Palm Sunday (Cycle A, Year II)
Community Word: The Spirit of the Lord dwells upon those who believe in the resurrection.
Theme: We believe in the resurrection when we share in His passion.
Promise: “From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.
” (Mat 26:64)
Reflection
Better known as Palm Sunday, Passion Sunday ushers in the most important and most significant week in the Church’s liturgical calendar. Holy Week, as it is known, commemorates the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, events we observe with solemnly and deep reflection.
Some of the events that occurred during that first Palm Sunday should give us pause, and make us more aware of how Christ confronted the conflicting challenges that faced him on that occasion. Contrast the enthusiastic welcome He received on His triumphant entry into Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosanna” from an admiring crowd who later turned hostile and jeered and cried out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Then, there was the friend and apostle who betrayed and sold Him for 30 pieces of silver, while another, His most trusted disciple and follower, Peter, thrice denied even knowing him.
Failing to understand His true mission, despite His having told them time and again, that He was to die, His disciples continued to expect Him to be a Messianic David who would assume political power and kingship. To their dismay, not only was He not to be king, but was condemned to die, and condemned to die on the cross! Jesus had made known to them that He was not that kind of Messiah, but they failed to grasp his meaning. He proclaimed that His kingdom is one of service, not of domination. Rather than a conquering Messiah, he was the Son of Man who “emptied himself and took the form of a slave” (Phil 2:7) and was to be surrendered to “death on a cross” (Phil 2:8) to bear witness to the Father’s love. To the very end, He was obedient and faithful to God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. And the road map did not conform to what the power-seeking, glory-minded people around Him were seeking.
The disciples were disappointed at Jesus’ kind of leadership, which crushed their dream of lording it over, holding positions of power and sharing authority. His popularity plunged and many of His followers left Him, especially when He spoke of His impending suffering and death. Disillusioned and swayed by the manipulative campaign of the chief priests and elders, they turned against Jesus, and rejected him.
While earlier, some may have accepted His way of Servanthood, jealousy and selfish ambition continued to motivate at least one member of his own core group. This sinful inclination is still prevalent to this day. Even some church leaders are not totally exempt from aspiring to and jockeying for positions of power and authority. Materialism, arrogance, pride, the thirst for power and hunger for recognition continue to motivate much of human action and service. More than ever before, we are today exposed to moral issues that tend to erode our spiritual foundation and threaten our relationship with God and our fellowmen. Hence, there is a greater need to be vigilant and to witness to one’s faith, by truly adhering to His will.
Our theme for Palm Sunday, “We believe in the resurrection when we share in His passion”, indicates that the blessings of true discipleship do not begin or end in merely believing, but in sharing in His passion, death and resurrection. We are to manifest an uncompromising allegiance to Jesus in good times and in bad. To suffer and die may not be inherently acceptable to humans – our instinct for self-preservation is God-given – but we do have to consistently strive to think as God thinks and do as God does. As we put our faith and live by the Word for the month: The Spirit of the Lord dwells upon those who believe in the resurrection, we must learn to accept God’s mysterious ways, find peace in obeying and doing His will, ready at all times to stand by Him, no matter what the cost.
Reflection Questions:
1.How are we accomplishing God’s will in our life? Do others see Jesus in us?
2.What are our expectations from the Community? How can we share in Christ’s passion as a member of our Community?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
April 13, 2014 (Sun) Is 50:4-7/Ps 22:8-9,17-18,19-20,23-24/Phil 2:6-11/Mt 26:14-27:66
April 14, 2014 (Mon) Is 42:1-7/Ps 27:1,2,3,13-14/Jn 12:1-11
April 15, 2014 (Tues) Is 49:1-6/Ps 71:1-2,3-4,5-6,15,17/Jn 13:21-33,36-38
April 16, 2014 (Wed) Is 50:4-9/Ps 69:8-10,21-22,31,33-34/Mt 26:14-25
April 17, 2014 (Thur) Is 61:1-3,6,8-9/Ps 89:21-22.25,27/Rv 1:5-8/Lk 4:16-21
April 18, 2014 (Fri) Is 52:13-53:12/Ps 31:2,6,12-12,15-16,17,25/Heb 4:14-16;5:7-9/Jn 18:1-19:42
April 19, 2014 (Sat) Gn 1:1-2:2/Ps 118:1-2,16-17,22-23/Rom 6:3-11/Mt 28:1-10
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
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