Palm Sunday: April 05, 2020

TWO PROCESSIONS

 “Two processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30 … One was a peasant procession, the other an imperial procession. From the east, Jesus rode a donkey down the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers. Jesus was from the peasant village of Nazareth, his message was about the kingdom of God, and his followers came from the peasant class …On the opposite side of the city, from the west, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Idumea, Judea and Samaria, entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers. Jesus’s procession proclaimed the kingdom of God; Pilate’s proclaimed the power of empire. The two processions embody the central conflict of the week that led to Jesus’s crucifixion. As Mark tells the story in 11:1-11, Jesus’ procession is a prearranged ‘counter procession.’  The meaning of the demonstration is clear, for it uses symbolism from the prophet Zechariah in the Jewish Bible. According to Zechariah, a king would be coming to Jerusalem (Zion), ‘humble, and riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey’ (9:9). Jesus’s procession deliberately countered what was happening on the other side of the city. Pilate’s procession embodied the power, glory and violence of the empire that ruled the world. Jesus’ procession embodied an alternative vision, the Kingdom of God. The king, riding on a donkey, will banish war from the land—no more chariots, warhorses or bows. Commanding peace to the nations, Jesus will be a king of peace. Pilate’s military procession was a demonstration of both Roman imperial power and Roman imperial theology -- worshipping the emperor as  god. It was the standard practice of the Roman governors of Judea to be in Jerusalem for the Jewish festivals … to be in the city in case there was trouble … The mission of the troops with Pilate was to reinforce the Roman garrison permanently stationed in the Fortress Antonia, overlooking the Jewish Temple and its courts. No wonder, the Roman governor realized how the peasant procession was a threat to his government and, hence, its leader should be exterminated.”

FIfth Sunday of Lent: March 29,2020

PICTURE OF DEATH AND RESURRECTION

 The five Sundays of Lent, combined, give the picture of death and resurrection in faith and in life. 1) The first two Sundays depict Jesus' own death and Resurrection in daily life Temptation/Desert/Rejection and Transfiguration/ Mountain/ Belovedness.  2) Then we have three Sundays with three scenarios of death and resurrection: 
a) The Samaritan woman at the well (sociological death to become the first missionary) her Faith in Jesus her missionary approach to the people of her town. b) The Man Born Blind (Physical and spiritual death to growth in Faith  he recognizes Jesus, the man Jesus the prophet  finally Jesus the Lord  daring missionary to proclaim the healing and the Lord despite threats of ostracism)his Faith. c). Lazarus – (Physical death to actual revivification) belovedness to Mary and Martha and to Jesus  their Faith. d.) Passion Sunday: Moving from another "mount" (donkey) to "crucify him". Life is a constant journey of Baptism to the desert to the Transfiguration to simple realities of our daily life and mission and occasional anniversaries and jubilees. This is the longest single narrative/story in the four Gospels – 45 verses.  This story marks a key turning-point in John’s Gospel: not only is it the last and greatest “sign” Jesus will perform, concluding the “Book of Signs,” but it is effectively Jesus’ last public appearance before His Passion and death.

Fourth Sunday of Lent; March 22, 2020

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS OF MODERN PHARISEES

 Although the Pharisees have long since disappeared from history, there are still many among us who are blinded by the same pride and prejudice. Spiritual blindness is very common in modern times. Perhaps, the most awful disease in our country today is spiritual blindness. Such blindness refuses to see the truths of God's revelation.  This blindness refuses even to admit that God or Christ exists.   In their pride, the spiritually blind claim that everything ends with death and that there is no life after death.  They propagate their errors and accuse believers of childish credulity and folly.  They ignore the gifts of the intellect we all possess.  God's revelation through Christ informs us that there is a future life awaiting us in which our spiritual faculties and our transformed bodies will be fully and fittingly glorified. According to Pope Benedict XVI, the miracle of the healing of the blind man is a sign that Christ wants not only to give us sight, but also to open our interior vision, so that our Faith may become ever deeper and we may recognize Him as our only Savior. He illuminates all that is dark in life and leads men and women to live as "children of the light" (Lenten message-2011)

Third Sunday of Lent: March 15, 2020

THE DIVINE TOUCH AND CONVERSION

The water-seeking Samaritan woman who faced Jesus that day belonged to a heritage rejected by the Jews.  In addition, she expected scorn simply because she was a woman, for in the ancient Middle East, men systematically degraded women.  Finally, this Samaritan woman seemed unwanted by her own people.  Since she had had five “husbands,” and was living with a sixth “lover,” she seems to have been considered by fellow villagers a social leper, and she seems to have been driven from the common well of the town by the decent women.  Perhaps she had not stopped wishing that somewhere, sometime, some way, God would touch His people — that He would touch her!  Jesus’ meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well illustrates the principal role of Jesus as the Messiah: to reconcile all men and women to the Father.  Hence, Jesus deliberately placed himself face-to-face with this person whom, apparently, no one else wanted.  Jesus saw, in this social outcast and moral wreck, a person who mattered to God.  The Samaritan woman must have unburdened her soul to this stranger because she had found one Jew with kindness in his eyes instead of an air of critical superiority.  She was thirsting for love that would last, love that would fill her full and give purpose to her life. Just as Jesus confronted the woman at the well with the reality of her own sinfulness and brokenness, so we must, with God’s grace, confront our own sinfulness and, in doing so, realize our need for God. 

Second Sunday of Lent: March 08, 2020

THE SCENE OF HEAVENLY GLORY

The disciples received a preview of the glorious figure Jesus would become at Easter and beyond. While praying, Jesus was transfigured into a shining figure, full of Heavenly glory.  This reminds us of Moses and Elijah who also experienced the Lord in all His glory.  Moses had met the Lord in the burning bush at Mount Horeb (Ex 3:1-4).  After his later encounter with God, Moses' face shone so brightly that it frightened the people, and Moses had to wear a veil over his face (Ex 34:29-35). The luminosity of the face of Moses is also meant to signal the loving, welcomed invasion of God into his soul. The Jews believed that Moses was taken up in a cloud at end of his earthly life (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 4. 326).  Elijah had traveled for forty days to Mt. Horeb on the strength of the food brought by an angel (1 Kgs 19:8).  At Mt. Horeb, Elijah sought refuge in a cave as the glory of the Lord passed over him (1 Kgs 19:9-18).  Finally, Elijah, was taken directly to Heaven in a chariot of fire without experiencing death (2 Kgs 2:11-15). In addition, “Mosesled his people out of slavery in Egypt, received the Torah on Mount Sinai and brought God’s people to the edge of the Promised Land. Elijah, the great prophet in northern Israel during the ninth century B.C., performed healings and other miracles and stood up to Israel’s external enemies and the wicked within Israel. Their presence in Matthew’s Transfiguration account emphasizes Jesus’ continuity with the Law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) in salvation history.”