Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR B PASSION SUNDAY - 9.4.06 Is 50,4-7; Phil 2,6-11; Mk 14,1-15,47 From Cross to Glory A
week packed with symbols. We call
it “Holy Week’ & it goes from Palm Sunday to Easter Day. It celebrates the central event of
Christianity, the ‘wonderful deal’ of our faith, our ‘Redemption’, highlighting the
point that we were purchased at a very costly price. Holy Week re-enacts the last days of
Our Lord on earth, up to his Passion - Cross - Death & Resurrection. We
Christians, world-wide, are invited to stop & ponder: over the centuries a
rich variety of symbols have fired the imagination of artists & scholars,
saints & devotees. Palm Sunday starts with a solemn procession in the
Church, where people carry & wave palm & olive branches, singing ‘Hosanna’
to our Redeemer. For today & for Good Friday, the Liturgical Colour is Red
(meanwhile all statues are covered), to help everyone
to focus on the “Blood” aspect of Jesus’ sufferings. During Holy Week,
schools & Church Sodalities will dedicate work & talent to re-enact a
“Passion Play”, while all the assembled community plays an active role in
it. The same participation is achieved, as Christ’s “Passion” is
proclaimed at the Liturgy of Palm Sunday & Good Friday. In our time, no
“Passion Play” has touched human emotions world-wide, more than the one
staged by our own Mel Gibson: “Passion of the Christ”. Holy Week is
celebrated as one on-going event, from betrayal to burial: let’s be in it. We
start with an extraordinary gesture: Mary Magdalene, ever so affectionately, anoints
the feet of Jesus, then we move to the shocking details of Jesus’ betrayal
by Judas, then we ponder on Jesus’ deepest feelings when he washed the feet
of his disciples, giving them & us the command to love one another, &
finally we pray for inner healing at the Mass for Holy Oils & Chrism A Triduum of Lamentation & Tenebrae.
However, the distinctive feature of Holy Week is the Triduum: Holy Thursday,
Good Friday & Holy Saturday: 3 days of grieving & wailing for Our
Lord’s Death: a most tragic & cruel crime. For 3 days we walk with Jesus
along his journey of suffering, vilification & death, as He willingly died
for us. Some people will be fortunate to go as pilgrims to Jerusalem & walk
his sorrowful way - the ‘Via Dolorosa’-, which leads to the Hill of Calvary.
Millions of other people, including ourselves, will make our own “Stations of
the Cross” in a Church or on Church grounds or at some special assembly.
However we do it, we are invited to turn aside from our ordinary way, & walk
with Jesus on his great journey of suffering & salvation, The “3 Days”
are sacred time, when we create space in our life, to recall our Christian past,
& link our own journey of life with that of Jesus, & with that of those
loving people who nurtured our faith & walked the Christian way along with
us. Let’s remember & give thanks for the great moments of faith in our
life... Older people have fond memories of the “Stations of the Cross” at
Campbelltown or at other sacred places in Australia or overseas. It’s always
rewarding to link with our family beginnings & family memories: let’s
recall the ‘Tenebrae’ as dirges & lamentations, the sombre processions
& the funeral marches, the 3 hours of agony - Mary as Our Lady of Dolours or
as “Pieta’” - Calvary as the place of the skull and 3 crosses - the many
sacred Icons representing the Crucifixion -
& the great vision of Emperor Constantine: He saw a huge cross in the
clouds, & under it the writing: ‘In this Sign you shall be victorious’
(en to onoma, Nika). Holy Week is the centre of our faith: fortunate are we if
we enrich our life with the staunch faith of our ancestors. Their prayer for us
will never go astray. ______________________________________ |
