Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 48:1-9 The Daily Manual Labor

The Commemoration of the Lord's Entrance into Jerusalem: Mk 11:1-10 or Jn 12:12-16

Mass: Is 50:4-7; Resp Ps 22; Ph 2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15:46

Others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.

HEART OF JESUS, PIERCED WITH A LANCE,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

With so much to reflect upon, I hold to some words from this past Friday about preparation for today, and this entire week. Why not spend some time slowly and carefully reading through Saint Mark's account of the Lord's Passion, proclaimed today at Mass. If possible, read it aloud with others. If not, read it out loud yourself. Put yourself in the scenes, so starkly and directly revealed, from one scene to the next. I pay attention to the array of emotions: fear, indignant, infuriated, distressed, troubled, sorrowful ... Peter broke down and wept (Mk 14:72). And something we might miss is pointed out to us by Pope Francis in his homily of today. He began with these words: "Each year this liturgy leaves us amazed: we pass from the joy of welcoming Jesus as He enters Jerusalem to the sorrow of watching Him condemned to death and then crucified. That sense of interior amazement will remain with us throughout this Holy Week." So we pray for the grace of amazement, as Pope Francis preached: "Maybe our faith has grown dull from habit. Maybe we remain trapped in our regrets and allow ourselves to be crippled by our disappointments. Maybe we have lost all our trust or even feel worthless. But perhaps, beyond all theses 'maybes', lies the fact that we are not open to the gift of the Spirit who gives us the grace of amazement."

I found an excellent and not entirely unrelated suggestion from Cardinal John O'Connor (1920-2000) to help guide us during this "holiest week in the history of the human race". And it is this: "If we have not been able to practice our faith as we would like as we know we should, this is a wonderful week to get started all over again. In this way, when Easter is celebrated next Sunday, we will really feel that something has been accomplished" (in Magnificat, Holy Week 2021, "The Week of Reconciliation", p. 16). We go forth and "look forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing" (RB 49:7).

SAINT JOSEPH, PRAY FOR US.

© Gertrude Feick 2021