The Gospel According to
Luke – Luke 19:28-40 ©
First Reading – Isaiah
50:4-7 ©
Responsorial Psalm –
Psalm 21(22):8-9,17-20,23-24 ©
Second Reading –
Philippians 2:6-11 ©
Gospel Acclamation –
Philippians 2:8-9
The Gospel According to
Luke – 22:14-23:56 ©
We
must always read the sacred text with care.
The gospel reading from Saint Luke that leads
off the Palm Sunday worship should be taken with a grain of salt, by which I
mean it should not be taken seriously at all.
Any passage from the sacred text which was
explicitly written to show Jesus as the fulfilling a prediction made by an
earlier prophet represents a deviation from the truth; either because it is a
deliberate falsehood, or because it is a gross misunderstanding of the events
being narrated.
Neither case is acceptable for Christians who
are committed to serving the truth.
Prophets are not seers. Their role among the
people was not to foretell the future, or sift through auguries and portents.
The prophets were critics of the injustices the witnessed in the social order,
of injustice anywhere they saw it.
Take the reading for today, all four of the
Gospels narrate the same scene, but differently as is so often the case.
Mark and Luke depict Jesus riding into
Jerusalem on a colt, while John depicts Jesus riding on a colt that is the foal
of a donkey (John is the most in keeping with Zechariah’s “prophesy”). Matthew
cover the bases and depicts Jesus riding on both a donkey and a colt, in
Matthews version Jesus rides two animals.
The authors of these gospels got themselves
twisted up trying to change the actual narrative of Jesus’ entry into
Jerusalem, so that it appears to be reflective of a divine plan that was in the works for ages,
coming to fruition in that moment, in Jesus.
The liberty they took in writing the narrative
this way is evidence of their lack of faith. Whenever the authors embellish a
story to lend it more authority the evidence actually suggests that they are
writing from a place weakness.
This is always unnecessary.
More likely than not, no such event even took
place.
The motive to write the narrative this way, was
misdirected from the start, because the purpose was only to establish the royal
bona fides of Jesus, and in truth Jesus was not a king. He had no desire to be
one. He denied until the end.
God is not a king either, or an emperor or any
such pretentious thing.
Kings are human inventions, and they never
serve the ends which the people need most.
Jesus stood in the tradition of the prophet
Isaiah. Listen to Isaiah now, take comfort in his courage. He is pointing to
the way.
Like Jesus, Isaiah sees the necessity of
telling the truth. The people need it, and justice cannot be had without it.
Truth is the cornerstone of a just society.
But the reward for telling the truth is often
condemnation. The people do not like to hear it, do not want to believe that
God loves their neighbor just as much as God loves them, or the stranger, or
their enemies.
This is exactly what the way teaches.
The poor and rich alike, they do not want to
share. People are afraid, the world has made them this way. They will react
with anger and violence to any little thing that comes along to upset their
resentment filled lives, to challenge their jealousies and their miserliness.
This is how the world is.
Like Isaiah, you must open your ear, and
listen. You must listen with you heart.
Open your mouth to share the peace and
blessing of God, and never to condemn.
Most important of all, do not fear. This is
the way of heaven
Do not for a second believe that God does not
hear you when you pray.
The creator of the Universe knows your
innermost thoughts. God knows you as you know yourself, God understands all
that you are and all the things you struggle with. God feels your experience of
the world, even as you feel it.
Your struggles are God’s own.
God has given you the power to save yourself
or to choose surrender. To agonize or be at peace, but God will not rescue you.
Your life is your own.
God will never intervene on your behalf, god
would not even spare Jesus, and this is not because Jesus was God.
It was a mistake for the Apostle to use the
power of the pen in order to transform Jesus into a divine being.
Jesus was a man. Jesus shared all of the
qualities of humanity with us, He shared our humanity because he was one of us.
He did not descend from another place.
He rose up.
In this way Jesus was divine, as we are all
divine. Jesus, like all of us are created in the divine image, he carried a
spark of that divinity within him, even as we all do.
Jesus is our brother. God, the creator of the
universe, is parent to us all.
Jesus is not a lord, he did not want to be
thought of as one, and God is not King.
God does not seek, nor desire glory, neither
should we.
God calls us to lead lives of humility, this
is the way, to accept with grace our role as teachers of the faith. To seek
justice and to love mercy all of our days.
Be mindful!
Listen to each turn of the story today.
Jesus represents God, a loving friend who is
prepared to give everything in the service of those God cares for.
Jesus is the exemplar of the way.
