A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 4, n. 20)
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Year B – April 9, 2006
“The Passion of Christ and the Covenant”
BIBLE READINGS
Mk 11:1-10 or Jn 12:12-16 // Is 50:4-7 // Phil 2:6-11 // Mk 14:1-15:47
N.B. This new series of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY presents a biblico-liturgical study of the Old Testament reading of each Sunday Mass to serve as background for a better understanding of the Gospel proclaimed in the liturgy. For a biblico-liturgical study of the Gospel for each Sunday, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US.
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
Last Sunday, I viewed for the second time the deeply inspiring movie, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, based on Harper Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning novel. In a racially divided small Southern town tinged with prejudice, the figure of the widowed attorney Atticus Finch, portrayed excellently by Gregory Peck, looms as a powerful testament of courage, morality and commitment to the cause of justice and right. One of the most powerful scenes in the movie for me was when Atticus, accompanied by his nine-year old son Jem, drove to the family of his defendant, Tom Robinson, a young black man falsely convicted of rape. Atticus was to break the terrible news to Helen that her husband Tom was shot and fatally wounded by the sheriff when the desperate Tom tried to escape. Mr. Ewell, a wretched alcoholic and the violently abusive father of Mayella, the white girl who wrongly brought Tom Robinson to court, then appeared in the scene. He drunkenly confronted Atticus whom he despised as a “Nigger lover”. Spitefully glaring at the handsome and tall Atticus and leering at him with hate, he then spat on his face. Time seemed to freeze as Atticus steeled himself and “set his face like flint”. The young boy Jem witnessed as his father calmly wiped away the spit from his face with a white handkerchief and walked away with strength and dignity. At that moment, while the boy saw the ugly face of evil in this world, he also perceived the heroic stance of a courageous man in the face of horrendous indignity. The moral strength of Atticus evokes the noble figure of the Suffering Servant in the Old Testament reading (cf. Is 50:4-7) and that of Jesus Christ in his glorious passion (cf. Mk 14:1-15:47).
The passion narrative that is proclaimed on this Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion delineates the features of Jesus as the Suffering Servant most incisively. The evangelist Mark recounts an episode in which Jesus was tormented with insults and indignities: “The soldiers clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him” (Mk 15:17-21). As the Church – the people of the New Covenant – contemplates this and other episodes of the Lord’s Passion, we realize more and more that the glorious passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is for the sake of the Covenant. We are overwhelmed by the love of Christ who had sacrificed every fiber of his being in fidelity to the Father’s covenantal love and saving design for us.
The breadth, depth and height of the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ by his passion, death and glorification can be gleaned more effectively when we take into account the Third Song of the Suffering Servant, which is contained in this Sunday’s Old Testament Reading (Is 50:4-7). The Third Servant Song introduces the mysterious figure of the Suffering Servant as one deeply receptive and obedient to the word of God, the source of salvation: “The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will arouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear” (v. 4-5). The Servant must first be a disciple who listens and interiorizes God’s saving Word before he can speak the saving word that would sustain and give strength to the weary. Deeply rooted in the saving word of Yahweh, the Servant is able to submit himself humbly to afflictions and to face the cruelty and ignominy of adversity: “And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting” (v. 5-6). Trusting resolutely in divine help, the Servant avows that he would be vindicated. He would not be disgraced, but rather prevail over persecutions and trials: “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame” (v. 7).
The Old Testament portrait of the Servant as a faithful disciple and the obedient suffering one enhances the sacrificial and victorious character of Jesus, who willingly undergoes the brutal pain of the redeeming passion. Like the Suffering Servant, Jesus – the Servant-Son of Yahweh - was deeply attentive to the divine saving word and redeeming plan; but he surpassed the Old Testament figure, for Jesus was himself the incarnate and redeeming Word of God. Like the Suffering Servant, Jesus was struck by violent blows, spat upon, and mocked; but he exceeded the Old Testament model for Jesus perfected the divine redeeming plan through the way of the cross and by his death on the cross. Like the Suffering Servant, with unflinching courage Jesus confided in the saving help of God; but he excelled over the Old Testament prophetic personage for Jesus, in his kenosis and self-emptying, was vindicated by the Father. God raised him to life and exalted him to glory, and made him the head of the People of the New and Everlasting Covenant. The ancient hymn of the Church, as reported by St. Paul, acclaims: “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11).
