• Luke 19:28-40 (Gospel for the Procession). Luke’s account of Jesus’ messianic entry into Jerusalem heightens the struggle which Jesus will face in the city and temple.
• Isaiah 50:4-7 In the prophecy of Isaiah the third Song of the Suffering Servant combines listening and abject humiliation with dignified strength.
• Philippians 2:6-11. Jesus emptied himself of his divine dignity, to be incarnated in our midst and suffer the humiliation of the cross.
• Luke 22:14-23:56. The Passion according to Luke portrays Jesus more frequently than the other gospels in prayer, in forgiveness, and in concern for others.

Thoughts for your own consideration: By John Gonzalez

I am on a train leaving Washington DC as I reflect on the lectionary readings for Palm Sunday. This past weekend a multitude gathered in the Capitol, marching and advocating for the rights of immigrants, refugees and displaced peoples. I cannot help but consider the similarity between the immigrant march and the historical moment when Jesus was triumphantly entering Jerusalem. The march brought a hundred thousand people to be in solidarity over an issue that concerns all of us. We all felt great. The success that some of us had with our representatives afterwards only fueled these powerful feelings. Likewise we read that Jesus entered Jerusalem with great fanfare. Even as the Pharisees request that the disciples tone down their message Jesus suggested to them that this excitement would continue with the stones themselves. In other words the energy was palpable, just as it was for us this past Saturday.

But even as we began to pack and head back to our respective regions many of us began to reflect on the challenging political atmosphere that is awaiting us. Our congressional representatives applauded this exciting event but they too reminded us of the pragmatic political reality that would compromise this initiative. I feel a deep sense of solidarity with Jesus who immediately after his triumphant entry wept over the city saying,   “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

During the workshops over the weekend we were reminded of a value that is at the heart of the first reading and the Gospel. The suffering servant is distinguished by his ability to listen, pray and forgive. Issues such as healthcare, abortion and immigration touch people at their core because in some real way they are affected by these issues. This past weekend we in the United States have been affected by all three issues. People react to issues in any number of ways: they can be defensive, reactionary and possibly provocative (for or against the issue) or they may be thoughtful and reasonable and yet here again they may take any number of positions with the issues. The workshops taught us to listen to the legitimate feelings and frustrations of people who will share with us their perspective on these issues with us and to reconcile their feelings and concerns with the broader principles of faith. The Church, like Jesus, is called to be prophetic and to not compromise the values of the Kingdom of God. But in fulfilling our prophetic role we must raise these values while pastorally attending to the feelings and concerns of all the people who will be either in support or against the principles of our Catholic social teachings.

Jesus laments how the greater value of peace eludes the people of Jerusalem. The peace of God flows from the principles of the common good and the preferential option for the poor, principles that we learn from Jesus’ parables and teachings. But when people are challenged by issues that affect them directly, it may be too difficult for them to envision broader community principles that seem to go against their own self-interest. Our challenge is to listen attentively to their stories and to pray with them in hopes that we can walk together in reconciling their issues with the concern of all God’s people.

However there will be times that we will hit an impasse. We may have to endure insult and betrayal. This is perhaps the most challenging role of the suffering servant, but in following the ways of Christ we will be asked to forgive. Jesus forgives Peter, the executioners and the thief. He consoles the women in the midst of his own suffering. Being completely imperfect my own reaction is to vent my own frustrations when I encounter severe and sometimes irrational disagreements on social issues. But this is the challenge we are given in following the Lamb of God. The example of Jesus is to pray and to offer up to God these social challenges. It will be from God that we will get the courage to continue being both prophetic and pastoral.

• Isaiah 43: 16-21. See, I am doing something new; opening a new way through the mighty waters.
• Philippians 3:8-14. I push on to what is ahead – to know the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and to arrive at resurrection from the dead.
• John 8:1-11. Jesus forgives the adulterous woman. Everyone sins and all have need of forgiveness.

