REFLECTION

Gospel

Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate, who questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?" But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

 

Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, "Which one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?" For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over.

While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him." The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus. The governor said to them in reply, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They answered, "Barabbas!" Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!" But he said, "Why? What evil has he done?" They only shouted louder, "Let him be crucified!"

When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was  breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. Look to it yourselves." And the whole people said in reply, "His blood be upon us and upon our children." Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.

 

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.

As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross.

And when they came to a place called Golgotha — which means Place of the Skull —, they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left.

Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the cross!" Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God.' The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way.

 

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some of the bystanders who heard it said, "This one is calling for Elijah." Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, 'Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.’ But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.

 

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

 

And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, "Truly, this was the Son of God!’            Matthew 27: 11-54

 

Reflection 

Writing a reflection for Palm Sunday is intimidating because the Scriptures are so rich and complete that reflection could (and should) go on for hours, days or even weeks.  In fact, the Church generally gives us the content of these texts in smaller bites throughout the year just so we can begin to absorb the fullness of this series of events and the meaning of God’s plan for all humans embedded within these texts.

Intimidated or not, the invitation of the Liturgical day pulls us to a “geography of faith” from mountaintop to gorge and back to hilltop and finally into the garden of creation embedded in the City of Peace (Jeru-shalem) – all in the perfectly complete symbol of seven days.

Many people from all walks of life have returned from a journey where they went from one mountaintop in northern Spain following the pilgrimage of Saint Ignatius Loyola – crossing a broad plain to another mountaintop of transformation and then on to the City of Rome where Ignatius lived out the fullness of his pilgrimage of discovery of himself and of God’s will for him. This geography of faith is remarkably similar to that which Jesus walked in the week between Palm Sunday and Easter.

The first Gospel of Palm Sunday – this year from Matthew – begins outside the worship space where a crowd gathers to welcome him with palm branches and hosannas of praise. This short text begins with the statement “Jesus and the disciples. . .  came to the Mount of Olives near the village of Bethphage.” Like the people of the village and Jerusalem itself, the Church recognises its Lord at this first mountaintop, but will not recognise God’s plan for him and for us to descends to the valley, celebrate the Passover meal, and ascends the Mount of Golgotha to be crucified unto death toward the end of the week.

The rest of the story moves to the humility of true humanity: as glorious as the human is in creation, the human is not God and even fails to be fully human much of the time.  This knowledge comes from suffering – most of all suffering the rejection by other humans that one is created to be in union with. The knowledge also comes from acknowledging our collaboration with causing that suffering for others and for our own self destruction.

Why do we humans despise the one who loves and saves us?  Because we are so arrogant that we do not want to NEED to be loved and saved. We hate the one who rescues us because we don’t want to need rescuing. We project the fear and hate we feel for our fragility and limitedness on the one who will redeem us from such limitedness and join us to Divine life. This, then, is what Jesus endures for us in the valley between the mountains – the truth of our createdness. We are not the masters of our fate, the creators of our own future. We are subordinate to the Will and Desire of the Creator – and we hate even the fact that that will and desire is for us to be fully alive and happy – but on God’s terms not our own.

At the end of the second week of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius we pray for the gift of true humility – that is for the truth of ourselves to be known and loved. Then, in this process of spiritual awakening, we enter the Third Week where our prayer is answered in-so-far as we align ourselves with Jesus, who accomplished perfect humility. “Though he was in the form of God he did not deem equality with God something to be stolen (grasped at)” Saint Paul tells us in the New Testament reading before the Gospel of the Passion is read. Here at the centre of the word we are handed the key to the whole week ahead of us. If we would be faithful to our baptismal promises and live in the Body of Christ we must embrace this humility of God’s own Son. The Church then leads us through the passion account according to Matthew. There is much to meditate on in this long and descriptive text, but my prayer led me to the verses about Peter’s denial that he even knew Jesus. Here is the point of our times, perhaps writ large. We want to deny that we have anything to do with Jesus. He who loves us so much that he gives everything of himself to give us full humanity and his own Divine life – asks us to stand with him in his suffering. Like Peter I often say “No.” I pray that each one of us who fails to love, see Jesus’s gaze and feel the grief at our failure that Peter felt.

May next week’s Holy Week bring you (and me) from mountaintop to mountaintop – from truth to truth or humility to deeper humility – and then to the Garden of New Creation where Jesus dwells.

“The centurion . . . said. . . ‘Truly this was the Son of God’.                            Luke 2: 41-51 

 

Julie Leonard

Religious Education Leader/Wellbeing Leader