God is so close to the people, so near to us,
you can see God at the dining table with you, just as Jesus saw God in the hearts
of his companions, and they in him.
Do not be mistaken. God loves mercy more than
sacrifices of flesh and blood, animal sacrifices which God has no desire for at
all.
The bread and the wine which Jesus served at
the last supper were not substitutions for animal sacrifice, and neither is
Jesus.
Be mindful of this at all times.
Listen.
Even Judas was beloved by God.
Remember.
There is no such thing as fate. What Jesus and
Judas, and Peter, and Pilate did they did freely.
Now pay attention to the squabbling of the
disciples, even in their last hours with Jesus they had not absorbed his
teaching. They were still prideful and preening, resentful and demanding.
Even Jesus could not dissuade them from this,
and he loved them anyway.
The way is instructive for this. Follow Jesus
with a heart prepared for service, then you will be in the way.
Even though the disciples have failed time and
time again to understand what Jesus is teaching, who he is or where his mission
would end, he loves them anyway. Even in light of their failures he has invited
them to the table.
This is the way.
What Jesus tells Saint Peter is instructive
for all the faithful. Jesus teaches that each of us will be sifted like wheat,
until the chaff has pulled away. He teaches in this final lesson that God prays
for us, and in the end each of us will be saved.
What he said to Peter he said to us all.
Even as Jesus gave these assurances to Peter,
Peter was boasting of how great his faith was and how ready he is to face the
same tribulations as Christ.
Jesus knew otherwise. He knew that Peter would
betray him, just as Judas had done.
Jesus reminds them all of the way they should
approach their mission after he has gone, that they should approach it with humility.
Be mindful, and be cautious when the scripture
turns to the fulfillment of prophecy. God made each of us, and the whole of
creation free. There is nothing predetermined.
When Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives, he
himself is uncertain and afraid, so much so that he was even ready to use
violence to protect himself and his friends.
He succumbed to the temptation to prepare for
it.
He calls the disciples to arms before he
withdraws in prayer.
Jesus sees what is coming, not because the
future was immutable, but because human nature was scrutable.
Jesus finds comfort in prayer, the certainty
of his faith speaks as clearly as if it were the messenger of God, and he is
strengthened by it.
When he is rested he calls the disciples to
the same practice, assuring them that they will find the same comfort in
prayer, if they meditate on the way.
Just as Jesus was calling them, he was
interrupted by the gang of men, led by one of his disciples, who had come to
arrest him.
There was uncertainty among his followers, and
as Jesus had previously instructed them they were prepared for violence. But Jesus
had passed that moment of doubt, he was ready to surrender, though one of the
disciples struck out anyway, striking before Jesus could gain command of the
situation and announce his intention to submit to the authority.
Before he left with them Jesus healed the
wounded man, just as we can expect God to heal any one of us sinners.
Jesus is prepared to forgive his opponents, this
is what the way instructs us to do, but this does not mean that they do not
deserve admonishment for their fecklessness and cowardice.
Jesus scolds them and they arrest him. Peter
follows them, but when he is confronted he denies being a follower of Jesus.
Within an hour he denies Jesus three times, proving Jesus right about Peters
previous boasting
It was all vanity.
What follows is the worst display of human
nature, all of our fear and pettiness rolled into one tragic and unnecessary
drama that ended with the murder of a great and good person.
Jesus is mocked and beaten by cruel and
callous men. He is dragged before the jealous to answer for their ignorance.
When they were satisfied that he had
implicated himself in a crime, they were still afraid to prosecute him
themselves, because Jesus was a man of the people, and they loved him.
So they took him to the Romans to get their
satisfaction.
The Romans were also afraid. Pilate the Procurator
wanted nothing to do with the plots that the Jewish elders, chief priests and scribes
had with another. It even suited his interests to keep them off balance and
uncertain.
Pilate returned him to Herod, the Jewish
king.
Herod made sport of Jesus and came to terms
with Pilate in a way that allowed Pilate to deal with Jesus, eliminating the
problem that Jesus’ teaching represented for all of them.
This demonstrated for everyone the craven
nature of human greed, because it was greed that drove them all, and their fear
that they could lose the things they had, and the positions they held if they were
to allow a popular man like Jesus to gain influence and power.
Pilate played politics with the matter, and
publicly called on the Jewish elders to demand the death of Jesus. In their
eagerness they fell for it, and though Pilate ordered the killing, it was clear
to everyone that he was acting at the behest of the ruling class of Judeans
Pilate declared that Jesus was innocent of any
crime but then bowed to the will of the crowd and condemned him to death,
substituting Jesus for another condemned man. He let the murderer Bar Abbas go,
and sent Jesus to death in his place.