Thoughts for your consideration:  By Stephen Dunn, CP

I am thinking that today’s Liturgy is especially relevant for social justice advocates. It occurs as the liturgical year is carefully guiding us toward the events of Holy Week.  In other words, it is there to assist us in the impossible task of squarely facing the heart of darkness, a place where those dedicated to social justice attempt to walk bravely.

Our time may not be worse than other human epochs, but it surely feels replete with the darkness of war, torture, slavery and so many forms of economic and military oppression.  Perhaps it’s not intensity we feel, although a case might be made for that, but that we are sensitive to the “omnipresence”, the blanket of media attention, so inescapable in our time, relentlessly keeping the brutality of the dark side of life as our constant waking companion.

Media coverage of “honor killings” has transported their horror from far away places to our doorstep.  Not so long ago, we in North America would have read today’s Gospel in terms of a sexual disorder — severely, even excessively, punished. Today we know it to be one of patriarchy’s sickest sins, unaffected by presumed cultural sophistication, present even now in far too many places.  Thinking in that way makes the dilemma Jesus faced much more fundamental than juggling the niceties of moral law.  It has to do with deep human darkness.

Although the incident happens in the vicinity of the Temple, the Gospel account begins with the poignant reminder that Jesus had just returned from the Mount of Olives, the historical place, where he himself is soon to face the ultimate darkness of feeling rejection by the God he called Father.

In the first reading the prophet Isaiah wants his people to remember Yahweh’s ancient intervention to end the darkness of their slavery, by parting the seas, ensuring their escape. It put me in mind of a contemporary “parting of the seas” as described by Fr. Rick Frechette, the Passionist doctor-priest working in Haiti.  He describes, in his new book*, the day kidnappers took the whole Haiti airport road by storm.  Amid the chaos, he and his associates attempted to rescue friends who were deep inside the slum.  The crossfire was too intense, so he decided to wait. “Suddenly, a truck full of heavily armed men, all in black, drove up to the intersection from inside the slum … They shot heavy artillery into the air.  They were dressed like the special police force, but it was easy to see they were frauds.  How?  Because the special police eat well, and are strong from bodybuilding.  These men we so thin; their clothes were hanging off of them.  They were “chimeres” ) ghosts from the slums.  …  Raphael understood at once that they were clearing the way for us to in to get the wounded, which we did…and raced them to town, to the surgeons of Doctors Without Borders”.

“The Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters” declares:  “See, I am doing something new!  Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

Fr. Rick has learned to be creatively respectful of the heart of goodness as he stands adamantly against the heart of darkness.  Like Paul, speaking to the Philippians in our second reading, he “continues his pursuit” of the heart of goodness “in hope”.  His hope allows him to be both courageously forthright with gang members and tenderly healing of traumatized children, body and soul.

Looking at the Gospel story that way, it seems to me that Jesus is similarly facing down darkness in search of a regeneration of heart:  his, first of all, since it must have seared him to come so close to this barbarity, but also those of the scribes and Pharisees and the terrified woman who was to be the victim of this patriarchal madness.  Scholars tell us that peasants of Jesus’ time would do as he did, “doodle on the ground” when they felt too distraught to engage people directly.  But he masterfully challenged everyone to look into their own hearts:  “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her”. 

And that is why I think this liturgy is so apt for those committed to social justice.  The logic of adjudicating sins to lay blame is opaque to God’s ability to “part the waves” to find a path that reveres human dignity, it does not allow God to “make a new thing” among the people.  Its certitude or sense of rightness stifles hope, which is the lifeblood of the heart of goodness in the environment of darkness.  Fr. Rick is fond of saying “think with your heart”.  The results, in faith hope and charity, are as remarkable as “neither will I condemn you, go, and walk not in darkness”.

• Isaiah 6:1-8. The prophet’s inaugural vision and call to ministry.
• 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Paul transmits the creed preached in the early church about the resurrection of Jesus. “I handed on to you what I myself received.”
• Luke 5:1-11. A miraculous catch of fishes. Peter’s protestations of unworthiness; Jesus’ call of Peter, James and John to be fishers of men and women for the kingdom of God.

