Walking with Jesus: Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

For Sunday, April 10, 2022

Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

On Palm Sunday we hear the gospel accounts leading us from the Last Supper through the Garden of Gethsemane to the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross. Matthew’s account is the one most often recognized; today we hear St. Luke’s account.

Now Luke was a Syrian from Antioch, a physician by profession, a ready listener to the apostles and, later on, a disciple of St. Paul. Tradition tells us that he remained unmarried and passed on to the Lord in northern Greece at age 84. The gospels of Matthew and Mark already had been written. Luke explains that it was necessary to write his account to the faithful who had been converted from paganism. The Acts of the Apostles follow his gospel, explaining the earliest successes and sufferings this “new church” was experiencing. He wrote these so that future readers can identify with Jesus and thus begin a lifelong relationship with God.

The central and most powerful part of Luke’s writing is that Jesus willingly embraced death on the cross for us and that God the Father affirmed this act of love by raising Him from the dead. Luke’s writing is very descriptive and skillful in engaging the human imagination. His stories are unique: Gabriel’s greeting the Mother of the Messiah, the angelic choirs singing “Glory to God in the highest,” paintings of the shepherds and sheep. Other passages common to Luke describe Zacchaeus up in a sycamore tree, the criminal who accepts his own crucifixion as legitimate, and the evening walk with disciples on the way to Emmaus culminating in Jesus revealing Himself in the breaking of the bread. Only Luke records these moments.

Many artists have made beautiful, graphic illustrations based on Luke's gospel. This week, try to find moments to reread Luke’s Passion narrative. I would suggest starting at Luke 19:28, the entry into Jerusalem. and continuing to 24:53, the Ascension -- a little over 10 pages that are brilliant in enabling us to walk with Jesus and know Him as our Savior, Redeemer and total lover of each of us.

It is easy to become so involved in our lives that we lose sight of what our lives are all about. Do we believe Jesus will come again, bringing the Father’s plan to completion? Every day we have the opportunity to await Jesus’ promise of heaven forever with God. Jesus described this as a life of fullness and joy beyond anything we can know in this earthbound existence. For the unfaithful, however, these words are the occasion for sorrow.

Luke wrote his gospel some 30 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection when the abuse, harassment and persecution of Christians that Jesus prophesied was widespread. Through the ages Christians have been burned, beheaded, crucified and fed to wild beasts. Persecution takes subtler forms: as simple as being excluded from a social group or being mocked for our beliefs and principles. Christians will always be persecuted because believing in Jesus’ teaching contradicts the ways of the world. Am I allowing Jesus to come into the center of my life? Is Jesus just an abstract idea? Do I have a relationship with Jesus, who always shows His love?

Sometimes it takes a major life experience, like a grave illness or death of a loved one, to show us what is really important in life. Often we feel weighed down by our cares, but when we view them from an eternal perspective, life is different. In Luke’s telling of the Passion and death of Jesus, we can’t help but be struck by the sense of a fast-approaching victory that runs throughout the story. Though death is coming, Jesus continues to heal, prophesy and teach His disciples while leading sinners to repentance. Jesus is humbled in the crucifixion that the religious authorities hoped would end the whole matter, but His powerful glorification results. This is the ultimate sign to each of us: Our call to share in Jesus’ trials is the bridge to sharing in His triumph. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “The Paschal mystery of Christ’s cross and Resurrection stands at the center of the Good News.” [571]

Some Passion (Palm) Sunday reflections:

• Do we “stand” with the Palm Sunday crowd that speaks loudly and clearly for the peace of Jesus’ gospel, or do we disappear into the Good Friday group that demands “crucifixion?”
• We are “too small and insignificant” to lift the weight of pain, suffering, injustices and hardness of heart of the human race. That is Jesus’ role! Do I realize that?
• Do I ponder the weight that Jesus carried willingly and out of love to show us God’s love?
• Can I feel as He felt, pray as He prayed, move as He moved? Love as He loved?
• What does it mean, on a daily basis, to share in the sufferings of Christ, to be like Him in bearing each others' burdens?
  

Sacred Space 2022 states:

“As we go through this day and this week, let us look very carefully at Jesus our Savior. We watch not just to admire but also to learn, to penetrate the mind, the thinking, the attitudes and the values of Jesus so that we, in the very different circumstances of our own lives, may walk in His footsteps.”