Jesus was very week by this time. He had undergone
hours of beatings, torture and abuse.
He mourned his fate even while giving hope to
the people who had gathered to support him. He never failed to encourage them
to carry on.
When Jesus had been nailed to the cross and
lifted up to die, he prayed one last time for the people of Earth, for all the
children of the God “Forgive them,” he says to God, “they know not what they
do.”
This is the way.
During the agony of the crucifixion, while he
died slowly on the cross, he was mocked and robbed and humiliated, during that
time Jesus never lost his composure.
The way had prepared him for this.
Jesus finds companionship and common cause
among the men he was crucified with.
Both faith and doubt were on full display on Calvary that day.
Be mindful!
As you finish the reading for today do not to
fall into the seductive belief that supernatural events attended Jesus’ death.
There was no eclipse when he was crucified.
There was only a darkness of heart and spirit the
moment when Jesus died.
Those who witnessed his death, even though
they were not among his followers, or believers in any way, they acknowledged
the passing of a good man, even the Roman centurion said as much.
Joseph of Arimathea recovered his body for
burial.
He was followed to the tomb by the women who
were among his disciples. They were the final witnesses to his death and
burial. They never abandoned him or left his side.
In this way a man passed from the world, who
would come to be called the son of God, he was a humble prophet, a healer and a
teacher of the way.
The Gospel According to
Luke – Luke 19:28-40 ©
Blessings on Him Who
Comes in the Name of the Lord.
Jesus
went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
When
he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he
sent two disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village opposite, where on entering
you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and bring
it here.
If
any one asks you, “Why are you untying it?” you shall say this, “The Lord has
need of it.”’
So
those who were sent went away and found it as he had told them.
And
as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, ‘Why are you untying
the colt?’
And
they said, ‘The Lord has need of it.’
And
they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt they set
Jesus upon it.
And
as he rode along, they spread their garments on the road.
As
he was drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude
of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the
mighty works that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the
name of the Lord!
Peace
in heaven and glory in the highest!’
And
some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your
disciples.’
He
answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’
First Reading – Isaiah
50:4-7 ©
I did not cover my face
against insult: I know I shall not be shamed
The
Lord has given me a disciple’s tongue.
So
that I may know how to reply to the wearied he provides me with speech.
Each
morning he wakes me to hear, to listen like a disciple.
The
Lord has opened my ear.
For
my part, I made no resistance, neither did I turn away.
I
offered my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who tore at my
beard; I did not cover my face against insult and spittle.
The
Lord comes to my help, so that I am untouched by the insults.
So,
too, I set my face like flint; I know I shall not be shamed.
Responsorial Psalm –
Psalm 21(22):8-9,17-20,23-24 ©
My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?
All
who see me deride me.
They curl their lips, they toss their heads.
‘He
trusted in the Lord, let him save him;
let him release him if this is his friend.’
My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?
Many
dogs have surrounded me,
a band of the wicked beset me.
They
tear holes in my hands and my feet
I can count every one of my bones.
My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?
They
divide my clothing among them.
They cast lots for my robe.
O
Lord, do not leave me alone,
my strength, make haste to help me!
My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?
I
will tell of your name to my brethren
and praise you where they are assembled.
‘You
who fear the Lord give him praise;
all sons of Jacob, give him glory.
Revere him, Israel’s sons.
My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?
Second Reading – Philippians
2:6-11 ©
Christ Humbled Himself
but God Raised Him High
His
state was divine, yet Christ Jesus did not cling to his equality with God but
emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave and became as men are; and
being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a
cross.
But
God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names so
that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the
knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Gospel Acclamation –
Philippians 2:8-9
Praise to you, O Christ,
king of eternal glory!
Christ
was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.
But
God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all names.
Praise to you, O Christ,
king of eternal glory!
The Gospel According to
Luke – 22:14-23:56 ©
The Passion of Our Lord
Jesus Christ According to Luke
Key:
N. Narrator. ✠
Jesus. O. Other single speaker. C. Crowd, or more than one speaker.
N.
When the hour came, Jesus took his place at table, and the apostles with him.
And he said to them,
✠ I have longed to eat
this passover with you before I suffer; because, I tell you, I shall not eat it
again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
N.
Then, taking a cup, he gave thanks and said,
✠ Take this and share it
among you, because from now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the
kingdom of God comes.
N.
Then he took some bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it and gave it to
them, saying,
✠ This is my body which
will be given for you; do this as a memorial of me.
N.
He did the same with the cup after supper, and said,
✠ This cup is the new
covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you.