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

This week’s reading shares the sense of unworthiness that Isaiah, Paul and Peter had as they were all called to serve God. These three each identified themselves as sinners and humbled themselves before God and Christ before accepting their new mission to be a prophet or preacher for the kingdom of God.  It is interesting for me to see the different professional areas that are covered between them. Peter is a simple fisherman and a hardworking common man. Paul is a theological academic who was trained as a Pharisee. Isaiah is a politician in the service of the royal court of King Uzziah. These are three very different people with three very different professions. In each case they all experienced a significant change in their life that seems to have rocked the very foundations of their relatively stable lives. In each case they realized how unworthy and sinful they all were before reluctantly accepting their new divine mission.

The role of humility cannot be understated in what took place with these three people. At the moment that they humbled themselves before God and Christ they became open to another way of thinking. They were able to accept a major paradigm shift that had gone against the social reality they were used to. Isaiah was quite skilled with his “unclean lips” that dominated the political atmosphere of the royal court. Paul was zealous for protecting the traditional Pharisaic doctrine that he had studied under. Peter was used to a certain style of fishing and was obviously in charge of his own fishing crew. And yet, after suffering some form of setback, they all allowed themselves to be open to a new way of seeing their world and of serving something beyond their own social profession.

The three readings revolve around God or Christ calling each of them to a new life and ministry and after they all humble themselves to God they accept their new calling. The Book of Jonah would be interesting for us to examine in relationship to this theme. In this case Jonah already exists as a prophet of the Lord and he seems to have quite a reputation in this field. God calls on him again to fulfill another mission within his prophetic ministry but Jonah, in his professional arrogance, reluctantly accepted the mission but was greatly disappointed with God for being merciful to a people Jonah wanted to condemn. In the end Jonah was “angry enough to die.”

The distinction here is how Peter, Paul and Isaiah were humble and submissive to God’s ways while Jonah allowed himself to be filled with arrogance and pride. The issue in our own world is not that God is no longer calling people to Him but that many of us chose to see the world only from the perspective of our own opinions and desires and thus reject opportunities to serve God and His church because they do not meet our expectations. In my experience with parishes and retreats I have come across a number of people with good intentions who are ready to offer social criticisms against society and the church based on personal experience or political platforms and when they are challenged on some of the church’s social issues that do not fit their own opinions they can become defensive and sometime dismissive to the entire social teachings of the church rather than allowing themselves to being open to a broader social vision.

Just like Peter, Paul and Isaiah we too are called to serve God through our own baptism into the church. Vatican II reminds us of this in their document to the laity: “The laity derive the right and duty to the apostolate from their union with Christ the head; incorporated into Christ’s Mystical Body through Baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit through Confirmation, they are assigned to the apostolate by the Lord Himself.” Through the church and religious communities like our own opportunities exist for people to take part in promoting a greater social vision based on divine principles that make up the Church’s social teachings. These include such principles as the common good, solidarity, human dignity, preferential option for the poor and care for the integrity of creation. If we allow ourselves to be open to the possibilities of service then we will become aware of these opportunities that we are given to be at the service of God and His divine mission.

• Isaiah 62:1-5. Jerusalem will no longer be desolate and forsaken but will be overflowing with life. The Lord will address her as “My Delight” and her land will be called “Espoused.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. There are many gifts and ministries, but one and the same Spirit who accomplished each good action in everyone.
• John 2:1-12. The marriage feast of Cana where Jesus works the “first of his signs” and reveals his glory.

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

In the Gospel of John the first action of Jesus’ public ministry is recounted to us as the miracle that took place at the wedding feast in Cana. The account has a number of curious details, such as the odd interaction between Jesus and Mary his mother and the manner in which Jesus reluctantly conducts the miracle of turning the water into wine. But another detail which deserves our contemplative attention is that venue of the wedding itself. Indeed, if you consider the three readings that have been chosen for this Sunday, then this opening act by Jesus reveals a powerful symbol with regards to Jesus’ purpose.

