Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 13, 2025 - Palm Sunday: At the Mass - ABC
[Isa 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; A: Matt 26:14 - 27:66 or 27:11-54 B: Mark 14:1 - 15:47 or 15:1-39 C: Luke 22:14 - 23:56 or 23:1-49,163]Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.nRather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross." [Philippians]
Holy Week is a feast for the senses - sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste! There is a lot to take in and put together in a single meaning. Palm Sunday engages all five with a procession, palms, music, and Eucharist. The whole event is a "curtain-raiser" for the drama of Holy Week. But it is a sacred drama and not just a re-enactment of the experience of the crowd on that day. We are challenged to take up a palm branch and welcome Jesus, riding on a donkey in fulfilment of a prophecy [Isaiah 62:11, Zechariah 9:9]. But we will also be in the mob demanding that he be crucified. We will be in the upper room at table with him. We will be in the garden of Gethsemane, praying and nodding off. The reading of the Passion from the Gospel According to Luke will take us on the path from the Last Supper to the trial before Pilate and then to Calvary and then to the tomb. It is a lot to take in.
St. Paul's words challenge us to grasp the overall meaning of the experience of Holy Week. We have the benefit of 2,000+ years of Christian reflection to draw on, as well. But, in the end, to fully appreciate what our minds, hearts and senses tell us about what happenED in Holy Week, we must let it HAPPEN now. The procession on Palm Sunday, the upper room, Judas' and Peter's betrayals, the Eucharist, the Cross, the Paschal Candle of the Resurrection at the Easter Vigil, the empty tomb, the disciples on the road to Emmaus - all of these summon us to personal experience and reflection on what Christ has done and continues to do for us. From "Hosanna" to "Crucify Him" to "He is risen!" - that journey is ours to make! AMEN