Gospel Reflections

Ecce Homo (“Behold the Man”), Antonio Ciseri’s depiction of Pilate presenting a scourged Jesus to the people of Jerusalem

Palm Sunday

A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
cf. Lk 6:45

Today is Palm Sunday, which begins the holiest week of the year for Christians. The Gospel reading we hear in the Liturgy of the Word at Mass tells the Passion narrative, this year from the Gospel of Mark.

As we enter Holy Week, let us reflect on the subtleties of the familiar story that culminates Easter Day. Let us not lose sight of each day this week, of each story line, of each character because Holy Week gives us the chance to reflect upon our own lives, to walk alongside Jesus, and to see ourselves within this Theo-drama. 

Do we see ourselves in the woman who anoints Jesus with oil as he is seated with his disciples? Do we see ourselves as the one who flees when the soldiers arrive to arrest Jesus? Do we see ourselves as Judas, as Peter? Do we see ourselves with Jesus at the Last Supper, participating with the faith of understanding that he is establishing a new covenant with his people - a covenant of thanksgiving, a Eucharistic (from the Greek) covenant? Are we also at the foot of the cross on Good Friday as John, the beloved disciple, and the Mary's? 

Can we see ourselves as Jesus who humbly and obediently submits to the will of his Father in heaven, preferring to die to oneself and to live in sacrifice for others?

Holy Week is an invitation to see ourselves in each character. Let us not let this holiest week of the year in the Christian life pass us by!

There is no Resurrection without the suffering of the Cross. Each step that Jesus takes, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, to expiring on a cruel instrument of death, directs our attention that we, too, have our own journey to Mount Calvary.

Can I submit my will aside and ask for God's will, not my own, to be done?

Be not afraid! Jesus is waiting for you when you find nothing else in this world satisfies you.

For a Gospel reflection from the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark, please enjoy below.

Peace be with you!

Author, Reason2bCatholic

LISTEN: Christ became obedient to the point of death,/ even death on a cross./ Because of this, God greatly exalted him/ and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark 14:1-15:47

For the Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion Mass readings for Sunday, March 28, 2021, please click the USCCB link here:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032821.cfm

REFLECTION:

by Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, on this Palm Sunday, we are privileged to become immersed in Mark’s great Passion narrative, where the kingship of Jesus emerges with great clarity—and also with great irony.

We read that upon being brought before the Sanhedrin, Jesus is asked whether he is the “Christ”—that is, the Messiah—an implicit reference to David. When Jesus calmly responds, “I am,” the high priest tears his robes, for how could a shackled criminal possibly be the kingly descendant of David? Upon being presented to Pilate, Jesus is asked the functionally equivalent question: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Again a blandly affirmative answer comes: “You say so.” This leads the soldiers to mock him, placing a purple cloak on his shoulders and a crown of thorns on his head.

Mark does not want us to miss the irony that, precisely as the King of the Jews and the Son of David, Jesus is implicitly King to those soldiers. For the mission of the Davidic king is the unification not only of the tribes of Israel but also of the tribes of the world. What commenced with David’s gathering of the tribes of Israel would soon reach completion in the criminal raised high on the cross, thereby drawing all people to himself.

Reflect: Meditate on one of Christianity’s most mysterious truths: that the Crucifixion of the Son of God was the means of our redemption.

Credit: Daily Lenten Gospel Reflections, Bishop Robert Barron, March 28, 2021; Word on Fire, https://www.wordonfire.org. 

Information herein posted under the "rules of fair use" to foster education and discussion in accordance with Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976.

SUNDAY SERMON: A VIDEO GOSPEL REFLECTION

Friends, in this sermon for Palm Sunday, I explore three peculiar images in Mark’s account of Christ’s Passion and death, and how these details inspire us to live faithfully in the light of our Lord’s sacrifice.”
Bishop Robert Barron

Please watch the video by clicking here: 

Will You Stay or Will You Run? - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon

You can also find the Word on Fire Sunday Sermon video below, at the end of today's blog.

The Holy Scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts.”
Saint John Chrysostom