In the realm of social institutions none is prioritized by the Church above the family unit. A marriage is considered the basic building block of society. In these readings however this prominent social unit is used to symbolize a divine relationship. In the mystery of the incarnation, Jesus embodies the intimate marriage of God with humanity. How appropriate for Jesus to begin engaging publicly at a wedding feast, thus placing this mystical marriage in the context of a conventional marriage.

Isaiah reflects on Jerusalem as a bride of the Lord. Paul does not specifically use the image of marriage but he certainly suggests an intimate union that exists with the Trinity (“One Spirit,” “one Lord,” “One God.”) From this intimate Divine union Paul integrates the human community as individuals who share in this mystical union and who obtains a unique gift that comes from the “One Spirit.”  

The readings ask that we contemplate the mystical union of God with humanity within our own social experience of marriage. Begin by considering your own marriage or one that you have experienced through your family and friends. Consider the love, passion and joy that this interaction brings about. Also consider the challenges, sacrifices and anguish that also has been part of this dynamic. Consider how love has both shaped and challenged those unions.

Then, as you hear these readings, consider the love that God has for all humanity. In the story of the life of Christ himself do we not see the joys and happiness that he brings to humanity as well as the suffering and challenge that his life also presents. Love is not only that warm fuzzy feeling that happens when a couple first lays eyes on each other. Love is all that happens when two are engaged in a mystical union. Love can also be that gut wrenching feeling when you feel betrayed or let down by the other. God’s love for humanity was experienced at the Christmas moment when Christ came into this world and was celebrated by Kings and shepherds alike. But Divine love was also experienced when Christ agonized on the Cross feeling betrayed and abandoned by even his closest friends.

As Christians we are called by Christ to live out this union of God and humanity but many times we may not know what this means. To talk about God’s love for us is to talk about a joyous social reality as well as a great social challenge. Those of us who are married may have considered some great and joyful possibilities before we entered into this union and chances are we may have also considered some theoretical challenges without really knowing what they were going to be like. In the end the only thing that could have prepared us for the joy and sufferings of marriage was the experience itself. In becoming a married couple the two individuals allow themselves to be shaped by a union that pushes and pulls them in all directions. If the couple allow themselves to be directed by a holistic love for each other then this union will be a great gift for their marriage and each other. We Christians are also called to engage with the greater society in a similar way. Ultimately, like Christ, we are called to love and serve one another. Perhaps the wisdom we experience from our own marriages can help us as we struggle to engage in this greater union.

• Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7. In his first song of the Suffering Servant within the prophecy of Isaiah, God summons his chosen one to bring forth justice to the nations, quietly, considerately.
• Acts 10:34-38. To instruct one of the first gentile converts, Peter began with Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist when he was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.
• Luke 3:15-16, 21-22. Luke’s account of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist and confirmation by the Holy Spirit.

Thoughts for your Reflection:  by John Gonzalez

The readings for today initiate the public ministry of Christ with the baptism by John the Baptist followed by the public confirmation of his union with God. The Gospel and second reading remind us of the historical beginning of Jesus’ public ministry while the first reading by the Prophet Isaiah functions as a “job description” for the Suffering Servant.

After having celebrated the Incarnation throughout the Advent and Christmas season we now take some time to contemplate what this mystery is about. Jesus’ ministry is the public example of what it means to live in God. By his teachings and example Jesus will consistently demonstrate what it truly means to be human. This will culminate with His Passion, Death and Resurrection. In our Christian theology, the ultimate expression of freedom for humanity occurs when it exists in the service of God and humanity. This week Isaiah provides a glance of what this expression looks like — which Jesus, who is the suffering servant, will exemplify, and which we are called to follow. 

According to Isaiah the suffering servant’s mission is to: “bring forth justice to the nations.” He is expected both to teach and establish justice. Verse 2 and 3 explain his methodology. He will not be a soapbox preacher or a shouting protestor. Instead he will be pastoral in his approach, “A bruised reed he shall not break.” In the language of the Church, the servant will be both “Mater et Magistra” (Mother and Teacher) in that on the one hand the servant will teach God’s justice by word and example (Magistra) but the servants’ methodology will be pastoral (Mater), and build up, rather than divide, the human community to embrace God’s justice. As we consider the public ministry of Jesus let us consider how he is our consistent teacher of God’s justice while he employs a pastoral and compassionate methodology. This is the example which we are called to live out.