On this Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, in which we celebrate Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as the initial phase of his painful ascent to his redeeming sacrifice on Mount Calvary, we – as Church - likewise actualize our inmost and total participation in this saving event. We celebrate the mystery of God’s love that triumphs over sin, evil and death. Moreover, we are invited to contemplate the face of the obedient Suffering Jesus, the Servant-Son, and enjoined to be like him. According to the biblical scholar, Eugene Maly: “We are asked to see in Jesus a model for obedient suffering. This is what Passion Sunday tells us. But more profoundly it tells us that in Jesus we have the strength to suffer. In accepting him we accept the power to do as he did – all the way.”
PERSONAL REFLECTION
By Fr. Mario Giachino SSP, Los Angeles, CA-U.S.A.
The Passion of Christ Continues: “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Church repeats these words of joy and hope today as they resounded at the entrance to Jerusalem while Jesus approached the Holy City.
The Church in her liturgy of this Passion (Palm) Sunday lives anew the joy and hope that accompanied the arrival of Jesus to Jerusalem.
He came as a pilgrim to the Feast of Passover along with a multitude of other pilgrims. He was also entering Jerusalem to meet his death – a dreadful death of ignominy and pain. But at the moment of his entry he was welcomed as a king, surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd who welcomed him.
Our Church receives their enthusiasm as she begins the liturgy today. Later the liturgy will turn our attention to the death of Jesus by the reading of his passion. But this Passion (Palm) Sunday always opens Holy Week with shouts of joy and hope. The waving of palms and the joyful music may somewhat distract us from later listening to the readings of the Passion of our Savior. There is the danger of seeing the events as folklore, not listening, not appreciating seriously what we celebrate, not carrying our cross along with Jesus, but continuing a mediocre existence of lukewarm Christianity.
Jesus identified himself with the poor and weak, and his passion continues today in the downtrodden. Therefore, to be true to Jesus we must try to see him in all those who suffer. We must also be willing to share in the drama of his passion by carrying our crosses patiently. If we are satisfied in being simply his spectators, we shall betray the very meaning of his gospel. If we are not willing to carry our crosses, we shall be imposing them on others.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What sentiments are evoked in us by the figure of the Suffering Servant who declared: “My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting … knowing that I shall not be put to shame”? What lessons can we draw from his non-violence and utmost trust in God? Do we look to Jesus Christ as the true Suffering Servant and imitate his covenantal fidelity to the Father’s saving will?
B. Have we experienced being the “Suffering Servant”? What were the painful and life-giving aspects of our kenotic experiences? Did we call upon our God to help us? Did we really trust in his saving help? Have we tried to live the non-violence of the Suffering Servant?
C. Are we ready to participate fully in the paschal mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection? Are we willing to undergo his glorious passion for the sake of the New and Eternal Covenant? What do we offer, personally and as a community, to delve more deeply into the meaning of today’s liturgical feast: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Refrain: The Lord God is my help; therefore I am not disgraced.
I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
1. My adversaries clothed me in purple and wove a crown of thorns for me. (R.)
2. They kept striking my head with a reed. They kept spitting upon me. (R.)
3. They had mocked me. They stripped me of my robe. They crucified me. (R.)
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“The Lord God is my help; therefore I am not disgraced. I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” (Is 50:7)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray for those who participate more intensely in the painful trials of the passion of Christ. Pray for those who suffer and are persecuted on account of their service to truth and, likewise, for those who promote the transforming power of the Gospel in today’s world, that they may have the courage and grace they need for their ministry. Imitate the non-violence stance of Jesus, the true Suffering Servant, whenever confronted with humiliation and indignity in daily life.
B. ACTION PLAN: To deepen our participation in the passion of Christ and discover its redemptive meaning and personal challenge, 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 (Vol. 2, n. 20): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
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Website: WWW.PDDM.US