A Homily - Holy Week – Palm Sunday (Year B)

The Procession Gospel – Mark 11:1-10 ©

Alternative Procession Gospel – John 12:12-16 ©

First Reading – Isaiah 50:4-7 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 21(22):8-9,17-20,23-24 ©

Second Reading - Philippians 2:6-11 ©

The Gospel According to Mark 14:1 – 15:47 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God, the creator of the universe, God is not a king. God is not a prince and God is not a lord.

The Church, which is meant to follow Jesus in the way, the Church should never be depicted as an extension of a royal dynasty; it is not that.

This reading should be interpreted apart from its mythological context and instead be read as an example of how much good-regard the common people, the am-haaretz, had for Jesus and his followers, which is to say that they were trusted and accepted; they could be taken at their word.

Remember this!

When you read the scriptures bear this in mind: God made human beings free, God made the entirety of the created order free, the whole of creation is free from divine coercion.

Because we are free, and the future is not written, it diminishes the ministry of Jesus to ground any part of his authority on the depiction of him fulfilling scripture or divining portents.

Jesus was not a seer, and all such passages are either misinterpretations of mythological allegory and metaphor, or they are straight propaganda and intentional prevarications.

Consider the words of Isaiah, take comfort in his courage.

Isaiah points the way; like Jesus, Isaiah sees the necessity of telling the truth. He understands how much the people need truth, he knows that justice cannot be had without it. He also knows that the reward for telling the truth is often condemnation. There are many who do not like to hear it, do not want to believe that God loves their neighbor just as much as God loves them.

People are afraid, the world has made them this way. When people endure scarcity and live in fear they do not like to share. The poor and the rich alike, will react with anger and violence to any little thing that threatens to upset their resentment filled lives, that challenges their jealousies and judges their miserliness.

Like Isaiah, you must open your ear and listen; you must listen with your heart.

When you open your mouth to speak, share the peace and blessing of God; do not speak words of condemnation, against yourself or anyone else.

Do not fear. This is the way of God.

Consider the wisdom of the psalmist:

Do not believe for one second that God does not hear you. The creator of the Universe knows your innermost thoughts. God knows you as you know yourself, God understands all that you are and all that you struggle with. God feels your experience in the world as you feel it. Your struggles are God’s own.

Know that God has given you the power to save yourself, or to choose surrender. You may agonize over the path in front of you, or be at peace with it. Whatever your basic disposition is, know that God will not rescue you. God will never intervene in the world on your behalf.

Be mindful.

Jesus was a man.

Everything that it means to be human Jeus shared with us, because he was one of us.

Jesus did not descend from on high; he was born to Joseph and Mary.

Jesus was also divine; like each of us, he was created in the divine image, he carried the spark of divinity within him. In Jesus that spark grew into a living flame, that divine fire was the spirit of God, and know this: where God is God is present fully…in Jesus, in you, in I, in everyone.

Jesus is our brother, and God is parent to us all.

Jesus is not a lord and he did not want to be thought of as one; Jesus is not a prince and God is not King. God does not seek nor desire glory, and neither should we.

God calls us to lead lives of humility, to accept with grace our role as teachers of the faith. To seek justice and to love mercy all of our days.

Now consider the Gospel reading for today and be mindful…read them with care.

Mark’s Gospel was written decades after Jesus was murdered. It was written in the years after the Romans came and laid waste to Jerusalem, when the destroyed the temple, which was never to be rebuilt. These words were written after Paul wrote his letters giving us the theology of Jesus the Christ, it was written after Paul was martyred together with Peter in Rome, and after all of the other disciples who had known Jesus, including his brother James, the Bishop of Jerusalem had either been killed or died.

Mark’s Gospel was not written by anyone who was an eye witness to the events they purport to relate. This Gospel represents a first summary of a growing and changing…evolving oral history of the ministry of Jesus, who was known as Joshua son of Joseph.

Be mindful.