And
yet, here with me on the table is the hand of the man who betrays me. The Son
of Man does indeed go to his fate even as it has been decreed, but alas for
that man by whom he is betrayed!
N.
And they began to ask one another which of them it could be who was to do this
thing.
A
dispute arose also between them about which should be reckoned the greatest,
but he said to them,
✠ Among pagans it is the
kings who lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are given
the title Benefactor. This must not happen with you. No; the greatest among you
must behave as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who
serves. For who is the greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one
at table, surely? Yet here am I among you as one who serves!
You
are the men who have stood by me faithfully in my trials; and now I confer a
kingdom on you, just as my Father conferred one on me: you will eat and drink
at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones to judge the twelve
tribes of Israel.
Simon,
Simon! Satan, you must know, has got his wish to sift you all like wheat; but I
have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail, and once you have
recovered, you in your turn must strengthen your brothers.
N.
He answered,
O.
Lord, I would be ready to go to prison with you, and to death.
N.
Jesus replied,
✠ I tell you, Peter, by
the time the cock crows today you will have denied three times that you know
me.
N.
He said to them,
✠ When I sent you out
without purse or haversack or sandals, were you short of anything?
N.
They answered,
C.
No.
N.
He said to them,
✠ But now if you have a
purse, take it; if you have a haversack, do the same; if you have no sword,
sell your cloak and buy one, because I tell you these words of scripture have
to be fulfilled in me: He let himself be taken for a criminal. Yes, what
scripture says about me is even now reaching its fulfilment.
N.
They said,
C.
Lord, there are two swords here now.
N.
He said to them,
✠ That is enough!
N.
He then left to make his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, with the
disciples following. When they reached the place he said to them,
✠ Pray not to be put to
the test.
N.
Then he withdrew from them, about a stone’s throw away, and knelt down and
prayed, saying,
✠ Father, if you are
willing, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, let your will be done, not
mine.
N.
Then an angel appeared to him, coming from heaven to give him strength. In his
anguish he prayed even more earnestly, and his sweat fell to the ground like
great drops of blood.
When
he rose from prayer he went to the disciples and found them sleeping for sheer
grief. He said to them,
✠ Why are you asleep? Get
up and pray not to be put to the test.
N.
He was still speaking when a number of men appeared, and at the head of them
the man called Judas, one of the Twelve, who went up to Jesus to kiss him.
Jesus said,
✠ Judas, are you betraying
the son of Man with a kiss?
N.
His followers, seeing what was happening, said,
C.
Lord, shall we use our swords?
N.
And one of them struck out at the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right
ear. But at this Jesus spoke:
✠ Leave off! That will do!
N.
And touching the man’s ear he healed him.
Then
Jesus spoke to the chief priests and captains of the Temple guard and elders
who had come for him. He said,
✠ Am I a brigand, that you
had to set out with swords and clubs? When I was among you in the Temple day
after day you never moved to lay hands on me. But this is your hour; this is
the reign of darkness.
N.
They seized him then and led him away, and they took him to the high priest’s
house. Peter followed at a distance. They had lit a fire in the middle of the
courtyard and Peter sat down among them, and as he was sitting there by the
blaze a servant-girl saw him, peered at him, and said,
O.
This person was with him too.
N.
But he denied it.
O.
Woman, I do not know him.
N.
Shortly afterwards someone else saw him and said,
O.
You are another of them.
N.
But Peter replied,
O.
I am not, my friend.
N.
About an hour later another man insisted, saying,
O.
This fellow was certainly with him. Why, he is a Galilean.
N.
Peter said,
O.
My friend, I do not know what you are talking about.
N.
At that instant, while he was still speaking, the cock crew, and the Lord
turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered what the Lord had
said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will have disowned me three
times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Meanwhile
the men who guarded Jesus were mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him
and questioned him, saying,
C.
Play the prophet. Who hit you then?
N.
And they continued heaping insults on him.
When
day broke there was a meeting of the elders of the people, attended by the
chief priests and scribes. He was brought before their council, and they said
to him,
C.
If you are the Christ, tell us.
N.
He replied,
✠ If I tell you, you will
not believe me, and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now on,
the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the Power of God.
N.
Then they all said,
C.
So you are the Son of God then?
N.
He answered:
✠ It is you who say I am.
N.
They said,
C.
What need of witnesses have we now? We have heard it for ourselves from his own
lips.
N.
The whole assembly then rose, and they brought him before Pilate.
They
began their accusation by saying,
C.
We found this man inciting our people to revolt, opposing payment of the
tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king.
