Gospel Reflection Mar 28 – Deacon Paul
Sunday, March 28
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
Mark 11: 1 – 10
At the Procession with Palms – Gospel:
When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem,
to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
he sent two of his disciples and said to them,
“Go into the village opposite you,
and immediately on entering it,
you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat.
Untie it and bring it here.
If anyone should say to you,
‘Why are you doing this?’ reply,
‘The Master has need of it
and will send it back here at once.’”
So they went off
and found a colt tethered at a gate outside on the street,
and they untied it.
Some of the bystanders said to them,
“What are you doing, untying the colt?”
They answered them just as Jesus had told them to,
and they permitted them to do it.
So they brought the colt to Jesus
and put their cloaks over it.
And he sat on it.
Many people spread their cloaks on the road,
and others spread leafy branches
that they had cut from the fields.
Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out:
“Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!
Hosanna in the highest!”
Gospel Reflection:
How quickly things can change!! That seems particularly true in our current times as we respond daily to the changing threat of the Coronavirus. But, as we reflect upon the events of Holy Week in Jesus’ day, we also recognize just how quickly things changed at that time as well.
Palm Sunday recalls the joyous arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem riding on the back of a colt with crowds of people waving their palm branches and shouting: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” And then in just a matter of a few days the very crowds who had welcomed Jesus to shouts of “Hosanna!” later shouted “Crucify him! Crucify him!” as our Lord stood before Pontius Pilate.
Palm Sunday is significant because it marks the beginning of Holy Week, that very important day when Jesus began His journey toward the cross. And we are to walk with Christ as He asks us to humbly offer ourselves in service to Him. This journey with Christ will not always be easy. As we each respond to Christ’s call to serve the Church, we will likely experience times when our feeling of victory and triumph are replaced with sacrifices that sometimes can seem too much to carry.
Friends, through the Lord’s one perfect sacrifice on Calvary is made present again at each celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice and victory, we are set free through Him. This is truly cause for us to rejoice and shout, “Hosanna!! Hosanna in the highest!”
-Deacon Paul Zemanek