March 20^th 2016. PALM SUNDAY

PROCESSIONAL GOSPEL Luke 19:28-40

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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PROCESSIONAL GOSPEL Luke 19:28-40

Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. Now when he was near Bethphage and Bethany, close by the Mount of Olives as it is called, he sent two of the disciples, telling them, ‘Go off to the village opposite, and as you enter it you will find a tethered colt that no one has yet ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” you are to say this, “The Master needs it”.’ The messengers went off and found everything just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owner said, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ and they answered, ‘The Master needs it’.

So they took the colt to Jesus, and throwing their garments over its back they helped Jesus on to it. As he moved off, people spread their cloaks in the road, and now, as he was approaching the downward slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole group of disciples joyfully began to praise God at the top of their voices for all the miracles they had seen. They cried out:

‘Blessings on the King who comes,
in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest heavens!’

Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Master, check your disciples’, but he answered, ‘I tell you, if these keep silence the stones will cry out’.

 The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The first reading gives a wonderful key for approaching the Gospel of the Passion of Jesus. The Prophet Isaiah recounts the story of the Suffering Servant. How does this servant manage to endure the incredible torment and abuse that he receives? Because every morning “he opens his ear to listen like a disciple”. Jesus does not enter the Passion like a superhero who overcomes everything with his own power! Rather, he enters as one in communion with his Father, one who trusts and is ever attentive to the Father, one who is absolutely convinced that the Father will come to his aid. For this reason, he can “set his face like flint for he knows that he will not be ashamed”. And this is the key for our own lives too. Even if we find ourselves in the greatest of difficulty and anguish, even then, especially then, we must remain in communion with the Father, trusting that “he will come to our aid”. We can “set our faces like flint for we know that we will not be put to shame”. Jesus empowers us to maintain this relationship with the Father. He has shown us how and he bestows his Spirit upon us to enable us to do it.

Jesus is one who listens to the Father with a disciple’s ear. By doing so, he is perfectly enabled to comfort and illuminate the downhearted
This Palm Sunday presents us with a complicated liturgy with much to reflect on. The processional Gospel recounts the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, whilst the readings during the Mass culminate in the wonderful, merciful account of the Passion from Luke. At the heart of this Gospel, Jesus says, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”, and to the Good Thief, “This day you will be with me in Paradise”. How can we approach our task of commenting on this Gospel? The first reading provides an interpretative key for the liturgy and is of extraordinary power. It consists in one of the hymns of the Suffering Servant found in the prophet Isaiah (chapter 50 in this case). The servant has a mission, and this mission is fulfilled perfectly and completely by the Lord Jesus in his Passion. “The Lord has given me a disciple’s tongue so that I may know how to speak to the downhearted”. But just what is a “disciple’s tongue”? A master’s tongue, presumably, is that of one who speaks with authority. But a disciple is one who is continually in the process of listening and absorbing. How wonderful it is to listen to one who speaks with humility, one who is aware even when they speak that they have still much to discover! The downhearted is the one who needs to be spoken to by one who has a disciple’s tongue. In other words, the downhearted has lost faith in the future and thinks that all is lost. But the disciple, by contrast, can say, “Look, there is much that we do not yet understand! Much that we have not yet seen!” Thus the disciple speaks as one who is filled with wonder and who is still learning. How hard it is to speak to the downhearted and instil in them hope and confidence! How does the Suffering Servant do it? The reading from Isaiah tells us: “Every morning I open my ear and listen as a disciple” (the phrase is repeated here again!) The Servant remains in a constant state of receptivity, he opens his ear and does not turn back, does not offer resistance: he offers his back to those who struck him and his face to those who tear at his beard. Because his ear is open, he can live in a state of tranquillity, without fleeing maltreatment. This passage truly describes what the Lord Jesus has done when he was rejected.

Even is his torment, Jesus remains in communion with the Father. This is the source of his life

When we are suffering and being maltreated by others, it is one thing to listen to the things that our tormentors are saying to us, and an entirely different thing to have our ears open to what the Lord wishes to say to us. Even in my torment, especially in my torment, God has something that he wishes to say to me. There is a narrative that he wishes to continue with me, even in this devastating moment. In fact, at the end of the reading we hear: “The Lord comes to my aid. For this reason I am untouched by the insults. I set my face like flint and I will not be ashamed”. The message for us is that we must live the negative and dramatic events of our lives together with the Lord. As the reading says, the Lord will come to our aid. In the Passion of our Lord this Sunday we will see how Jesus can endure the evil of humanity, the horror that is in our hearts, and he does so because he is not alone: he enters the Passion united to the Father. He does not play the hero who proclaims himself to be the strongest. No, he is the Servant who manages to set his face like flint only because the Lord God comes to his aid. In all of the terrible things that may happen to us, what counts is whether or not we remain united to God. How different it is to live as sons! To live united to the heavenly Father who will not allow us to be confused. He is the Father of light who illuminates all things. This capacity to live in union with the Father is not something that we are able to do by ourselves. Jesus has come to enable us to do it, to illuminate us, to give us his heart, to bestow his Spirit on the one who desires it. This Sunday of the Passion let us look to the heart of God, a heart of communion that does not cause division but prays for the very one who kills him. During the crucifixion, Jesus asks the Father to forgive his assailants. This demonstrates how he remains in communion with the Father throughout his agony. He does not allow that relationship to be broken, and this is the key to life.