Commentary – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
March 29, 2015
First Reading – Isaiah 50.4-7
The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
Commentary
ISRAEL, GOD’S SERVANT
Each year we read this amazing passage from a section of the book of Isaiah that we know as the “Servant Songs”. These are of particular interest to Christians for two reasons: first, because of the message that Isaiah gives to his contemporaries; and secondly, because the early Christians applied these Servant Songs to Jesus Christ.
I shall begin with Isaiah’s message to his contemporaries. One thing is certain: Isaiah was obviously not thinking about Jesus Christ when he wrote this, probably in the 6th century BC, during the Babylonian Exile; the conditions in which the exiles find themselves are very harsh; fearing that they may become discouraged, Isaiah reminds them that they are still God’s servant; and that as God’s servant God counts on them to achieve his plan of salvation for humanity. They are indeed God’s servant - nourished each morning by God’s Word and persecuted because of their faith in it, yet still holding on despite hardships.
In this text, Isaiah describes the extraordinary relationship that unites the servant (Israel) to God. At its core is the capacity to listen to God’s Word: “he opens my ear,” says Isaiah. To listen to the Word, to be taught by it, means to live in trust so that one may be trained to speak like a disciple.
To listen has a unique significance in the Bible: it means to trust. We typically think in terms of two opposing attitudes: on the one hand, confidence in God and serene abandonment to God’s will because we know from experience that God wants our good; and on the other hand, suspicion of God’s intentions followed by rebellion when trials come our way, a rebellion that can lead us to believe that God has abandoned us, or worse, that God finds satisfaction in our suffering. But the prophets repeatedly entreat the people to trust God no matter what happens: they say, “Hear, O Israel” or, “if today you hear God’s voice”; and in their mouth “to hear” always means to trust God always and in all things. St. Paul explains why: it is because “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God” (Romans 8.28). From every evil, out of every difficulty and trial, God brings forth good. God counters hatred with a stronger love, persecution with the power of forgiveness, and death with life and with resurrection.
The servant’s relationship with God is one of mutual trust. God has confidence in the servant to whom God has entrusted a mission; in return the servant confidently accepts the mission. And it is this mutual trust that gives the servant the necessary strength to stand firm even in the face of inevitable opposition. The mission is one of witness: “that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them,” says the servant. The Lord provides the necessary strength for the mission as well as the right words: “The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue.” God also provides the confidence to boldly witness to others: “He opens my ear,” indicates that listening (in the biblical sense of trusting) is itself a gift from God. Everything is gift: the mission and also the strength and the confidence that makes one unwavering in one’s mission. It is characteristic of the believer to recognize everything as a gift from God.
HOLDING FAST IN TIMES OF TROUBLE
Whoever lives in this permanent giftedness from God is ready to face anything: “I have not rebelled, have not turned back.” Fidelity to the mission entrusted inevitably brings persecution: true prophets, that is to say those who actually speak the word of God, are rarely appreciated in their lifetime. And so Isaiah warns his contemporaries: hold on tight, the Lord has not abandoned you; on the contrary, God has entrusted you with a mission; so do not be surprised if you are mistreated. Why? Because the servant who truly "listens" to the Word of God, who concretely lives it, quickly becomes discomfiting to others. Out of own conversion he calls others to conversion. Some hear the call ... others reject it and turn against the servant. Each morning, the servant must renew his strength at the foot of the One who enables him to face whatever comes: “Morning after morning he opens my ear ... The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced...” And here Isaiah uses a typically Hebrew expression: “I have set my face like flint”*: it expresses resolve and courage. We sometimes say of a distraught person that his “face fell”; well here the servant says, “you won’t see me with a fallen face; nothing will crush me, I will hold on no matter what happens.” This confidence is not a prideful boast; it comes from knowing the source of his strength: “The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced...”
I said at the beginning that the prophet Isaiah was addressing his humiliated and persecuted contemporaries in exile in Babylon; but, of course, when one reads the Passion of Christ, it is obvious that Christ perfectly embodies this image of the servant of God: an open ear to God’s Word, an unshakable confidence that brings with it the certainty of victory in the midst of persecution, all this characterized Jesus as the crowds cheered him on in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, thereby precipitating his fateful end.
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*Luke uses this exact phrase when speaking of Jesus: “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9. 51).
Responsorial Psalm – 22.8-9, 17, 19-20, 23-24
R/ My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
All who see me scoff at me;
they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, if he loves him.”
R/My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Indeed, many dogs surround me,
a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
They have pierced my hands and my feet;
I can count all my bones.
R/My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
They divide my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far from me;
O my help, hasten to aid me.
R/My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
R/My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Commentary
FROM A CRY OF DISTRESS TO PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
Psalm 22 holds a few surprises. First surprise: It begins with the well-known phrase “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” - a phrase over which has been poured much ink and many musical notes! Unfortunately, we have taken this phrase out of its context, and as a result it is sometimes misinterpreted. In order to understand this phrase, we must read the entire psalm. It is fairly long: 32 verses, yet we rarely read the final verses. What does the psalm say? It is an act of thanksgiving: “…you have rescued me.
I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.” He who cried out, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” in the first verse, gives thanks a few verses later for the salvation granted. Not only is he not dead, he is giving thanks to God for not abandoning him!
Second surprise: At first sight, we might think that Psalm 22 was written about Jesus Christ: “They have pierced my hands and feet; I can count all my bones.” Indeed this describes the agony of a man crucified under the cruel eyes of his executioners and perhaps even of curious onlookers: “Indeed, many dogs surround me, a pack of evildoers closes in upon me… They stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.”
But in reality, this psalm was not written about Jesus Christ; it was composed after the people’s return from the Babylonian exile. This return is compared to the resurrection of a man condemned to death - because the exile was indeed the death sentence of the people of Israel; they were close to being wiped off the map!
And so, in this Psalm, Israel is compared to a condemned man who nearly dies on the cross (the cross was a very common form of punishment which explains why the example of crucifixion is used); the offender has suffered insults, humiliation, the piercing of nails, abandonment in the hands of executioners ... and then, miraculously, he has escaped, he is not dead. Translate: ‘Israel has returned from exile’. And now he abandons himself to his joy and shouts it to everyone; his cries of joy are louder than his cries of distress. The crucifixion is not central to the psalm; its purpose is to showcase the thanksgiving prayer of the one (Israel) who has just escaped from the horror of the exile.
From the midst of its distress, Israel has never ceased to call for help nor did it ever doubt that God was listening. Its well-known loud cry: "My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?" is a cry of distress before God's silence, but it is not a cry of despair, much less a cry of doubt. Quite the contrary! It is the prayer of the one who dares to shout out his suffering. Incidentally, this sheds light on our own prayer when we are suffering: we have the right to scream; the Bible invites us to do so.
This psalm then, is Israel’s thanksgiving song for its return from exile. Israel recalls its suffering, its anguish, and God’s apparent silence; it had thought itself abandoned in the hands of its enemies ... but continued to pray nevertheless, which proves that the people had not completely lost hope! Throughout its exile Israel never forgot the covenant and all of God’s blessings.
PSALM 22: AN EX-VOTO
Basically, this psalm is the equivalent of our ex-voto: during times of great danger, we pray and make a vow: “if I come out of this, I will offer a votive offering to such or such a saint” (The word “ex-voto” means “following a vow”). Once our prayer has been answered, we keep our promise. In certain churches in the south of France, for example, the walls are covered with paintings depicting dangers escaped – perhaps from a fire, an accident or a shipwreck ... perhaps it is a young woman dying in childbirth with many young children at her bedside. The potential danger is always depicted dramatically; there are parents and relatives sobbing helplessly; they are usually the ones who requested the painting, fulfilling a promise made while the loved one was still in danger. In general, the painting is divided into three sections: the danger encountered, the family and relatives in prayer, and at the top of the canvas, in a corner of the sky, the saint or the Virgin who came to their assistance. This painting with its various scenes is the ex-voto - the expression of thanksgiving welling up in the hearts of those for whom all ended well.
