† Sunday, 1 April 2012
Cycle of Prayer — Candidates for the Sacraments, Wanderers and
Penitents
Keynote: The majesty of Jesus the King, and the journey of his royal people
Prophet Isaiah 50: 4-7
The disciples of Jesus see this passage as being fulfilled in Jesus, identifying the figure of the ‘suffering servant’ with the Lord, ‘for my part, I made no resistance, neither did I turn my back to those who struck me… I did not cover my face against insult and spittle’. Although the prophet Isaiah endured ridicule and suffering he can say, ‘The Lord comes to my help, so that I am untouched by the insults.’ This confident faith in God is in contrast to the psalm that follows.
Responsorial Psalm 21 (22) — The prayer of the Suffering Servant
Letter of Paul to the Philippians 2:
6-11
‘His state was divine, yet Christ Jesus did not cling to his equality with God…’ Scholars recognise this text as an early Christian hymn or song. Paul quotes the hymn in support of his invitation to the disciples that they should follow in the way of Jesus. The hymn speaks of that way, the abasement of Jesus, his humiliation, and then of his triumphant exaltation. ‘(He) emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave… being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death.’ The ‘obedience’ of Jesus ‘even to accepting death, death on a cross,’ brings triumph and resurrection, and, ‘God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names.’ So Jesus Christ is acclaimed as, ‘Lord to the glory of God the Father.’
Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark 14: 1- 15: 47
Mark with his attention to sharp details brings the events of the Passion alive. From the setting of the Last Supper meal with the disciples, through the betrayal and the arrest of Jesus in the garden outside the city, we follow Jesus into captivity, attend the trial before the Roman Governor, and then witness Jesus’ crucifixion, death and the sorrow of burial. ‘When the sixth hour came there was darkness over the whole land… and at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani — My God, my God, why have you, deserted me?” …But Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.’ Of the witnesses we are told: ‘The centurion, who was standing in front of him, had seen how he died, and he said, “In truth this man was a son of God.”’ Like the women mentioned at the end, Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Jesus, we can watch and ‘take note of where he is laid.’ For we must return later to wash the body and anoint the corpse for final burial.
© Peter J Harrison 2012
NOTE:
Sacred Triduum Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Great Vigil of Easter
Thursday, 5 April, Friday, 6 April and Saturday, 7/8 April 2012
There are
three elements in the liturgy on this day:
palms,
passion and
Eucharist.
The
procession with palms and other branches, by the clergy and people into the
church focuses on the events that mark the beginning of this
The Great Week. To witness the triumph
of Jesus’ entrance into the fabled City of Jerusalem, when the populace sang
their joyful ‘hosannas’ of welcome. But later, within hours, the passion story
unfolds, revealing the same crowd that shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Of this we are at the same time witnesses
and perpetrators.