Gospel Reflection for Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
Fr. Marc Reeves, S.J.
Associate Vice President for Mission and Ministry
On this final Sunday of Lent, as we celebrate Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, the church prepares to enter into the sacred time of Holy Week. It will be a most unusual Holy Week for all of us. We miss one another, and we hunger for the Eucharist. Yet, we must remain firm in faith, trusting that our loving and merciful God is as much at work in our lives and in our world now than ever before as we confront the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, there is so much scripture to read, to bring to prayer, and from which to draw nourishment. Allow me simply to focus my reflections on just two points drawn from Matthew’s passion narrative.
First, a small but lovely point. At the Last Supper with his disciples, when what we have come to call the words of institution of the Eucharist are remembered, Matthew’s Jesus adds to the earlier Markan version the simple words, “with you.” “I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.”
Jesus is, for Matthew, Emmanuel, God with us, and the entire Gospel begins and ends with this theme, from “they shall name him Emmanuel” (God is with you), in chapter one, to the final lines of the Gospel, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Planted right here in Passion Narrative are Jesus’ reassuring words, words each of us and our world need to hear at this moment and time. In the midst of the challenging circumstances of this global pandemic, we are reminded of Jesus’ promise once again. Yes, Jesus will always be with us; our God will always be with us.
My second theme is the dominant symbol of the Passion Narrative: the cross. Today the church gathers together, in spirit and by desire, to ponder the central mystery of salvation history revealed through the symbol of the cross. Together, we join Jesus on his journey through suffering and death on the cross to new life. What we see revealed on the cross is our God who became one of us in order to show us how to live. Jesus’ passion recounts the extent to which Jesus willingly offered himself, holding nothing back…he offered himself fully as gift for us.
The cross reveals a God who simply loves….
We have a savior who first offered himself for us and then continues to offer himself to us as an example to follow. Just as he emptied himself (kenosis) through his self-giving love on the cross for our sake, so too must we be willing to empty ourselves for the sake of others.
To follow Jesus in his suffering and death is to conform one’s life to him in such a radical way that this act of faith reshapes the entirety of life. The Lord pours himself out completely and unreservedly; his followers are to do the same. May it be so!
And now one final point (you knew I would add a third, didn’t you?), as we celebrate the Liturgy of the Word together today and throughout Holy Week, let us look forward to the day when we will once again rejoice, elbow-to-elbow around the table of the Lord, give each other the kiss of peace, and share the bread and drink again from the Lord's cup.
During our lockdown and social-distancing, let's commit ourselves to doing something spiritual, immediate and real. Let us pray each day in union with all our sisters and brothers, wherever they are, in our need, and thus draw closer to the Lord.
Have a blessed, prayerful and Spirit-filled Holy Week and celebration of Easter. Amen.