Psalm 22 is exactly like that: it paints the horror of the exile, the distress of the people of Israel and of Jerusalem under siege by Nebuchadnezzar, and the sense of helplessness in this time of trial caused by none other than the hatred of men. The people pray in supplication: “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” which can be translated as “Why, to what end, have you abandoned me to the hatred of my enemies?” God knows the many times that the people of Israel faced the hatred of men. But this psalm, just like our ex-votos, goes beyond this: it is also the thanksgiving prayer of someone who acknowledges that he owes his salvation to God alone. “But you, O LORD, be not far from me… I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you: You who fear the LORD, praise him!” The final verses of the psalm are an expression of praise and gratitude. Unfortunately, we do not sing them for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion ... perhaps because we are supposed to know them by heart: “The poor will eat their fill; those who seek the LORD will offer praise. May your hearts enjoy life forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of nations will bow low before him… And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.”
Second Reading – Philipians 2.6-11
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Commentary
JESUS, SERVANT OF GOD
During the Babylonian exile in 6 BC, the prophet Isaiah, speaking on behalf of God, had assigned a mission and a title to his contemporaries: the title of servant of God, and the mission of remaining faithful to the faith of their ancestors in the midst of hardship and to witness to that faith to the pagan Babylonians, even under persecution and humiliation.
The early Christians, faced with the scandal of the cross, meditated on the mystery of Christ’s own destiny and found in the following words the best explanation: “he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” He too faced opposition, humiliation and persecution, yet his strength also came from his Father in whom he always trusted.
You may interject that since he is God why did he not seek the glory and the honor that are rightfully God’s? Precisely because he is God, and being God he wants to save humanity. Therefore, it is as a human being and only as a human being that he tries to show humanity the way. Paul says, “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God.” It is precisely because he is in the form of God that Jesus Christ claims nothing; he knows the meaning of love freely given; he knows that an attitude of entitlement serves no one and so he does not regard equality with God as his right... And yet this is exactly what God wants to give us! But to give as Gift, which is what Jesus receives in the end. *
To give as Gift and not as a reward: because it is tempting to read this text in terms of our human idea of reward - as if the pattern went like this: Jesus behaved admirably and therefore he received a wonderful reward! If I speak of temptation it is because any presentation of God's benevolent plan in terms of calculation, of reward, of merit is contrary to God’s free grace. As its name suggests, grace is gratuitous! Oddly enough, it is difficult for us to think in terms of gratuity; we are always tempted to talk about merits; but if God waited for us to produce merits, then we would have reason to worry... The wonder of God's love is that it does not wait for us to merit it; this in any case is what the people of the Bible discovered through Revelation. When we forget that everything is Gift from God our theology suffers.
GOD’S BENEVOLENT PLAN IS GRATUITOUS
For Paul, this is obvious. To summarize Paul's thought, God's benevolent plan is to invite us into God’s intimacy, happiness and perfect love: all this is absolutely free, which is not surprising, since it is a project of love. Our part is simply to accept with wonder and awe this gift of God, this entry in divine life; there is no room for merit here since it is a gift freely offered. With God, everything is gift. But we exclude ourselves from this free gift if we adopt an attitude of entitlement, if we behave like the woman in the Garden of Eden: she takes the forbidden fruit, she takes it like a demanding child in a toy store ... Jesus Christ, on the contrary, was totally receptive (what St. Paul calls ‘obedient’), and because he was open to accepting the gift of God and did not claim it as his own, this gift was given him to the full. Our task is to follow in the way that he has shown us.
Jesus receives the name that is above every other name: the name of God! To say that Jesus is Lord is to say that he is God. In the Old Testament, the title ‘Lord’ was reserved for God – as was the act of genuflecting. “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bend” is a reference to a phrase from the prophet Isaiah: “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear, says God” (Is 45.23).
Jesus lived his human life in humility and trust, even when faced with the worst, that is to say, with human hatred and death. I used the word ‘trust’ whereas Paul speaks of ‘obedience’. To obey, ‘ob-audire’ in Latin, literally means to put one’s ear (audire) to (ob) the spoken word: it is the attitude of truly open dialogue, of total trust. If you put your ear to the word it is because you know that word is love; you can hear it without fear.
The hymn ends with “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father”: the glory referred to here is the manifestation, the revelation of infinite love; it is love personified. When we witness Christ loving without bounds, even to the point of accepting death to show us the extent of God’s love, we can say with the centurion, “Yes, truly, this one is the Son of God”... because God is love.
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*This receptivity is also at the heart of the story of Christ’s temptations in the desert (which we read the first Sunday of Lent). The divider (in Greek, this is precisely what the word ‘devil’ - diabolos - means) tempts Jesus only with things that are already part of God's plan! But Jesus refuses to take them. He relies on his Father to give them to him. The Tempter says, "If you are the Son of God, you are entitled to everything, your Father cannot refuse you anything. So if you are hungry turn these stones into bread... God will always protect you so throw yourself from the heights, ... the world is yours, if you only worship me." But Jesus waits for all things from God alone.
Addendum
This text is familiar to us: we often call it the Christ Hymn, because we have the impression that it was not penned by Paul, but quoted from a well known liturgical hymn.
Gospel – Mark 15.1-39
As soon as morning came,
the chief priests with the elders and the scribes,
that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council.
They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
Pilate questioned him,
“Are you the king of the Jews?”
He said to him in reply, “You say so.”
The chief priests accused him of many things.
Again Pilate questioned him,
“Have you no answer?
See how many things they accuse you of.”
Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them
one prisoner whom they requested.
A man called Barabbas was then in prison
along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion.
The crowd came forward and began to ask him
to do for them as he was accustomed.
Pilate answered,
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
For he knew that it was out of envy
that the chief priests had handed him over.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd
to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
Pilate again said to them in reply,
“Then what do you want me to do
with the man you call the king of the Jews?”
They shouted again, “Crucify him.”
Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?”
They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.”
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged,
handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led him away inside the palace,
that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort.
They clothed him in purple and,
weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him.
They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him.
They knelt before him in homage.
And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the purple cloak,
dressed him in his own clothes,
and led him out to crucify him.
They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon,
a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
to carry his cross.
They brought him to the place of Golgotha
—which is translated Place of the Skull —
They gave him wine drugged with myrrh,
but he did not take it.
Then they crucified him and divided his garments
by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
The inscription of the charge against him read,
“The King of the Jews.”
With him they crucified two revolutionaries,
one on his right and one on his left.
Those passing by reviled him,
shaking their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would destroy the temple
and rebuild it in three days,
save yourself by coming down from the cross.”
Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes,
mocked him among themselves and said,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
come down now from the cross
that we may see and believe.”
Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.
At noon darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”
which is translated,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some of the bystanders who heard it said,
“Look, he is calling Elijah.”
One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed
and gave it to him to drink saying,
“Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion who stood facing him
saw how he breathed his last he said,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Commentary
Two peculiarities are noteworthy in Mark’s account of the Passion of Christ: Jesus’ solitude and Jesus’ silence.
Jesus’ solitude: in Mark’s account Jesus is particularly alone; after Peter's denial, Jesus is bereft of any friendly presence; the female disciples are mentioned, but only after his death (unlike other gospel accounts).
As for his silence, it is striking: he speaks only a few words at his trial and then as Mark notes, “Jesus gave (him) no further answer”, which surprises Pilate. “Again Pilate questioned him, “Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of.” Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed” (Mark 15.4-5). Then, on the cross Jesus says but one thing: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” Interpreted by a Roman soldier, these words sound like a cry of despair; but the Jews present needed no interpretation: they recognized these words as the first of a well known song of victory - as we saw above Psalm 22 is anything but a cry of despair or even doubt!
