A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 7, n. 19)
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Year B – April 5, 2009
“He Humbled Himself Obedient Unto Death”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 50:4-7 // Phil 2:6-11 // Mk 14:1-15:47
(N.B. Series 7 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year B from the perspective of the Second Reading. For other reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year B, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US and open Series 1 & 4.)
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
On this Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we celebrate the triumphant entry of the Messiah into Jerusalem as well as the saving events that resulted from it. We contemplate Jesus who was greeted with cries of “Hosanna” by an ecstatic crowd waving palm leaves and green branches. But the triumphant welcome was a prelude to the passion of the Christ. We could sense something foreboding in the “Hosannas” of the fickle crowd. The messianic entry into Jerusalem gave a foretaste of his paschal victory and glorification as the Risen Lord, but first the Christ needed to undergo his passion. In the Holy Week liturgy, we are confronted with the harsh conditions of his victory: per crucem ad lucem – through the cross to the light of glory. Today we are to delve more deeply into the mystery of the self-abasement that leads to healing, wholeness and salvation.
The Second Reading of today’s Mass (Phil 2:6-11), an ancient Christian hymn filled with beauty and laden with meaning, is a summary of the life of Jesus, especially of the Paschal Mystery. As “the Gospel in a nutshell”, it inspires us to imitate our noble model: to be selfless, humble, obedient and victorious like him. Furthermore, it reinforces our discipleship by asserting that in Jesus we have the strength to suffer. In uniting ourselves with his passion and obedient suffering, we receive the power to do as he did – all the way.
Harold Buetow comments: “The hymn traces the movement of the Son of God from heaven to earth and back to his Father: his existence before all time, his incarnation, his ministry, and his passion, death, resurrection and ascension. The hymn begins (v. 6) by invoking faith in Jesus’ identity. Though Jesus was divine, this was nothing he exploited. It was concealed throughout his mortal life. He did not stand on his dignity. In becoming man, Jesus divested himself, not of his divinity, but of the status of divine glory that was correctly his. Not only did he become a real man, but proffered himself without any exceptional privileges. More, he assumed the role of a servant. It all now comes to a climax: he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross (v. 5). This was the greatest expression of the hallmarks of Jesus’ life, which were humility and self-renunciation.”
The “obedience unto death” of Jesus Christ was the lowest depth of his humiliation. His utter self-giving on the cross, however, was life-giving and led to his greatest glory. The final redemption of humankind and creation was achieved by the passion and death of Jesus on the cross. From the total abnegation that was his sacrificial death, the movement progressed upward – to his exaltation as Lord of heaven and earth. As he did with Jesus, God the Father will also raise to the loftiest height all who humble themselves and participate in his beloved Son’s obedient suffering and supreme self-emptying on the cross.
Harold Buetow exhorts: “Let us try to grow into a new person by imitating the example of our life-giving Savior who, though he lives in heaven, has nowhere on earth to lay his head; who, though he will return in the clouds, entered Jerusalem on a donkey; who, though he gives life to all creations, gave himself up to be killed on a cross; who, though angels serve him, serves us; and who, though he was rich, emptied himself (kenosis) and made himself a poor slave.”
The mystery of Christ’s self-emptying and obedient suffering lives on in the Church today. The passion of Christ continues to be the passion of the Church and of every Christian disciple. The recent martyrdom of Fr. Thomas Pandippall, a Carmelite of Mary Immaculate priest from India, is an example. He was brutally murdered on August 16, 2008, on his way from a mission in Burgida, Andhra Pradish, by a group of Hindu extremists who broke his hands and legs, tore out his eyes, beat him with sticks and stabbed him repeatedly (cf. “Catholic Martyrs a Daily Reality” in L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO, September 3, 2008, p. 5-6). Archbishop Joji Marampudi, Secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Andhra Pradesh, gave the following statements in an interview granted to L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO journalist, Roberto Sgaramella:
They killed Fr. Thomas for three reasons: because he was a religious, because he was a Christian and because he was charitable to the poor. His attackers were waiting for him on his way home from one of our missions in Burgida. He was probably waylaid at about 10:00 o’clock in the evening, not far from the village of Bellampally, an area unfortunately known for acts of violence perpetrated there by groups of Hindu fanatics. They stopped him while he was returning on his motorcycle and clubbed him with sticks. They then ferociously slashed his body with knives. I myself went there the following morning and saw his blood mingled with the dust. I saw the mess they had made of his body.
He was killed because Catholic missionaries take the side of the poor in this region where, in fact, a rigid form of slavery still exists, linked to farming the land. The landowners do not recognize that the peasants have any rights and use bands of Hindu fanatics to thwart anyone who attempts to improve the standard of living of the rural population. (…)
To be a Christian and, in particular, a Catholic, is a very courageous choice, but a choice that puts one’s own life and that of one’s relatives at risk … I would like to call the authorities’ attention to our men and women missionaries. Various groups of Sisters work constantly for the needy in relatively isolated localities where there are absolutely no policemen. They work at a serious risk to themselves. They work for children and the elderly. They help mothers and the sick. They organize classes for illiterate youth. They work trusting in God’s protection alone. They do their utmost to help their neighbor and thereby bear witness to the Gospel. I am thinking of these absolutely heroic missionary Sisters. I am thinking of the missionary priests who never fail to go to the help of the lowly as, precisely Fr. Thomas. I am thinking of our little Church of Hyderabad. It is a small Church because of the number of the faithful but certainly large from the point of view of their heroism – heroism because of their constant witness to faith in God and in the Gospel.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Do I follow Jesus and accompany him in his entry into Jerusalem, the city that honors him with cries of “Hosanna” and ironically, the same city that cries out, “Crucify him”?
How does the Church participate in the life-giving sacrifice of Jesus? How do I live out the passion of Christ today?
Do I pray for the grace to be deeply united with Christ who humbled himself and was obedient to the point of death on the cross? How do I express his humble and obedient stance in my daily life?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for the salvation that flowed forth
from the passion of your Servant-Son Jesus Christ.
Help us to participate fully
in his sacrificial offering on the cross
so that we may experience joyfully the Easter victory.
Enable us to render our eternal praise to Jesus Lord.
Help us to sing our joyful “Hosannas” to him,
now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.” (Phil 2:8)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray for a salutary celebration of the Holy Week, especially the Easter Triduum of the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. By your humble and obedient stance to the will of God and by your generous service to the poor, vulnerable, and persecuted, enable the light of the Easter mystery to shine in your life.
ACTION PLAN: To help us contemplate the passion of Christ with greater awe and wonder, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR: A Weekly Pastoral Tool (Year B, vol. 5, # 19).
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
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Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US