Tag Archives: Palm Sunday

Parish Mission: New Brunswick, NJ

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This afternoon I begin a parish mission at St. Mary of Mount Virgin Church in New Brunswick, NJ, preaching at the Palm Sunday Masses  and conducting mission services till next Wednesday evening.

These days of Holy Week speak with “a well-trained tongue;”  We celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, remembering the days when Jesus was arrested, judged unjustly, scourged and crowned with thorns, led to a cross and was crucified.

“He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again,”

We take into our hands palm branches this Sunday, as those who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem did long ago. We listen to the story of his passion and death; they witnessed what happened to him long ago. They heard his call to faith as we do now. They promised to follow him, but the next days came. How many followed him then?

These are precious days when God’s graces are given and God calls again. The graces are given through Jesus Christ and his life-giving Cross; the call is made through his bruises and wounds and through his empty tomb.

Let us follow him, like those whom he invited into the supper room and received him in bread and wine. Like Simon of Cyrene, let us carry someone’s cross. Like the women who met him on the way, let us have compassion on those who are hurting or are in trouble. Let our hearts be open to the needs of our neighbor and the misery and hopes of our world. Like the thief, who called from his nearby cross, let us ask him for forgiveness. Like Joseph of Arimithea let us tend his body, like Mary his mother, let us hold him in our arms.  Like Mary Magdalen let us see him risen from the death; like Peter and James and John let us be enflamed with new dreams for our world.

From Monday to Wednesday, at 7 PM I will conduct of service of preaching and Benediction, followed by confessions.

The Passionists provide an excellent commentary on the gospel accounts of the Passion of Jesus and the devotions that arise from this mystery at Bread on the Waters. The commentary is by Fr.Donald Senior, CP. and can be found here.

Palm Sunday

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The liturgy, following the chronology of John’s gospel, records Jesus’ entering into Jerusalem, the Holy City, city of prophets and kings, site of God’s temple, just before Jesus’ passion and death.

Crowds excited by the news of Lazarus raised from the dead welcomed him. Some were natives of Jerusalem, some pilgrims for the Passover from other parts of the world, some his disciples now convinced of his extraordinary power. Most misunderstood him still.

“God save the Son of David!” they cried, casting coats and palm branches before him as he approached the city gates. They wanted a new David to breathe life into their nation. Wearing David’s mantle he could liberate them this Passover, the feast of Jewish liberation.

John’s gospel records that Jesus rejected the call to be their warrior king. Mounting a young donkey, he rode into Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy of Zephaniah: “Fear not, Daughter of Sion, your king is coming, mounted on a donkey’s colt.”

Not a fearsome warrior, he was the humble king the prophet described. In Jerusalem he would open his arms to the poor outcasts of the world..

“At the time his disciples did not understand this…” John concludes.

And do we yet understand,
Lord Jesus,
as the year go by
and we hear the story again?

Can a poor man on a donkey
dying like a slave
succeed?

We like success so much,
the kind you feel and touch
and put your hands on
right away.

What success
can anyone find
in a Cross?

Or is there success
in faithfulness?
When you can say:
“Your will be done!”
“Father, forgive them.”

Like the two from Emmaus
we hope for easy gain.
Come walk at our side,
and tell us what matters most,
O Lord.

5th Sunday of Lent

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Strengthening Signs John 12, 20-33

Our gospel today is part of the Palm Sunday event, when crowds acclaim Jesus by casting palm branches before him as he enter Jerusalem, crying “Hosanna to the Son of David.”

Jesus is troubled as he enters the city, as well may he be. “My soul is troubled now, yet what shall I say, “Father, save me from this hour. But it was for this hour I have come.”

It was a critical moment. Jerusalem’s religious establishment, resenting his words and actions, means to exterminate him. He has just raised Lazarus from the dead; his popularity grows; he could easily topple the uneasy balance at a volatile time and place.

As he enters Jerusalem a marked man, Jesus is given a sign to strengthen him, a very simple sign. Some Greeks approach Philip and Andrew and say, “We would like to see Jesus.” In their request and eagerness to meet him, Jesus sees the lasting fruitfulness of his mission on earth. “Like a grain of wheat I will fall to the ground and die,..”

The gospel of John is known for signs like this, signs that point to glory. They are signs that say it is not the end, but the beginning. The Greeks who come as Jesus approaches his death are like the Magi at his birth. They are people from afar and they are the first of many. People will come from the east and the west; they will come from centuries beyond his own. Like a grain of wheat, he falls to the ground and dies, but his life and his death bring much fruit .

Help us see signs like those you saw, Lord, signs so small they may be missed.

Yes, signs are there in our lives and especially as we struggle .

Sometimes it’s an outsider whom we never expected to help us at all.

Sometimes it’s something unexpected we never thought about before.

Sometimes it’s as small as Bread.

You are the God who works great wonders, but mostly you send us simple signs, words, people, things that seem like nothing but they tell us all will be well.