Faced with Jesus’ solitude and silence one wonders what secret he is holding back. Within a short period of time this man has gone from popularity to rejection, from a regal entry into the city of Jerusalem to exclusion and execution outside its walls, from recognition as God’s messenger (“Blessed be the one who comes in the name of the Lord”) to being sentenced for blasphemy and executed in the name of the Law (an indication to everyone that he was cursed by God); recognized as the Messiah, the promised King of Israel, the long awaited liberator and savior by his disciples and many enthusiastic supporters, he is now quickly done away with after a mock trial.
Jesus reacted neither to his triumph nor to his persecution. In doing so, the mystery of his person continued; it is only after the Resurrection that his disciples finally understood.
It seems that the sobriety of Mark's account is intended to highlight two aspects of the mystery of Jesus: the Messiah-King and the Priest-Messiah.
THE AWAITED MESSIAH-KING
Christ’s kingship is at the centre of the story, whether as a question, in derision, or as an affirmation. The first question Pilate asks of this bound man brought before him is “Are you the king of the Jews?” The reply is cryptic: “ You say so” (15.2). Yet Pilate twice gives this title to Jesus, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” (V. 9) and “Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?” (V.12). And, oddly enough, nobody contradicts this! Then comes the soldiers’ parody, with royal coat, crown and acclamation: “Hail, King of the Jews!” And the sign at the top of the cross, ill intentioned perhaps, but still calling out to every passer-by: “ here is the king of the Jews.” Even the chief priests and the scribes mockingly give him this title: “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross” (15.32).
THE AWAITED PRIEST-MESSIAH
The second aspect of the mystery of Jesus highlighted by Mark's account is that of the Priest-Messiah. It was the high priests who led the way in the conviction and death of Jesus; they obviously have a key role in the tragedy that is being forged. It is they who bring Jesus to Pilate and watch over the trial: “As soon as morning came, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.” And it is they who stir up the crowd to call for the release of Barabbas: “the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead” (15.11). Pilate himself is not fooled, and Mark notes that: “For he (Pilate) knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over” (15.10). Their envy was perhaps justified since in good faith they thought that Jesus’ success was leading the people into false hope. Nevertheless, the true priest, the Priest-Messiah that everyone was waiting for was before their very eyes. Mark is the only one, along with John, who notes that the soldiers clothed Jesus in purple to mock him. Purple was the color reserved for kings and for the high priests. What blind mockery: the ones wearing purple garments completely miss the truth. It is a pagan who recognizes what is truly happening: “When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, truly this man was the Son of God!”
Translated with permission by Simone Baryliuk, from: Commentaires de Marie Noëlle Thabut, 29 mars, 2015
http://www.eglise.catholique.fr/foi-et-vie-chretienne/commentaires-de-marie-noelle-thabut.html
Thursday, March 26, 2015
RE: 03.26.15 - Palm Sunday
March 29, 2015
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
Lectionary: 37 and 38
At the Procession with Palms - Gospel Mk 11:1-10
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!”
that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
they took palm branches and went out to meet him, and cried out:
“Hosanna!
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
the king of Israel.”
Jesus found an ass and sat upon it, as is written:
Fear no more, O daughter Zion;
see, your king comes, seated upon an ass’s colt.
His disciples did not understand this at first,
but when Jesus had been glorified
they remembered that these things were written about him
and that they had done this for him.
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
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!”
Or Jn 12:12-16
When the great crowd that had come to the feast heardthat Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
they took palm branches and went out to meet him, and cried out:
“Hosanna!
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
the king of Israel.”
Jesus found an ass and sat upon it, as is written:
Fear no more, O daughter Zion;
see, your king comes, seated upon an ass’s colt.
His disciples did not understand this at first,
but when Jesus had been glorified
they remembered that these things were written about him
and that they had done this for him.
At the Mass - Reading 1 Is 50:4-7
The Lord GOD has given mea well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
R. (2a) My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
All who see me scoff at me;
they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, if he loves him.”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Indeed, many dogs surround me,
a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
They have pierced my hands and my feet;
I can count all my bones.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
They divide my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far from me;
O my help, hasten to aid me.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
All who see me scoff at me;
they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, if he loves him.”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Indeed, many dogs surround me,
a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
They have pierced my hands and my feet;
I can count all my bones.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
They divide my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far from me;
O my help, hasten to aid me.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Reading 2 Phil 2:6-11
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.
were to take place in two days’ time.
So the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way
to arrest him by treachery and put him to death.
They said, “Not during the festival,
for fear that there may be a riot among the people.”
When he was in Bethany reclining at table
in the house of Simon the leper,
a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil,
costly genuine spikenard.
She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head.
There were some who were indignant.
“Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil?
It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages
and the money given to the poor.”
They were infuriated with her.
Jesus said, “Let her alone.
Why do you make trouble for her?
She has done a good thing for me.
The poor you will always have with you,
and whenever you wish you can do good to them,
but you will not always have me.
She has done what she could.
She has anticipated anointing my body for burial.
Amen, I say to you,
wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world,
what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve,
went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them.
When they heard him they were pleased and promised to pay him money.
Then he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,
his disciples said to him,
“Where do you want us to go
and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
He sent two of his disciples and said to them,
“Go into the city and a man will meet you,
carrying a jar of water.
Follow him.
Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there.”
The disciples then went off, entered the city,
and found it just as he had told them;
and they prepared the Passover.
When it was evening, he came with the Twelve.
And as they reclined at table and were eating, Jesus said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me,
one who is eating with me.”
They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one,
“Surely it is not I?”
He said to them,
“One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish.
For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
While they were eating,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them, and said,
“Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,
and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
“This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you,
I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine
until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Then, after singing a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus said to them,
“All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be dispersed.
But after I have been raised up,
I shall go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him,
“Even though all should have their faith shaken,
mine will not be.”
Then Jesus said to him,
“Amen, I say to you,
this very night before the cock crows twice
you will deny me three times.”
But he vehemently replied,
“Even though I should have to die with you,
I will not deny you.”
And they all spoke similarly.
Then they came to a place named Gethsemane,
and he said to his disciples,
“Sit here while I pray.”
He took with him Peter, James, and John,
and began to be troubled and distressed.
Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death.
Remain here and keep watch.”
He advanced a little and fell to the ground and prayed
that if it were possible the hour might pass by him;
he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you.
Take this cup away from me,
but not what I will but what you will.”
When he returned he found them asleep.
He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep?
Could you not keep watch for one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
Withdrawing again, he prayed, saying the same thing.
Then he returned once more and found them asleep,
for they could not keep their eyes open
and did not know what to answer him.
He returned a third time and said to them,
“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
It is enough. The hour has come.
Behold, the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.
Get up, let us go.
See, my betrayer is at hand.”
Then, while he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived,
accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs
who had come from the chief priests,
the scribes, and the elders.
His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying,
“The man I shall kiss is the one;
arrest him and lead him away securely.”
He came and immediately went over to him and said,
“Rabbi.” And he kissed him.
At this they laid hands on him and arrested him.
One of the bystanders drew his sword,
struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you come out as against a robber,
with swords and clubs, to seize me?
Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple area,
yet you did not arrest me;
but that the Scriptures may be fulfilled.”
And they all left him and fled.
Now a young man followed him
wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body.
They seized him,
but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.
They led Jesus away to the high priest,
and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.
Peter followed him at a distance into the high priest’s courtyard
and was seated with the guards, warming himself at the fire.
The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin
kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus
in order to put him to death, but they found none.
Many gave false witness against him,
but their testimony did not agree.
Some took the stand and testified falsely against him,
alleging, “We heard him say,
‘I will destroy this temple made with hands
and within three days I will build another
not made with hands.’”
Even so their testimony did not agree.
The high priest rose before the assembly and questioned Jesus,
saying, “Have you no answer?
What are these men testifying against you?”
But he was silent and answered nothing.
