When people had called him the Messiah, he had never accepted the title and most often tried to get away from them as quickly as possible. He had reasoned that the Jews don’t understand what the Messiah is really about. Knowing the Messiah is to be a great descendent of King David, they expect the Messiah to appear, raise an army and lead an uprising against the Romans that will drive them from the country and re-establish David’s kingdom. Several times we read of Jesus having to slip away because the people intend to make him king. He is not going to be what they expect, and he cannot let their expectations get in the way of his mission.

2. A Suffering, Not a Political, Messiah: His entry into Jerusalem is exactly what the prophet predicted for the Messiah. He enters riding a donkey, for the Hebrews the traditional mount of royalty. Another thing that was supposed to happen when the Messiah entered Jerusalem, was that boys were supposed to be the first to begin to shout, “Hosanna, son of David.” This is exactly what happens. People were supposed to throw down branches and cloaks to pave his way into Jerusalem and this happens too. The Pharisees see all this and complain to him because they see that it is a fulfillment of the prophecy. They want him to tell people he is not the Messiah. Jesus refuses to do so. He will be the Messiah that was prophesied – the Suffering Servant of Yahweh. God can fulfill our deepest desires and needs in a way we least expect. Can I read the events in my life as his answer to my prayers?

3. The Messiah Rejected by the Experts: The chief priests, scribes and Pharisees are angry. They have already decided they don’t want to accept Jesus as the Messiah. Why do they wish to reject him? Is it because he doesn’t show the signs that the Messiah should show? No, he has fulfilled all the prophecies. Instead, they see that Jesus as Messiah will threaten their social and political positions. Jesus will be more important than they. They don’t want that to happen. They don’t want to lose power. In the end they allow themselves to be convinced that he cannot be the Messiah. Rather than consider all the evidence in his favor, they reject him because they don’t want a Messiah like that. Is there any way in which I, in my own life, reject something that God wishes of me or permits me to suffer because I don’t want God acting in that way in my life?

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, fill my heart with a love that knows no limits, the love that drew you from heaven to die on the cross for me. Fill also the hearts of all those who feel threatened by the modern Pharisees who reject you and want to erase your name from the world, so that they will witness bravely to you and to your sacrifice for us.

Resolution: Today, with the courage of my conviction that Jesus is the savior of the world, I will proclaim in some way that he is my Lord and God, especially through charity towards everyone I meet.