In verse 7 and 8 Isaiah will describe what God’s justice will look like: “To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”  God’s justice is truth and hope. It is a truth and hope that will heal our broken humanity. It is a truth and hope that will physically liberate us from injustice and spiritually liberate us from an isolated and empty existence. Jesus, in his role as teacher, will expand on this later on in Luke’s gospel in his beatitudes (Luke 6:20-26) and in his discourse to the scholar of the law (Luke 10: 25-37) and the rich official (Luke 18: 18-23).

According to the prophesy of Isaiah and the life of Christ this interpretation of justice is at the heart of the Gospel. While the methodology of Jesus is compassionate and pastoral and our call to bring about God’s justice must also be compassionate we are not called to compromise the truth of God’s justice in any way. Any injustice that violates the integrity of human life and creation is an injustice that demands our gentle but firm reproach. Jesus was both pastoral and prophetic. A Christian is called to be both. To seek social justice is not an option for ministry. It is an essential element of our vocation and ministry. This was summed up very well in the 1971 Synod of Bishops when they declared that:

Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.

• Isaiah 50:5-9 – The servant is not ashamed, even though smeared with spittle; the servant teaches others by first being obedient to the Lord.
• James 2:14-18 – Faith that does nothing in practice is thoroughly lifeless.
• Mark 8:27-35 – After Peter confesses Jesus to be the Messiah, Jesus teaches the disciples the necessity to deny their very selves, take up the cross and follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

 Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

This week Isaiah and Mark will invite us to understand the image of Jesus as the suffering servant of God.  In both of these readings we are told about an apparent contradiction. Isaiah discussed the advent of one who serves God and who is empowered and gifted by God. Jesus, in discussion with his disciples, places himself and his deeds in the context of being the Messiah (the anointed one). This of course would tend to signify a person of great significance and power, certainly we get a sense that Jesus’ disciples think so and why not, how else shall we conceptualize the anointed one of God. And yet in both these reading Isaiah and Mark tell us that this significant figure will have to undergo great suffering, horrible treatment and an inglorious death. This is nothing less than a social contradiction.

After Peter identifies Jesus’ messianic identity he and the other disciples are shocked to learn about the horrific fate that awaits Jesus. This is all too much for Peter who goes on to rebuke Jesus and who in turn gets rebuked by Jesus for “setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” This reminds us of last week’s readings where we were invited to be healed by Christ from the limitations of our own social conditioning. Peter and the disciples expect the Messiah to vindicate and save Israel from its own corruption as well as its external oppression. They logically should expect that Jesus will have a glorious role to play as the long awaited Messiah. But here they are instructed to set their minds on divine things. This perspective is to understand the role of the Messiah as a socially tragic figure whose vindication is the reward of eternal life in communion with God the Father. This is the Kingdom that will await the disciples of Jesus, but for them to earn this they too must “take up their cross and follow me.”

We should take some time to marvel at what Peter and the disciples are witnessing here. As baptized members of this apostolic community we also should place ourselves in their footsteps as we consider these divine things. We should take some time to imagine that Jesus is also correcting us in considering our own social obligations as we consider what it means to take up our own cross and follow Him. As we consider the social dilemma that Peter and the apostles faced consider also their own state of shock and anxiety after the passion and death of Jesus. We are told that they were afraid and that they hid themselves in locked rooms. This has to be considered normal. They followed a great teacher and healer who they understood was the Son of God and this man was legitimately crucified by the social structures of the day. What we should marvel at is the historical fact that these disciples witnessed something amazing and supernatural. They witnessed something that gave them the strength and motivation to publically live an alternative lifestyle. The historical proof of the resurrection of Christ is not necessarily based in Sacred Scripture. Instead it is based on the amazing historical fact that a religious movement was born and grew from the most socially unlikely foundation: A healing teacher who was convicted and crucified as a criminal. The only way we can truly explain this is by trying to comprehend what these early disciples witnessed and experienced after the death of Jesus.  