N.
Pilate put to him this question:
O.
Are you the king of the Jews?
N.
He replied,
✠ It is you who say it.
N.
Pilate then said to the chief priests and the crowd,
O.
I find no case against this man.
N.
But they persisted,
C.
He is inflaming the people with his teaching all over Judaea; it has come all
the way from Galilee, where he started, down to here.
N.
When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man were a Galilean; and finding that
he came under Herod’s jurisdiction he passed him over to Herod, who was also in
Jerusalem at that time.
Herod
was delighted to see Jesus; he had heard about him and had been wanting for a
long time to set eyes on him; moreover, he was hoping to see some miracle
worked by him. So he questioned him at some length; but without getting any
reply. Meanwhile the chief priests and the scribes were there, violently
pressing their accusations. Then Herod, together with his guards, treated him
with contempt and made fun of him; he put a rich cloak on him and sent him back
to Pilate. And though Herod and Pilate had been enemies before, they were
reconciled that same day.
Pilate
then summoned the chief priests and the leading men and the people. He said,
O.
You brought this man before me as a political agitator. Now I have gone into
the matter myself in your presence and found no case against the man in respect
of all the charges you bring against him. Nor has Herod either, since he has
sent him back to us. As you can see, the man has done nothing that deserves
death, So I shall have him flogged and then let him go.
N.
But as one man they howled,
C.
Away with him! Give us Barabbas!
N.
(This man had been thrown into prison for causing a riot in the city and for
murder.)
Pilate
was anxious to set Jesus free and addressed them again, but they shouted back,
C.
Crucify him! Crucify him!
N.
And for the third time he spoke to them,
O.
Why? What harm has this man done? I have found no case against him that
deserves death, so I shall have him punished and then let him go.
N.
But they kept on shouting at the top of their voices, demanding that he should
be crucified. And their shouts were growing louder.
Pilate
then gave his verdict: their demand was to be granted. He released the man they
asked for, who had been imprisoned for rioting and murder, and handed Jesus
over to them to deal with as they pleased.
As
they were leading him away they seized on a man, Simon from Cyrene, who was
coming in from the country, and made him shoulder the cross and carry it behind
Jesus. Large numbers of people followed him, and of women too, who mourned and
lamented for him. But Jesus turned to them and said,
✠ Daughters of Jerusalem,
do not weep for me; weep rather for yourselves and for your children. For the
days will surely come when people will say, ‘Happy are those who are barren,
the wombs that have never borne, the breasts that have never suckled!’ Then
they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’; to the hills, ‘Cover
us.’ For if men use the green wood like this, what will happen when it is dry?
N.
Now with him they were also leading out two other criminals to be executed.
When
they reached the place called The Skull, they crucified him there and the two
criminals also, one on the right, the other on the left. Jesus said,
✠ Father, forgive them;
they do not know what they are doing.
N.
Then they cast lots to share out his clothing.
The
people stayed there watching him. As for the leaders, they jeered at him,
saying,
C.
He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen
One.
N.
The soldiers mocked him too, and when they approached to offer vinegar they
said,
C.
If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.
N.
Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
One
of the criminals hanging there abused him, saying,
O.
Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well.
N.
But the other spoke up and rebuked him:
O.
Have you no fear of God at all? You got the same sentence as he did, but in our
case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done
nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
N.
He replied,
✠ Indeed, I promise you,
today you will be with me in paradise.
N.
It was now about the sixth hour and, with the sun eclipsed, a darkness came
over the whole land until the ninth hour. The veil of the Temple was torn right
down the middle; and when Jesus had cried out in a loud voice, he said,
✠ Father, into your hands
I commit my spirit.
N.
With these words he breathed his last.
All
kneel and pause a moment
When
the centurion saw what had taken place, he gave praise to God and said,
O.
This was a great and good man.
N.
And when all the people who had gathered for the spectacle saw what had
happened, they went home beating their breasts.
All
his friends stood at a distance; so also did the women who had accompanied him
from Galilee, and they saw all this happen.
Then
a member of the council arrived, an upright and virtuous man named Joseph. He
had not consented to what the others had planned and carried out. He came from
Arimathaea, a Jewish town, and he lived in the hope of seeing the kingdom of
God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. He then took it
down, wrapped it in a shroud and put him in a tomb which was hewn in stone in
which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day and the sabbath was
imminent.
Meanwhile
the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus were following behind. They took
note of the tomb and of the position of the body.
Then
they returned and prepared spices and ointments. And on the sabbath day they
rested, as the Law required.
Palm Sunday – Holy Week
(Year C)
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