Again the high priest asked him and said to him,
“Are you the Christ, the son of the Blessed One?”
Then Jesus answered, “I am;
and ‘you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power
and coming with the clouds of heaven.’”
At that the high priest tore his garments and said,
“hat further need have we of witnesses?
You have heard the blasphemy.
What do you think?”
They all condemned him as deserving to die.
Some began to spit on him.
They blindfolded him and struck him and said to him, “Prophesy!”
And the guards greeted him with blows.
While Peter was below in the courtyard,
one of the high priest’s maids came along.
Seeing Peter warming himself,
she looked intently at him and said,
“You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
But he denied it saying,
“I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.”
So he went out into the outer court.
Then the cock crowed.
The maid saw him and began again to say to the bystanders,
“This man is one of them.”
Once again he denied it.
A little later the bystanders said to Peter once more,
“Surely you are one of them; for you too are a Galilean.”
He began to curse and to swear,
“I do not know this man about whom you are talking.”
And immediately a cock crowed a second time.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him,
“Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.”
He broke down and wept.
As soon as morning came,
the chief priests with the elders and the scribes,
that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council.
They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
Pilate questioned him,
“Are you the king of the Jews?”
He said to him in reply, “You say so.”
The chief priests accused him of many things.
Again Pilate questioned him,
“Have you no answer?
See how many things they accuse you of.”
Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them
one prisoner whom they requested.
A man called Barabbas was then in prison
along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion.
The crowd came forward and began to ask him
to do for them as he was accustomed.
Pilate answered,
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
For he knew that it was out of envy
that the chief priests had handed him over.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd
to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
Pilate again said to them in reply,
“Then what do you want me to do
with the man you call the king of the Jews?”
They shouted again, “Crucify him.”
Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?”
They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.”
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged,
handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led him away inside the palace,
that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort.
They clothed him in purple and,
weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him.
They began to salute him with, AHail, King of the Jews!”
and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him.
They knelt before him in homage.
And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the purple cloak,
dressed him in his own clothes,
and led him out to crucify him.
They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon,
a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
to carry his cross.
They brought him to the place of Golgotha
— which is translated Place of the Skull —
They gave him wine drugged with myrrh,
but he did not take it.
Then they crucified him and divided his garments
by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
The inscription of the charge against him read,
“The King of the Jews.”
With him they crucified two revolutionaries,
one on his right and one on his left.
Those passing by reviled him,
shaking their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would destroy the temple
and rebuild it in three days,
save yourself by coming down from the cross.”
Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes,
mocked him among themselves and said,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
come down now from the cross
that we may see and believe.”
Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.
At noon darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”
which is translated,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some of the bystanders who heard it said,
“Look, he is calling Elijah.”
One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed
and gave it to him to drink saying,
“Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion who stood facing him
saw how he breathed his last he said,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”
There were also women looking on from a distance.
Among them were Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome.
These women had followed him when he was in Galilee
and ministered to him.
There were also many other women
who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
When it was already evening,
since it was the day of preparation,
the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea,
a distinguished member of the council,
who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God,
came and courageously went to Pilate
and asked for the body of Jesus.
Pilate was amazed that he was already dead.
He summoned the centurion
and asked him if Jesus had already died.
And when he learned of it from the centurion,
he gave the body to Joseph.
Having bought a linen cloth, he took him down,
wrapped him in the linen cloth,
and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock.
Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses
watched where he was laid.
the chief priests with the elders and the scribes,
that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council.
They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
Pilate questioned him,
“Are you the king of the Jews?”
He said to him in reply, “You say so.”
The chief priests accused him of many things.
Again Pilate questioned him,
“Have you no answer?
See how many things they accuse you of.”
Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them
one prisoner whom they requested.
A man called Barabbas was then in prison
along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion.
The crowd came forward and began to ask him
to do for them as he was accustomed.
Pilate answered,
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
For he knew that it was out of envy
that the chief priests had handed him over.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd
to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
Pilate again said to them in reply,
“Then what do you want me to do
with the man you call the king of the Jews?”
They shouted again, “Crucify him.”
Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?”
They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.”
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged,
handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led him away inside the palace,
that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort.
They clothed him in purple and,
weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him.
They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him.
They knelt before him in homage.
And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the purple cloak,
dressed him in his own clothes,
and led him out to crucify him.
They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon,
a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
to carry his cross.
They brought him to the place of Golgotha
—which is translated Place of the Skull —
They gave him wine drugged with myrrh,
but he did not take it.
Then they crucified him and divided his garments
by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
The inscription of the charge against him read,
“The King of the Jews.”
With him they crucified two revolutionaries,
one on his right and one on his left.
Those passing by reviled him,
shaking their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would destroy the temple
and rebuild it in three days,
save yourself by coming down from the cross.”
Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes,
mocked him among themselves and said,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
come down now from the cross
that we may see and believe.”
Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.
At noon darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”
which is translated,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some of the bystanders who heard it said,
“Look, he is calling Elijah.”
One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed
and gave it to him to drink saying,
“Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion who stood facing him
saw how he breathed his last he said,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Verse Before the Gospel Phil 2:8-9
Christ became obedient to the point of death,even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.
Gospel Mk 14:1—15:47
The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Breadwere to take place in two days’ time.
So the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way
to arrest him by treachery and put him to death.
They said, “Not during the festival,
for fear that there may be a riot among the people.”
When he was in Bethany reclining at table
in the house of Simon the leper,
a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil,
costly genuine spikenard.
She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head.
There were some who were indignant.
“Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil?
It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages
and the money given to the poor.”
They were infuriated with her.
Jesus said, “Let her alone.
Why do you make trouble for her?
She has done a good thing for me.
The poor you will always have with you,
and whenever you wish you can do good to them,
but you will not always have me.
She has done what she could.
She has anticipated anointing my body for burial.
Amen, I say to you,
wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world,
what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve,
went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them.
When they heard him they were pleased and promised to pay him money.
Then he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,
his disciples said to him,
“Where do you want us to go
and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
He sent two of his disciples and said to them,
“Go into the city and a man will meet you,
carrying a jar of water.
Follow him.
Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there.”
The disciples then went off, entered the city,
and found it just as he had told them;
and they prepared the Passover.
When it was evening, he came with the Twelve.
And as they reclined at table and were eating, Jesus said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me,
one who is eating with me.”
They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one,
“Surely it is not I?”
He said to them,
“One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish.
For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
While they were eating,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them, and said,
“Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,
and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
“This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you,
I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine
until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Then, after singing a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus said to them,
“All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be dispersed.
But after I have been raised up,
I shall go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him,
“Even though all should have their faith shaken,
mine will not be.”
Then Jesus said to him,
“Amen, I say to you,
this very night before the cock crows twice
you will deny me three times.”
But he vehemently replied,
“Even though I should have to die with you,
I will not deny you.”
And they all spoke similarly.
Then they came to a place named Gethsemane,
and he said to his disciples,
“Sit here while I pray.”
He took with him Peter, James, and John,
and began to be troubled and distressed.
Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death.
Remain here and keep watch.”
He advanced a little and fell to the ground and prayed
that if it were possible the hour might pass by him;
he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you.
Take this cup away from me,
but not what I will but what you will.”
When he returned he found them asleep.
He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep?
Could you not keep watch for one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
Withdrawing again, he prayed, saying the same thing.
Then he returned once more and found them asleep,
for they could not keep their eyes open
and did not know what to answer him.
He returned a third time and said to them,
“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
It is enough. The hour has come.
Behold, the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.
Get up, let us go.
See, my betrayer is at hand.”
Then, while he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived,
accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs
who had come from the chief priests,
the scribes, and the elders.
His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying,
“The man I shall kiss is the one;
arrest him and lead him away securely.”
He came and immediately went over to him and said,
“Rabbi.” And he kissed him.
At this they laid hands on him and arrested him.