This Kingdom of God may be of divine origin, but the purpose of Jesus was to bring the Kingdom of God here to Earth. This now becomes part of our own mandate in following Christ. In the second reading James reminds us that we are not allowed to spiritualize this message or to preach an other-wordly message. Jesus’ sacrifice came from the fact that he would not compromise the Kingdom of God to any socio-political system; he lived it obediently no matter what the cost. We are told to live out this Kingdom by being doers of justice, promoters of peace, and responsible stewards of God’s creation. While Matthew 25 offers a wonder image of social responsibility through the image of the last judgment this no-nonsense passage from James captures the message very succinctly and worthy of repetition here:

If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

I will not say more with regards to this passage, least I spiritualize the obvious.

• Isaiah 35:4-7 – God comes to open our blind eyes, to clear our deaf ears, to strengthen our lame legs, to turn the thirsting ground into springs of water.
• James 2:1-5 – Your faith must not allow favoritism. Did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith?
• Mark 7:31-37 – Jesus has done everything well! He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

This week’s readings invite us to embrace our limitations. The power of Jesus and the prophesy of Isaiah are not measured by social, political or economic dominance. Instead we are told that the Kingdom of God is manifested when the wounded members of the human community are made whole through the power of God. Through God the blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dumb will speak. For us to truly appreciate the meaning behind these two readings we need to move away from literal interpretation and ask, “Who is the blind person?” The 9^th Chapter (verse 39) of the Gospel of John will help us with the spiritual significance of these readings:

Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.

We humans are all limited. While we may see and hear we are limited by what we see and hear from the narrow perspective of our experience. This experience may cause us to place faith on our own political ideologies or financial abilities. Others will base their own perspective from their national or tribal allegiance while some may identify more with a certain social class. In this sense we all suffer from some kind of social blindness. None of us can claim to see or comprehend the Kingdom of God. If we choose to open ourselves to ways of God and Christ then we must first humble ourselves in accepting our own limitations. However we must also be open to the fact that this perspective is going to challenge us to serve all of God’s creation instead of ourselves. St. Paul of the Cross used the term “the greater good” in his spiritual writings to help us make the distinction between the self serving good that we tend to desire and the true but challenging good that comes from God.

How beautiful it is to suffer with Jesus… let us use every endeavor to seek holy perfection, humility, obedience, and, above all, a continual resignation to the Divine Good Pleasure. You think what is happening is opposed to your good; to the contrary, you should know these are designed by your loving Spouse for your greater good.   

Only in accepting the will of God and in serving God’s creation can we truly be made whole. Symbolically the blind and deaf were made whole by accepting the grace and power of God to preach the Good news in words and in deeds. All of us who suffer from some form of blindness need to humble ourselves to the Divine Will from which we can gain the true sight where we can begin to comprehend the greater good that serves God and all of creation.

The second reading from James reminds us of our social blindness. Social favoritism is as much an issue in today’s day and age as it was for the early Christian community. How many times do we not equate a favorable attitude to those who wield some form of social power and status while dismissing the panhandlers and beggars who confront us? I continue to be guilty of this social sin. The point is not to wallow in our own guilt but to reflect on this social reality and as much as we can we need to adjust our own personal attitudes and social positions to consider the wounded human community that have just as much God given dignity as we all have. It is for this reason that Catholic social teaching has raised the principle known as the “Preferential Option for the Poor.” The poor are a constant reminder to us that the greater good of society is not being met. We must prioritize the good of our own family and local community for which we have been given responsibility for. But we must never allow ourselves to be blind to the reality of the poor and marginalized in our midst.

These social lenses may challenge us to our very core, but as the readings remind us, this is where God comes in.

