Sunday, April 13, 2003

Palm Sunday

Readings

Isaiah 50: 4-7 Give the downtrodden a word of encouragement

Ps 21: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Philippians 2: 6-11 He humbled himself, therefore God raised him above all

Mark 14: 1-15, 47 (or 15: 1-39) Complete reading of the Passion

 

The religious leaders are worried. Jesus’ popularity was rising like a wave and the people, who already considered him a prophet, wanted to proclaim him king. Jesus had caused serious damage to the priestly families by putting the lucrative business at the entrance to the Temple in check. And worse yet, he was constantly denouncing the double standards with which the Scribes, Pharisees and High Priests manipulated the population. The straw that broke the camel’s back came when Jesus entered Jerusalem “triumphantly”, mounted on a donkey, in clear fulfillment of a well known ancient prophesy (Zech 9:9). People thronged to the streets to acclaim him, and the authorities feared that a revolt would break out at any time.

 

But amidst all of this, Jesus did not take on a triumphal attitude. His intention was not to lead another revolt or head up a radical reform. Because either one of these options would only multiply the evil that needed to be overcome.

 

Jesus did not try to change anything through violence. The passage we read today from the prophet Isaiah shows us how the Servant of the Lord is not someone carrying a flag to replace one power with a worse one, nor a naïve person who puts up with all injustice. The Servant of the Lord is the human being who faces injustice from the weakness of his humble human condition and trusts that God will give him the strength to transform the existing system. A conviction shared by many human beings who have transformed situations of poverty, slavery and domination throughout history.

 

In the same vein, the text of the letter to the Philippians shows how Christ’s objective was not self-exaltation or boasting but rather the transformation of human existence. In this way, Jesus of Nazareth, who seemed to be one of many outlaws who died being run-over by the homicidal machinery of the empire, ended up, as time went by, being a model of humanity. In this way, God ruled and rules in favor of those who struggle for justice, and above all, delegitimizes the institutions with power to subjugate the innocent.

 

In this recounting of the Passion, Mark helps us to understand that Jesus’ unjust sentencing didn’t happen by accident but was committed with full awareness and premeditation. Jesus was suspect for the authorities of the Temple. He went from town to town announcing good news to the poor in the company of a group of male and female friends. He made contact with the marginated: the sick, prostitutes, the possessed…His voice and actions were a ray of light shining on the sad life of the peasants. For Jesus, a human being’s relationship to God was a path towards freedom and wholeness. This way of acting brought him inevitable conflicts with authority. The latter did not permit the slightest change in the official interpretation of the law and the way to live one’s relationship to God. Ultimately, Jesus went up to Jerusalem to testify to the truth that liberates human beings. He went on to proclaim every human being’s irrevocable vocation of freedom. The authorities, therefore, decided to put into action a plan they had prepared. He was arrested due to betrayal by one of his disciples.

 

Then came the unjust trial: false witnesses, no respect for the right to defend himself, and finally, they condemn him to death. Everything was arranged ahead of time. For the Roman authorities, the trial was a farce. Pilate was known for his violent and hurried behavior. In order to avoid problems with the authorities of the temple, he hands Jesus over to a scandalous death.

 

The double sentence that Jesus received was an expression of injustice. They were killing him simply because he placed the credibility of the religious, political and economic system at risk. Not by promoting popular revolts, but by presenting an alternative life project where people had inherent worth and all had the same rights. Today we still persist in Jesus’ task: to assert the rights of the excluded and the poor. The defense of those unjustly condemned. To take all the crucified down from the cross.

 

In the world of wars, social inequality and ethnic margination, the conquered are unjustly condemned. The majority of people live in misery, illiteracy and sickness. The lack of education, housing and means of subsistence are an eternal condemnation which doubles and triples exclusion and suffering.

 

For personal conversion

-Jesus continues inviting us to prepare the Passover, his Passover, which is also our passover. Even though this celebration is a regular event, how am I going celebrate this Passover, this holy week? What will it mean for me, concretely?

 

-Christ, in his solidarity with humanity, forsakes his divine rank and takes on the condition of slave. What does this action by Jesus say to me? How far does my solidarity with the poor go? What should I strip myself of in order to be solidary with suffering humanity?

 

For the group reflection

-From a gender perspective, the very beginning of the story of the Passion according to Mark (14: 3-11) provides an opportunity to consider the subject of “Jesus and women” and by extension, “women in society, in religion and in the Church”. Without engaging in the kidnapping of the subject of “women in the Church”, as the Conference in Santo Domingo did (CELAM IV, No. 109) which says: “Women must be included in the decision-making process in a responsible way in all areas: in the family and in society”, excluding from the text any expression of the need to do the same in the Church.

-Discuss in the group the issue of the “note for critical readers”: What type of explanation of salvation (salvation doctrine) was transmitted in our childhood catechism? Was it useful to us? Did it raise questions? Which ones? Are they useful today? Why? Do we have adequate and updated responses? What can we do?

 

For the prayer of the faithful

-For all the men and women who extend Jesus’ passion today by suffering persecution for their commitment to truth and Justice, that they carry that same cross of Jesus with steadfast hope in the triumph of His Cause, let us pray to the Lord…

 

-For all the men and women who extend the passion of Jesus by suffering the cross of pain: sickness, physical limitations, psychological suffering, old age, nearness of death…that they may know how to weave them into the mystery of human existence and accept, as Jesus did, the courage to live without answers in the face of the mystery, let us pray to the Lord….

 

-For our community, that it may prepare with great dedication a true home in which Jesus may extend his struggle in history for Truth and Love in the world, let us pray to the Lord…

 

-For women, who throughout history have carried out their role of true disciples, without being truly appreciated or recognized, that we may all continue in the task of their support and liberation, let us pray to the Lord…

 

-That we may take advantage of the change in the pace of life during these holidays, vacations or travels…so that this “high week” of the liturgical year may truly be a “holy week” for us, let us pray to the Lord…

Let Us Pray

God, our Father, grant us the gift to know how to find, in our days, the deep sense of our Christian mission, so that we will commit to everything that following Jesus means in the society where we must live and build your Kingdom. Through Jesus Christ our brother.

 

God Father and Mother, you who have fulfilled your greatest revelation for the world through the life, passion and death of Jesus, as our faith assures us, we beg you to grant us the gift of knowing how to rediscover with humble eyes all that you have continued to reveal to us during these 2000 years of history, within and outside of Christianity, so that the Word that your pronounced in Jesus may be shared by all peoples and religions. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.