One of the bystanders drew his sword,
struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you come out as against a robber,
with swords and clubs, to seize me?
Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple area,
yet you did not arrest me;
but that the Scriptures may be fulfilled.”
And they all left him and fled.
Now a young man followed him
wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body.
They seized him,
but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.
They led Jesus away to the high priest,
and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.
Peter followed him at a distance into the high priest’s courtyard
and was seated with the guards, warming himself at the fire.
The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin
kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus
in order to put him to death, but they found none.
Many gave false witness against him,
but their testimony did not agree.
Some took the stand and testified falsely against him,
alleging, “We heard him say,
‘I will destroy this temple made with hands
and within three days I will build another
not made with hands.’”
Even so their testimony did not agree.
The high priest rose before the assembly and questioned Jesus,
saying, “Have you no answer?
What are these men testifying against you?”
But he was silent and answered nothing.
Again the high priest asked him and said to him,
“Are you the Christ, the son of the Blessed One?”
Then Jesus answered, “I am;
and ‘you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power
and coming with the clouds of heaven.’”
At that the high priest tore his garments and said,
“hat further need have we of witnesses?
You have heard the blasphemy.
What do you think?”
They all condemned him as deserving to die.
Some began to spit on him.
They blindfolded him and struck him and said to him, “Prophesy!”
And the guards greeted him with blows.
While Peter was below in the courtyard,
one of the high priest’s maids came along.
Seeing Peter warming himself,
she looked intently at him and said,
“You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
But he denied it saying,
“I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.”
So he went out into the outer court.
Then the cock crowed.
The maid saw him and began again to say to the bystanders,
“This man is one of them.”
Once again he denied it.
A little later the bystanders said to Peter once more,
“Surely you are one of them; for you too are a Galilean.”
He began to curse and to swear,
“I do not know this man about whom you are talking.”
And immediately a cock crowed a second time.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him,
“Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.”
He broke down and wept.
As soon as morning came,
the chief priests with the elders and the scribes,
that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council.
They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
Pilate questioned him,
“Are you the king of the Jews?”
He said to him in reply, “You say so.”
The chief priests accused him of many things.
Again Pilate questioned him,
“Have you no answer?
See how many things they accuse you of.”
Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them
one prisoner whom they requested.
A man called Barabbas was then in prison
along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion.
The crowd came forward and began to ask him
to do for them as he was accustomed.
Pilate answered,
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
For he knew that it was out of envy
that the chief priests had handed him over.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd
to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
Pilate again said to them in reply,
“Then what do you want me to do
with the man you call the king of the Jews?”
They shouted again, “Crucify him.”
Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?”
They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.”
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged,
handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led him away inside the palace,
that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort.
They clothed him in purple and,
weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him.
They began to salute him with, AHail, King of the Jews!”
and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him.
They knelt before him in homage.
And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the purple cloak,
dressed him in his own clothes,
and led him out to crucify him.
They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon,
a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
to carry his cross.
They brought him to the place of Golgotha
— which is translated Place of the Skull —
They gave him wine drugged with myrrh,
but he did not take it.
Then they crucified him and divided his garments
by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
The inscription of the charge against him read,
“The King of the Jews.”
With him they crucified two revolutionaries,
one on his right and one on his left.
Those passing by reviled him,
shaking their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would destroy the temple
and rebuild it in three days,
save yourself by coming down from the cross.”
Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes,
mocked him among themselves and said,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
come down now from the cross
that we may see and believe.”
Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.
At noon darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”
which is translated,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some of the bystanders who heard it said,
“Look, he is calling Elijah.”
One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed
and gave it to him to drink saying,
“Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion who stood facing him
saw how he breathed his last he said,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”
There were also women looking on from a distance.
Among them were Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome.
These women had followed him when he was in Galilee
and ministered to him.
There were also many other women
who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
When it was already evening,
since it was the day of preparation,
the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea,
a distinguished member of the council,
who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God,
came and courageously went to Pilate
and asked for the body of Jesus.
Pilate was amazed that he was already dead.
He summoned the centurion
and asked him if Jesus had already died.
And when he learned of it from the centurion,
he gave the body to Joseph.
Having bought a linen cloth, he took him down,
wrapped him in the linen cloth,
and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock.
Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses
watched where he was laid.
Or Mk 15:1-39
As soon as morning came,the chief priests with the elders and the scribes,
that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council.
They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
Pilate questioned him,
“Are you the king of the Jews?”
He said to him in reply, “You say so.”
The chief priests accused him of many things.
Again Pilate questioned him,
“Have you no answer?
See how many things they accuse you of.”
Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them
one prisoner whom they requested.
A man called Barabbas was then in prison
along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion.
The crowd came forward and began to ask him
to do for them as he was accustomed.
Pilate answered,
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
For he knew that it was out of envy
that the chief priests had handed him over.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd
to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
Pilate again said to them in reply,
“Then what do you want me to do
with the man you call the king of the Jews?”
They shouted again, “Crucify him.”
Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?”
They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.”
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged,
handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led him away inside the palace,
that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort.
They clothed him in purple and,
weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him.
They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him.
They knelt before him in homage.
And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the purple cloak,
dressed him in his own clothes,
and led him out to crucify him.
They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon,
a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
to carry his cross.
They brought him to the place of Golgotha
—which is translated Place of the Skull —
They gave him wine drugged with myrrh,
but he did not take it.
Then they crucified him and divided his garments
by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
The inscription of the charge against him read,
“The King of the Jews.”
With him they crucified two revolutionaries,
one on his right and one on his left.
Those passing by reviled him,
shaking their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would destroy the temple
and rebuild it in three days,
save yourself by coming down from the cross.”
Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes,
mocked him among themselves and said,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
come down now from the cross
that we may see and believe.”
Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.
At noon darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”
which is translated,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some of the bystanders who heard it said,
“Look, he is calling Elijah.”
One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed
and gave it to him to drink saying,
“Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion who stood facing him
saw how he breathed his last he said,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Thursday, March 19, 2015
RE: 03.19.15 - Readings for Sunday, March 22, 2015
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 35
Reading 1JER 31:31-34
The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
Responsorial PsalmPS 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15
R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Reading 2HEB 5:7-9
In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
and where I am, there will my servant be.
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.
“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven,
“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered and said,
“This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself.”
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Verse Before The GospelJN 12:26
Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord;and where I am, there will my servant be.
GospelJN 12:20-33
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feastcame to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.
“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven,
“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered and said,
“This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself.”
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
RE: 03.05.15 - Readings / Commentaries
Commentary – 3rd Sunday of Lent Year B
March 8, 2015
First Reading – Exodus 20.1-17
In those days, God delivered all these commandments:
“I, the LORD, am your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves
in the shape of anything in the sky above
or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth;
you shall not bow down before them or worship them.
For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God,
inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness
on the children of those who hate me,
down to the third and fourth generation;
but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.
For the LORD will not leave unpunished
the one who takes his name in vain.
“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God.
No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter,
or your male or female slave, or your beast,
or by the alien who lives with you.
In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them;
but on the seventh day he rested.
That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him.”
Commentary
I AM THE LORD WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF EGYPT
Our Jewish brothers and sisters call this text “The Ten Words” and not “The Ten Commandments” because the first words spoken are not a commandment – and yet they are the most important! “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.” This verse is the prologue: it gives the meaning of and justifies the commandments that follow. It is not the content that makes Israel’s Law original but the reason behind it: the liberation from Egypt. Israel forever knows that the liberating God also gave them the Law as a path of apprenticeship to freedom.
The book of Deuteronomy, a theological meditation on the events of the Exodus and the requirements of the Covenant with God, says this about the gift of the Law: “the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and… there is no other. And you must keep his statutes and commandments which I command you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever” (Deut 4.39-40). (see note 1).