Saturday Vigil:

• Genesis 1:1–2:2
• Genesis 22:1-18
• Exodus 14:15–15:1
• Isaiah 54:5-14
• Isaiah 55:1-11
• Baruch 3:9-15, 32–4:4
• Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28
• Romans 6:3-11
• Luke 24:1-12

Easter Sunday:

• Acts 10:34a, 37-43
• Colossians 3:1-4  or  1 Corinthians 5:6b-8
• John 20:1-9 or Mark 16:1-7 or Luke 24:13-35

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

What are we to make of the significance of Easter Sunday? The Gospel of Mark sets the early tone for what took place. Women came to prepare the body when they witnessed an empty tomb. A series of unexplained events take place. An unknown young man informs them of the Resurrection causing the women to run away in fear and terror. The Gospel of John tells us that Peter and the favorite disciple also visit the empty tomb. According to Luke sometime after this Jesus begins to appear to Peter and the other disciples, including two who were walking to Emmaus.

A theologian once said that if you wanted to examine miracles you would not need to bother with Jesus walking on water, feeding of the five thousands or the numerous healing and exorcisms. Instead consider the greatest miracle which is that Christianity, perhaps the greatest religion on earth, began with the most unlikely event of a relatively unknown man being legitimately executed in a relatively obscure part of the world. By all worldly conditions this should not have happened. The only explanation being that the disciples must have witnessed something extraordinary in the person of Jesus.

For two thousand years we have explained this with the Easter event. Something powerful took place here. Not only did the disciples and the early Christian community witness Jesus who God brought back from the dead. They must have also received an amazing and divine understanding for the significance of what this event means for them and for the human community. We call this Pentecost.

This divine revelation is beyond history. The readings from Acts, Colossians and Corinthians all tell us that the significance of the Easter event was not only that Jesus was raised from the dead. We are called to witness and experience this resurrection ourselves. By the power of God Jesus was transformed back to life. We are called to live a transformed life through Christ. In Acts Peter becomes aware that this call is for everyone, since “God shows no partiality.” Paul tells the Colossians and Corinthians that they must reassess their lives to the priorities of God’s Kingdom over the priorities of our society. These are the priorities that Jesus preached:

• Reconciling the sinner
• Healing the sick
• Feeding the hungry
• Comforting the sorrowful
  
• Bringing to bear the Kingdom of God, A Kingdom that is built on the values of promoting peace, justice and the Integrity of Creation

This is the Resurrection we are called to witness. More than ever we need a spirit that will help and heal the death, violence, and injustice of the world. Peter in Acts reminds us that Jesus “… went about doing good and healing all those oppressed ….”   We are called to do the same.

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• When have your experienced the cycle of death & resurrection in your own ministry?

• Isaiah 52:13–53:12
• Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
• John 18:1–19:42

Quote:

Jesus’ death on the cross was a death in the cause of justice. He was executed because he challenged accepted values. He sided with the poor and the outcasts. He condemned oppressive structures. Jesus was a prophet and prophets meet strong opposition.

His cross reminds us that Christians must listen to the cries of the poor. We are in solidarity with those whom society may forget or even exploit. The cross is a sign of justice. To remind the world about the cross is to challenge the world for its injustice and neglect. Passionists are pledged to that challenge.
-Fr. Don Senior, CP

Thoughts for your consideration: By Fr. Ronan Newbold, CP

We are coming up to Good Friday, the day that we recognize the Passion, crucifixion and death of Jesus. Isaiah is the most dramatic in his horrible description of the physical wounds of the Servant of Yahweh. It is not a question of our compassion for Jesus anymore. Indeed, he was so beat up and battered that no one could recognize him. The terror and trauma that he experienced in his Passion and Death represents the greatest demonstration of God’s being with humanity in the face of evil.

What part of humanity is God with? Is it not in those who are beat up and battered today? Or could it be the earth that continues to take a beating from humans who are not aware of what they are doing. That is what we have to think about.

On this day, Good Friday, we bring all of our sufferings, our anxieties, and our worries to the Lord. There, in the Kedron valley, we walk with the Lord, Jesus. With our own sufferings in mind, we can look at the Lord and both of us can sense what is going on.