The Gospel is part narrative history and part apology, it is the beginning of a mythos and it needs to be read as such.

Mark’s Gospel tells us that Jesus was a man of the people. He did not fear contact with the unclean or the outcast, whether a leper or an unmarried woman, or anyone else who in the view of the prevailing social norms were to be relegated to the status of untouchable.

The woman who comes to anoint Jesus is rebuked by the men in his company. Jesus in turn corrects them. The men who are his closest followers are among those whom Jesus rebukes. They are still ignorant of what is about to transpire, but the women who follow him anonymously, they are fully aware and they are prepared to support his mission to the bitter end.

Jesus was in fact betrayed by one of his closest followers, a man in his company named Judas Iscariot. Jesus knew he would be arrested if he came to Jerusalem, but he went to the city anyway, sending two of his disciples to prepare the way. There was no subterfuge in Jesus, he made no efforts to hide his coming. He meant to complete his mission, to bring hope to the people even while knowing that he would be betrayed.

They celebrated the Passover together, and the commemoration of this meal became the basis for the Eucharist[i], the celebration of the presence of Jesus in the bread and the wine.

We commemorate Jesus when we share with one another, when we welcome the outcaste and the marginalized to our table, when like Jesus, we share even those we know will betray us.

Jesus is present in the way.

It is not the food that is holy, it is the sharing of it. It is not the ritual words and gesture that make the meal holy, it is the gift of sustenance and the time we sit at table together that transform what we eat and drink into something holy.

Again, in Mark’s Gospel Jesus informs the disciples concerning everything that is about to happen. They respond to him in confusion and denial, and as close as they are to him they still do not understand how his mission will end, or that they will have to go on without him…but the women in his company know.

Even after the meal is shared, the chief among the disciples boasts of his faithfulness, while Jesus calls out his ignorance and names him a liar, which he proved to be…and Jesus forgives him for it.

In the course of this meal all of the men who followed Jesus, every one of the twelve disciples boasted of their faith. Even the one was preparing to sell Jesus into bondage. He may have been betrayed by Judas, but all of the rest would abandon him during the night...except the women who followed him.

Jesus did not resist when the men of the Sanhedrin came to apprehend him, even though his men were prepared to fight. He did not want a slaughter to ensue, especially when all he had to do was give up his own life.

By surrendering Jesus fulfilled the words that he had preached, no greater love does a man have than that he give up his life for his fellow men. By giving up his own life he allowed the ministry that he had started to continue without him. He stayed true to this until the end.

The Gospel According to Mark, The Procession Gospel – Mark 11:1-10 ©

Blessings on Him who Comes in the Name of the Lord.

When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, and said to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it.

If any one says to you, “Why are you doing this?” say, “The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.”’

And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door out in the open street; and they untied it.

And those who stood there said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’

And they told them what Jesus had said; and they let them go.

And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their garments on it; and he sat upon it.

And many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields.

And those who went before and those who followed cried out, ‘Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming!

Hosanna in the highest!’

 

Alternative Gospel – John 12:12-16 ©

Blessings on Him who Comes in the Name of the Lord.

A great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, ‘Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel!’

And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; as is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on an ass’s colt!’

His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of him and had been done to him.

 

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;

 

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 Mark 14:1 – 15:47 ©

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark

 

Key: N. Narrator. ✠ Jesus. O. Other single speaker. C. Crowd, or more than one speaker.

 

N. It was two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by some trick and have him put to death. For they said,

C. It must not be during the festivities, or there will be a disturbance among the people.

N. Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper; he was at dinner when a woman came in with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the ointment on his head. Some who were there said to one another indignantly,

C. Why this waste of ointment? Ointment like this could have been sold for over three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor.

N. and they were angry with her. But Jesus said,

  ✠ Leave her alone. Why are you upsetting her? What she has done for me is one of the good works. You have the poor with you always, and you can be kind to them whenever you wish, but you will not always have me. She has done what was in her power to do: she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. I tell you solemnly, wherever throughout all the world the Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told also, in remembrance of her.

N. Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, approached the chief priests with an offer to hand Jesus over to them. They were delighted to hear it, and promised to give him money; and he looked for a way of betraying him when the opportunity should occur.

  On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, his disciples said to him,

C. Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the passover?

  N. So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,

✠ Go into the city and you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him, and say to the owner of the house which he enters, ‘The Master says: “Where is my dining room in which I can eat the passover with my disciples?”’ He will show you a large upper room furnished with couches, all prepared. Make the preparations for us there.

N. The disciples set out and went to the city and found everything as he had told them, and prepared the Passover.

  When evening came he arrived with the Twelve. And while they were at table eating, Jesus said,

✠ I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me, one of you eating with me.

N. They were distressed and asked him, one after another,

C. Not I, surely?

N. He said to them,

✠ It is one of the Twelve, one who is dipping into the same dish with me. Yes, the Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!

N. And as they were eating he took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them, saying:

✠ Take it: this is my body.

N. Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them, and all drank from it, and he said to them,

✠ This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many. I tell you solemnly, I shall not drink any more wine until the day I drink the new wine in the kingdom of God.

N. After psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them,

✠ You will all lose faith, for the scripture says: ‘I shall strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.’ However, after my resurrection I shall go before you to Galilee.

N. Peter said,

O. Even if all lose faith, I will not.

N. And Jesus said to him,

✠ I tell you solemnly, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will have disowned me three times.

N. But he repeated still more earnestly,

O. If I have to die with you, I will never disown you.

N. And they all said the same.

  They came to a small estate called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples,

✠ Stay here while I pray.

N. Then he took Peter and James and John with him. And a sudden fear came over him, and great distress. And he said to them,

✠ My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here, and keep awake.

N. And going on a little further he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, this hour might pass him by. He said:

✠ Abba (Father)! Everything is possible for you. Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have it.

N. He came back and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter,

✠ Simon, are you asleep? Had you not the strength to keep awake one hour? You should be awake, and praying not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

N. Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came back and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy; and they could find no answer for him. He came back a third time and said to them,

✠ You can sleep on now and take your rest. It is all over. The hour has come. Now the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let us go! My betrayer is close at hand already.

N. Even while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came up with a number of men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the traitor had arranged a signal with them. He had said, ‘The one I kiss he is the man. Take him in charge, and see he is well guarded when you lead him away.’ So when the traitor came, he went straight up to Jesus and said,

O. Rabbi!

N. and kissed him. The others seized him and took him in charge. Then one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck out at the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.

  Then Jesus spoke:

✠ Am I a brigand, that you had to set out to capture me with swords and clubs? I was among you teaching in the Temple day after day and you never laid hands on me. But this is to fulfil the scriptures.

N. And they all deserted him and ran away. A young man who followed him had nothing on but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the cloth in their hands and ran away naked.

  They led Jesus off to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes assembled there. Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the high priest’s palace, and was sitting with the attendants warming himself at the fire.

  The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus on which they might pass the death sentence. But they could not find any. Several, indeed, brought false evidence against him, but their evidence was conflicting. Some stood up and submitted this false evidence against him,

C. We heard him say, ‘I am going to destroy this Temple made by human hands, and in three days build another, not made by human hands.’

N. But even on this point their evidence was conflicting. The high priest then stood up before the whole assembly and put this question to Jesus,

O. Have you no answer to that? What is this evidence these men are bringing against you?

N. But he was silent and made no answer at all. The high priest put a second question to him,

O. Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?

N. Jesus said,

✠ I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.