Each of the commandments can be read as a God-given means for our liberation, or if you prefer, as an apprenticeship towards human freedom. It begins with the prohibition of idolatry: “You shall not have other gods besides me.” Indeed, throughout the Old Testament, the prophets consistently warned against all idolatry, often with little success. They would perhaps meet with the same resistance today because ultimately, the definition of an idol is something that consumes us to the point of enslaving us: it can be a cult, but it can also be money, sex, drugs or other substances, television, or any preoccupation that so fills our thoughts that we forget the rest.
“You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth”: no image of God is permitted because any image would be false; one can not possess God; God is the Wholly Other, the Inaccessible. Intimacy with God is the free gift of grace.
DO NOT GO FROM ONE KIND OF SLAVERY TO ANOTHER
“You shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God”: the vocabulary used here is that of passionate, insistent love - a love that does not tolerate rivals. God wants free and happy people; God is not jealous of us, but jealous to protect our freedom - God wants to protect us from following false paths.
“Inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments”: at the time, people were unable to conceive of a God who does not punish; nevertheless, the text places much greater emphasis on God’s perpetual mercy to those faithful to the Covenant with God.
“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain” (verse 7): in biblical language, when God revealed God’s name to human beings, God made himself known to us. It would be monstrous to use the gift of this name, that is, of this relationship, for evil. To do so would be to cut oneself off from God, who has no contact with evil; it would be an act of self-condemnation. This is the meaning of the phrase, “For the LORD will not leave unpunished the one who takes his name in vain.” (see note 2).
The first commandments addressed our relationship with God. Then come the commandments that pertain to our relationship with others, first one’s parents and then all others: “Honor your father and your mother ... You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor...” Our relationship with God and our relationships with others go hand in hand.
The last commandments are in the negative form: “You shall not…”; they are given as clear cut directives for life in society. Ours is the task of translating them so that they can be lived in positive ways in our everyday lives. Each of these commandments, in its own way, works towards our own liberation and that of others. More to the point, they give us a new way of seeing: not to covet what is not ours is one of the paths to inner freedom.
---------------
Notes
1 - The Book of Deuteronomy frequently insists on the happiness promised to those who observe the Law: “Later on, when your son asks you, “What do these decrees and statutes and ordinances mean?” which the LORD, our God, has enjoined on you, you shall say to your son, “We were once slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand... The LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes in fear of the LORD, our God, that we may always have as good a life as we have today” (Deut 6.20 ... 25).
2 - According to Andre Chouraqui, this commandment should be seen in its legal context: it has to do with the use of false oaths to clear one’s name. In court, the oaths were always made in the name of God: to swear in the name of God was the only acceptable way of declaring one’s innocence. Therefore, if a guilty person swore his innocence in the name of God, he could not hope to be acquitted by God.
Responsorial Psalm – 19.8,9,10,11
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1.22-25
Brothers and sisters:
Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
but we proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Commentary
CAN THE CRUCIFIED BE THE MESSIAH?
We know that Paul dedicated his life to announcing to his contemporaries that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. We also know that he addressed both Jews and non-Jews (whom he sometimes refers to as Greeks and sometimes as Gentiles). His background had given him first hand knowledge of the Jewish world and of the Scriptures; but he also knew the Greek world, having spent much of his youth with his family in Tarsus, that is, outside of Palestine. For these reasons, he was better placed than anyone to understand how difficult it was for each of these cultures to listen to his preaching: “We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”
For the Jews it was literally scandalous to claim that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, for he had been crucified. We can sympathize with them: for centuries, the Old Testament had promised the Messiah; and his coming was to be accompanied by specific signs: the restoration of the Davidic dynasty on the throne of Jerusalem and the establishment of universal and permanent peace. On both counts, Jesus had disappointed them! Worse, he died on a cross: everyone knew from memory the words from the book of Deuteronomy that said that when a man was sentenced to death under the Law and was executed with his body suspended from a tree (which served as a warning to others) it meant that he was accursed of God (Deut 21.22-23). Yet this is exactly what happened to Jesus, so he must surely be accursed of God; he cannot be the Messiah. This is a logical conclusion and it was with this reasoning that Paul, in good faith, initially opposed the earliest Christians.
As to the pagans, they also had good reason not to take Jesus seriously: “Greeks look for wisdom,” says Paul. But Jesus was not a philosopher; he spoke of love and respect for others, of humility and trust in God - nothing to do with the philosophical discourse of the Greeks (in Athens, no one had given much time to what they called Paul’s nonsense).
But ever since his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, Paul could not deny the obvious: Christ is risen, so he is the messenger of God. Whether this surprises us (like the Greeks) or offends us (like the Jews) doesn’t change a thing! Paul had to struggle with some daunting questions: yes, Jesus was God’s messenger, but in good faith, human beings had killed him! How could they have gotten it so wrong? And how could this crucified individual be the Messiah? These two questions must have haunted Paul for a long time: both the mystery and the scandal of this unlikely Messiah are clearly at the heart of all his letters.
LOVE THAT GOES TO THE CROSS
As Paul read and reread the scriptures and meditated on the scandal of the cross of Christ, he discovered the unimaginable: not only should the cross not scandalize us, it should actually amaze us! Because the cross is precisely the place where God truly reveals Godself! And that is why the cross delivers us! Because we can finally know God as God truly is! On the cross we can finally see infinite love - a love capable of going that far.
Ultimately, Paul goes on to say that the cross of Christ is Christians’ greatest claim to fame. He says, for example, in the letter to the Galatians, “May I never boast of anything except the cross of Jesus Christ” (Gal 6.14); for, not only was Jesus not a sinner deserving to be cursed, he willingly suffered in order to open our hearts to God’s incredible love for humanity; the words of forgiveness which he spoke on the cross reveal the extent of God's love for us.
As for those who find God's ways inconsistent with human reason, Paul’s answer, in the same letter to the Corinthians, is this: “Since… the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1.21); and a little further on: “Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Cor 3.18-19). Jesus had said: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants” (Mt 11.25). Our Christian witness needs no arguments: no amount of fine reasoning will ever lead someone to faith. All of our intellectual constructions crumble like a house of cards before the mystery of God manifested in the disfigured face of Christ crucified between two thieves (reassuring for us, poor evangelizers that we are). The mystery of God’s love is beyond our understanding. It is rather telling that in the midst of our Eucharistic prayer, when we commemorate the Passover, we say, "Great is the mystery of faith"!
Gospel – John 2. 13-15
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.
While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
many began to believe in his name
when they saw the signs he was doing.
But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,
and did not need anyone to testify about human nature.
He himself understood it well.
Commentary
THE WRATH OF THE PROPHET
Let us place ourselves in the shoes of those who witnessed Jesus’ anger. The selling of animals on the temple mount was nothing new: when pilgrims came to Jerusalem, sometimes from far away, they rightfully expected to be able to buy animals to offer as sacrifice. As for the moneychangers, they were also needed: Jerusalem was under Roman occupation, and Roman coins depicting the bust of the emperor, although necessary for day to day transactions in the city, were unfit to be placed in the collection plate! Therefore, when the worshippers arrived at the temple, they had to exchange their Roman coins for Jewish currency. So why did Jesus react so strongly?
As is often the case, Jesus acts first and gives the reason for his actions later; as for his audience, they only partly understand or not at all. It is later that insight comes: “when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken” (Verse 22). Some however simply fail to understand.
Jesus’ violent action and his words in particular are totally unexpected! The reproach he makes to the venders (“Stop making my Father's house a marketplace”) suggests that he takes himself for a prophet, like Jeremiah, who had said: “has this house which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your?” (Jeremiah 7.11) Furthermore, his actions show that he sees himself as the Messiah, for as the prophet Zechariah had foretold: “There shall no longer be traders in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day” (meaning the day of the coming of the Messiah; Zech 20.21). And, more daring yet, Jesus calls the temple of Jerusalem “my Father’s house.”