Our redemption did not take place through the construction of a new building, a new plan for fighting poverty, or from someone’s theory of justice in the world today. It took place through the cross of Christ. But Christ did not suffer and die for just me or for just a few people. He redeemed us all. And this redemption took place under the social injustice that Christ suffered in being executed by the governing social and religious powers of his time. Through the Cross our dignity has been reconciled with God the Father. Our redemption is to live and celebrate the dignity of all creation amidst the social and personal injustice that continues to compromise this message.

“We adore thee, O Christ, and we praise thee.

Because by thy holy Cross, thou hast redeemed the world.”

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• Who is experiencing the passion today?
• Share your list with others in the group.
• After you share your lists, make them the focus of your prayer.

• Gospel for the Procession of Palms: Mark 11:1-10 or John 12:12-16
• Isaiah 50:4-7
• Philippians 2:6-11
• Mark 14:1–15:47 or Mark 15:1-39

Thoughts for Your Consideration: by John Gonzalez, CPP

This week we celebrate Palm Sunday. As I read the lectionary readings I am struck by the following line from Paul’s letter to the Philippians: “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” This line raises a great paradox within the Christian faith. Through his relationship with God Jesus was very much aware of his great dignity, but this status does not translate into social greatness, rather it takes the humble form of slavery. This paradox works both ways, as can be seen in Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the suffering servant.  He tells us that even after countless abuses the servant of the Lord does not suffer disgrace since “the Lord God helps me.”

Recently I have been reflecting on a line from Galatians which demonstrates this paradox more clearly in associating two words that seem mutually exclusive, Freedom and Slavery. “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.” (Gal. 5:13)

What could this possibly mean: to be free so that we can be slaves to one another? To celebrate the dignity of our God given humanity by humbly serving the human community? Does this abolish the concepts of Human Rights which we as a nation have championed since the time of our American foundation; do we then ignore the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which our Church has championed through the Encyclical Pacem in Terris?

As Saint Paul the Apostle would reply “By no means.” By Christ’s resurrection the dignity of our humanity has been reconciled with God. This was the freedom and equality that Paul spoke of in Galatians and Philippians. In affirming this dignity we affirm the civil, political, economic and social rights that we inherent in our redeemed humanity. But our responsibility in affirming our own dignity is to serve the dignity of all humanity since we have all been redeemed by the Cross of Christ. Paul reminds us that because Christ Jesus “did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited” God and humanity are reconciled.

The Gospel reading is the Passion narrative according to Mark. At this point we will struggle with the difficult image of Christ’s unbearable suffering and again we are challenged to accept His dignity in the midst of this grave social injustice. Keep in mind the place of the centurion in the Passion narrative according to Mark. While Jesus’ passion and death may not be a socially acceptable display of divine dignity it does seem to touch the hearts of those who witness this event, so that a pagan centurion can look on Jesus dying on the Cross and silently say to himself “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

We are called to celebrate our own dignity by placing it at the service of God and humanity. In doing this we, as Americans, are not only being witnesses to the incarnation, we are also giving witness to the theological vision of our own Declaration of Independence. While we recognize the inalienable rights which are endowed to us by the Creator, we also recognize our responsibility to uphold each others’ dignity when we “mutually pledging to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• How do you reconcile the divine dignity of Jesus with the reality of His passion?
• Where do you find hope in the image of suffering servant? In the Passion of Jesus?
• Reflect on the Christian virtue of Freedom as discussed in the quotes and reflection above.
  • How are you challenged by this apparent paradox?
  • Consider people like Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and Mother Theresa. In what ways did these wonderful servants of humanity seem free?
  • Have you witnessed other men and women who have done great public service? How do there actions make you feel? What seems to be driving their actions?
• How do you see yourself as one sharing in the dignity and freedom of God? Based on this identity how do you address issues like, war, violence of all sorts, selfishness, failure, injustice, discrimination, poverty, etc.?