N. The high priest tore his robes, and said:

O. What need of witnesses have we now? You heard the blasphemy. What is your finding?

N. And they all gave their verdict: he deserved to die.

  Some of them started spitting at him and, blindfolding him, began hitting him with their fists and shouting,

C. Play the prophet!

N. And the attendants rained blows on him.

  While Peter was down below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s servant-girls came up. She saw Peter warming himself there, stared at him and said,

O. You too were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.

N. But he denied it, saying.

O. I do not know, I do not understand, what you are talking about.

N. And he went out into the forecourt. The servant-girl saw him and again started telling the bystanders,

O. This fellow is one of them.

N. But again he denied it. A little later the bystanders themselves said to Peter,

C. You are one of them for sure! Why, you are a Galilean.

N. But he started calling down curses on himself and swearing,

O. I do not know the man you speak of.

N. At that moment the cock crew for the second time, and Peter recalled how Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows twice, you will have disowned me three times.’ And he burst into tears.

 First thing in the morning, the chief priests together with the elders and scribes, in short the whole Sanhedrin, had their plan ready. They had Jesus bound and took him away and handed him over to Pilate.

  Pilate questioned him:

O. Are you the king of the Jews?

N. He answered,

✠ It is you who say it.

N. And the chief priests brought many accusations against him. Pilate questioned him again:

O. Have you no reply at all? See how many accusations they are bringing against you!

N. But, to Pilate’s amazement, Jesus made no further reply.

  At festival time Pilate used to release a prisoner for them, anyone they asked for. Now a man called Barabbas was then in prison with the rioters who had committed murder during the uprising. When the crowd went up and began to ask Pilate the customary favour, Pilate answered them

O. Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?

N. For he realised it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over. The chief priests, however, had incited the crowd to demand that he should release Barabbas for them instead. Then Pilate spoke again:

O. But in that case, what am I to do with the man you call king of the Jews?

N. They shouted back,

C. Crucify him!

N. Pilate asked them,

O. Why? What harm has he done?

N. But they shouted all the louder,

C. Crucify him!

N. So Pilate, anxious to placate the crowd, released Barabbas for them and, having ordered Jesus to be scourged, handed him over to be crucified.

  The soldiers led him away to the inner part of the palace, that is, the Praetorium, and called the whole cohort together. They dressed him up in purple, twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on him. And they began saluting him,

C. Hail, king of the Jews!

N. They struck his head with a reed and spat on him; and they went down on their knees to do him homage. And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off the purple and dressed him in his own clothes.

  They enlisted a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull.

  They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it. Then they crucified him, and shared out his clothing, casting lots to decide what each should get. It was the third hour when they crucified him. The inscription giving the charge against him read: ‘The King of the Jews.’ And they crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.

  The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads and said,

C. Aha! So you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days! Then save yourself: come down from the cross!

N. The chief priests and the scribes mocked him among themselves in the same way. They said,

C. He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, for us to see it and believe.

N. Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.

  When the sixth hour came there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice,

✠ Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?

N. which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you deserted me?’ When some of those who stood by heard this, they said

C. Listen, he is calling on Elijah.

N. Someone ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar and, putting it on a reed, gave it him to drink, saying:

O. Wait and see if Elijah will come to take him down.

N. But Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

  All kneel and pause for a moment.

  And the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The centurion, who was standing in front of him, had seen how he had died, and he said,

O. In truth this man was a son of God.

N. There were some women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary who was the mother of James the younger and Joset, and Salome. These used to follow him and look after him when he was in Galilee. And there were many other women there who had come up to Jerusalem with him.

  It was now evening, and since it was Preparation Day (that is, the vigil of the sabbath), there came Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent member of the Council, who himself lived in the hope of seeing the kingdom of God, and he boldly went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate, astonished that he should have died so soon, summoned the centurion and enquired if he was already dead. Having been assured of this by the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph who bought a shroud, took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in the shroud and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Joset were watching and took note of where he was laid.

 

Holy Week – Palm Sunday (Year B)

---

[i] Note well, all eucharistic theology notwithstanding; though God is present in all times and all places, and there is nowhere that God is not, Jesus is not present in the food that we eat, it is not his blood and his flesh that we consume when we celebrate the Mass.