There are two possible reactions to such audacity: to try to understand (which is what the disciples do), or to put this pretentious and false Messiah in his place (the attitude of those whom John calls “the Jews”). In fact they are all Jews, but some have already seen Jesus in action: since his Baptism in the Jordan and since the wedding at Cana, they have sensed that Jesus is the Messiah and are therefore prepared to recognize in Jesus’ attitude some prophetic gesture. Especially since all present know that the animals sold for the sacrifices should not be within the precincts of the temple: normally the animal vendors had their stalls in the Kidron Valley and on the slopes of the Mount of Olives; but they had gradually moved nearer to the temple until they had installed themselves on the plaza! This is what Jesus rightly reproaches them.
At this point his disciples recall a verse from Psalm 69: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” In the psalm it is uttered by someone who is persecuted for his faith: “God of Israel… it is on your account I bear insult… Because zeal for your house has consumed me, I am scorned by those who scorn you” (Ps 69.8-10). The author speaks in the past tense: “zeal for your house has consumed me,” whereas John uses the future tense: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” It is a way of announcing the persecution that awaits Jesus and which has already begun! We are still at the beginning of John’s Gospel, but Jesus’ trial is already on the horizon. Soon his lot will be with those persecuted for righteousness: “Zeal for thy house will consume me.”
DESTROY THIS TEMPLE AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP
Those whom John calls “the Jews” are not as sympathetic as the disciples. For them, Jesus is an insignificant Galilean (and can anything good come from Galilee?) who dares to criticize temple conventions. In all fairness they have just cause to ask him to explain his actions: “What sign can you show us for doing this?” For believers, Jesus' answer takes on its full meaning only after the resurrection: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” But for now, his words make no sense: “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” Logically, his interlocutors are right: a man cannot single handedly undertake such a project in three days, nor within forty-six years, or even a lifetime! This magnificent temple, respected by all as a clear sign of God’s presence among God’s people has nothing to gain from this carpenter from Nazareth – his three-day bravado doesn’t impress…
Nevertheless, for a Jew familiar with Scripture, three days was a significant number - a symbolic way of saying that God would certainly intervene; we encounter it in the book of the prophet Hosea, for example - a book that the Jews knew very well. However, although it was well and good for a prophet like Hosea to use this kind of enigmatic, symbolic language, this Jesus was not a prophet in their eyes!
According to John, this is the crux of the problem, and if he places the episode of the temple at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry rather than at the very end as in the other three Gospels, it may be his way of alerting us to some stubborn assumptions that prevent God’s word from being heard. The disciples have no such assumptions and this allows them to gradually discover Jesus as they accompany him step by step. His opponents, however, are locked into their certainties and as a result, they miss out on this extraordinary revelation for which they whole-heartedly longed: God’s presence is no longer contained within the walls of a stone building, but resides at the heart of humanity, in the body of the Risen One.
----------------
Note
1 - When they say that the temple had been under construction for forty-six years the Jews are referring not to a new construction but to the work of restoring, expanding and redecorating the temple that Herod undertook in 19 BC; this episode probably takes place in 27 AD.
Translated with permission by Simone Baryliuk, from: Commentaires de Marie Noëlle Thabut, 8 mars, 2015
http://www.eglise.catholique.fr/foi-et-vie-chretienne/commentaires-de-marie-noelle-thabut.html
March 8, 2015
First Reading – Exodus 20.1-17
In those days, God delivered all these commandments:
“I, the LORD, am your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves
in the shape of anything in the sky above
or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth;
you shall not bow down before them or worship them.
For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God,
inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness
on the children of those who hate me,
down to the third and fourth generation;
but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.
For the LORD will not leave unpunished
the one who takes his name in vain.
“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God.
No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter,
or your male or female slave, or your beast,
or by the alien who lives with you.
In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them;
but on the seventh day he rested.
That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him.”
Commentary
I AM THE LORD WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF EGYPT
Our Jewish brothers and sisters call this text “The Ten Words” and not “The Ten Commandments” because the first words spoken are not a commandment – and yet they are the most important! “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.” This verse is the prologue: it gives the meaning of and justifies the commandments that follow. It is not the content that makes Israel’s Law original but the reason behind it: the liberation from Egypt. Israel forever knows that the liberating God also gave them the Law as a path of apprenticeship to freedom.
The book of Deuteronomy, a theological meditation on the events of the Exodus and the requirements of the Covenant with God, says this about the gift of the Law: “the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and… there is no other. And you must keep his statutes and commandments which I command you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever” (Deut 4.39-40). (see note 1).
Each of the commandments can be read as a God-given means for our liberation, or if you prefer, as an apprenticeship towards human freedom. It begins with the prohibition of idolatry: “You shall not have other gods besides me.” Indeed, throughout the Old Testament, the prophets consistently warned against all idolatry, often with little success. They would perhaps meet with the same resistance today because ultimately, the definition of an idol is something that consumes us to the point of enslaving us: it can be a cult, but it can also be money, sex, drugs or other substances, television, or any preoccupation that so fills our thoughts that we forget the rest.
“You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth”: no image of God is permitted because any image would be false; one can not possess God; God is the Wholly Other, the Inaccessible. Intimacy with God is the free gift of grace.
DO NOT GO FROM ONE KIND OF SLAVERY TO ANOTHER
“You shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God”: the vocabulary used here is that of passionate, insistent love - a love that does not tolerate rivals. God wants free and happy people; God is not jealous of us, but jealous to protect our freedom - God wants to protect us from following false paths.
“Inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments”: at the time, people were unable to conceive of a God who does not punish; nevertheless, the text places much greater emphasis on God’s perpetual mercy to those faithful to the Covenant with God.
“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain” (verse 7): in biblical language, when God revealed God’s name to human beings, God made himself known to us. It would be monstrous to use the gift of this name, that is, of this relationship, for evil. To do so would be to cut oneself off from God, who has no contact with evil; it would be an act of self-condemnation. This is the meaning of the phrase, “For the LORD will not leave unpunished the one who takes his name in vain.” (see note 2).
The first commandments addressed our relationship with God. Then come the commandments that pertain to our relationship with others, first one’s parents and then all others: “Honor your father and your mother ... You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor...” Our relationship with God and our relationships with others go hand in hand.
The last commandments are in the negative form: “You shall not…”; they are given as clear cut directives for life in society. Ours is the task of translating them so that they can be lived in positive ways in our everyday lives. Each of these commandments, in its own way, works towards our own liberation and that of others. More to the point, they give us a new way of seeing: not to covet what is not ours is one of the paths to inner freedom.
---------------
Notes
1 - The Book of Deuteronomy frequently insists on the happiness promised to those who observe the Law: “Later on, when your son asks you, “What do these decrees and statutes and ordinances mean?” which the LORD, our God, has enjoined on you, you shall say to your son, “We were once slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand... The LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes in fear of the LORD, our God, that we may always have as good a life as we have today” (Deut 6.20 ... 25).
2 - According to Andre Chouraqui, this commandment should be seen in its legal context: it has to do with the use of false oaths to clear one’s name. In court, the oaths were always made in the name of God: to swear in the name of God was the only acceptable way of declaring one’s innocence. Therefore, if a guilty person swore his innocence in the name of God, he could not hope to be acquitted by God.
Responsorial Psalm – 19.8,9,10,11
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R/ Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1.22-25
Brothers and sisters:
Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
but we proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Commentary
CAN THE CRUCIFIED BE THE MESSIAH?
We know that Paul dedicated his life to announcing to his contemporaries that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. We also know that he addressed both Jews and non-Jews (whom he sometimes refers to as Greeks and sometimes as Gentiles). His background had given him first hand knowledge of the Jewish world and of the Scriptures; but he also knew the Greek world, having spent much of his youth with his family in Tarsus, that is, outside of Palestine. For these reasons, he was better placed than anyone to understand how difficult it was for each of these cultures to listen to his preaching: “We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”
For the Jews it was literally scandalous to claim that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, for he had been crucified. We can sympathize with them: for centuries, the Old Testament had promised the Messiah; and his coming was to be accompanied by specific signs: the restoration of the Davidic dynasty on the throne of Jerusalem and the establishment of universal and permanent peace. On both counts, Jesus had disappointed them! Worse, he died on a cross: everyone knew from memory the words from the book of Deuteronomy that said that when a man was sentenced to death under the Law and was executed with his body suspended from a tree (which served as a warning to others) it meant that he was accursed of God (Deut 21.22-23). Yet this is exactly what happened to Jesus, so he must surely be accursed of God; he cannot be the Messiah. This is a logical conclusion and it was with this reasoning that Paul, in good faith, initially opposed the earliest Christians.
As to the pagans, they also had good reason not to take Jesus seriously: “Greeks look for wisdom,” says Paul. But Jesus was not a philosopher; he spoke of love and respect for others, of humility and trust in God - nothing to do with the philosophical discourse of the Greeks (in Athens, no one had given much time to what they called Paul’s nonsense).
But ever since his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, Paul could not deny the obvious: Christ is risen, so he is the messenger of God. Whether this surprises us (like the Greeks) or offends us (like the Jews) doesn’t change a thing! Paul had to struggle with some daunting questions: yes, Jesus was God’s messenger, but in good faith, human beings had killed him! How could they have gotten it so wrong? And how could this crucified individual be the Messiah? These two questions must have haunted Paul for a long time: both the mystery and the scandal of this unlikely Messiah are clearly at the heart of all his letters.
LOVE THAT GOES TO THE CROSS
As Paul read and reread the scriptures and meditated on the scandal of the cross of Christ, he discovered the unimaginable: not only should the cross not scandalize us, it should actually amaze us! Because the cross is precisely the place where God truly reveals Godself! And that is why the cross delivers us! Because we can finally know God as God truly is! On the cross we can finally see infinite love - a love capable of going that far.
Ultimately, Paul goes on to say that the cross of Christ is Christians’ greatest claim to fame. He says, for example, in the letter to the Galatians, “May I never boast of anything except the cross of Jesus Christ” (Gal 6.14); for, not only was Jesus not a sinner deserving to be cursed, he willingly suffered in order to open our hearts to God’s incredible love for humanity; the words of forgiveness which he spoke on the cross reveal the extent of God's love for us.
As for those who find God's ways inconsistent with human reason, Paul’s answer, in the same letter to the Corinthians, is this: “Since… the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1.21); and a little further on: “Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Cor 3.18-19). Jesus had said: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants” (Mt 11.25). Our Christian witness needs no arguments: no amount of fine reasoning will ever lead someone to faith. All of our intellectual constructions crumble like a house of cards before the mystery of God manifested in the disfigured face of Christ crucified between two thieves (reassuring for us, poor evangelizers that we are). The mystery of God’s love is beyond our understanding. It is rather telling that in the midst of our Eucharistic prayer, when we commemorate the Passover, we say, "Great is the mystery of faith"!
Gospel – John 2. 13-15
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.
While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
many began to believe in his name
when they saw the signs he was doing.
But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,
and did not need anyone to testify about human nature.
He himself understood it well.
Commentary
THE WRATH OF THE PROPHET
Let us place ourselves in the shoes of those who witnessed Jesus’ anger. The selling of animals on the temple mount was nothing new: when pilgrims came to Jerusalem, sometimes from far away, they rightfully expected to be able to buy animals to offer as sacrifice. As for the moneychangers, they were also needed: Jerusalem was under Roman occupation, and Roman coins depicting the bust of the emperor, although necessary for day to day transactions in the city, were unfit to be placed in the collection plate! Therefore, when the worshippers arrived at the temple, they had to exchange their Roman coins for Jewish currency. So why did Jesus react so strongly?
As is often the case, Jesus acts first and gives the reason for his actions later; as for his audience, they only partly understand or not at all. It is later that insight comes: “when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken” (Verse 22). Some however simply fail to understand.
Jesus’ violent action and his words in particular are totally unexpected! The reproach he makes to the venders (“Stop making my Father's house a marketplace”) suggests that he takes himself for a prophet, like Jeremiah, who had said: “has this house which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your?” (Jeremiah 7.11) Furthermore, his actions show that he sees himself as the Messiah, for as the prophet Zechariah had foretold: “There shall no longer be traders in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day” (meaning the day of the coming of the Messiah; Zech 20.21). And, more daring yet, Jesus calls the temple of Jerusalem “my Father’s house.”
There are two possible reactions to such audacity: to try to understand (which is what the disciples do), or to put this pretentious and false Messiah in his place (the attitude of those whom John calls “the Jews”). In fact they are all Jews, but some have already seen Jesus in action: since his Baptism in the Jordan and since the wedding at Cana, they have sensed that Jesus is the Messiah and are therefore prepared to recognize in Jesus’ attitude some prophetic gesture. Especially since all present know that the animals sold for the sacrifices should not be within the precincts of the temple: normally the animal vendors had their stalls in the Kidron Valley and on the slopes of the Mount of Olives; but they had gradually moved nearer to the temple until they had installed themselves on the plaza! This is what Jesus rightly reproaches them.
At this point his disciples recall a verse from Psalm 69: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” In the psalm it is uttered by someone who is persecuted for his faith: “God of Israel… it is on your account I bear insult… Because zeal for your house has consumed me, I am scorned by those who scorn you” (Ps 69.8-10). The author speaks in the past tense: “zeal for your house has consumed me,” whereas John uses the future tense: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” It is a way of announcing the persecution that awaits Jesus and which has already begun! We are still at the beginning of John’s Gospel, but Jesus’ trial is already on the horizon. Soon his lot will be with those persecuted for righteousness: “Zeal for thy house will consume me.”
DESTROY THIS TEMPLE AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP
Those whom John calls “the Jews” are not as sympathetic as the disciples. For them, Jesus is an insignificant Galilean (and can anything good come from Galilee?) who dares to criticize temple conventions. In all fairness they have just cause to ask him to explain his actions: “What sign can you show us for doing this?” For believers, Jesus' answer takes on its full meaning only after the resurrection: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” But for now, his words make no sense: “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” Logically, his interlocutors are right: a man cannot single handedly undertake such a project in three days, nor within forty-six years, or even a lifetime! This magnificent temple, respected by all as a clear sign of God’s presence among God’s people has nothing to gain from this carpenter from Nazareth – his three-day bravado doesn’t impress…
Nevertheless, for a Jew familiar with Scripture, three days was a significant number - a symbolic way of saying that God would certainly intervene; we encounter it in the book of the prophet Hosea, for example - a book that the Jews knew very well. However, although it was well and good for a prophet like Hosea to use this kind of enigmatic, symbolic language, this Jesus was not a prophet in their eyes!
According to John, this is the crux of the problem, and if he places the episode of the temple at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry rather than at the very end as in the other three Gospels, it may be his way of alerting us to some stubborn assumptions that prevent God’s word from being heard. The disciples have no such assumptions and this allows them to gradually discover Jesus as they accompany him step by step. His opponents, however, are locked into their certainties and as a result, they miss out on this extraordinary revelation for which they whole-heartedly longed: God’s presence is no longer contained within the walls of a stone building, but resides at the heart of humanity, in the body of the Risen One.
----------------
Note
1 - When they say that the temple had been under construction for forty-six years the Jews are referring not to a new construction but to the work of restoring, expanding and redecorating the temple that Herod undertook in 19 BC; this episode probably takes place in 27 AD.
Translated with permission by Simone Baryliuk, from: Commentaires de Marie Noëlle Thabut, 8 mars, 2015
http://www.eglise.catholique.fr/foi-et-vie-chretienne/commentaires-de-marie-noelle-thabut.html
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