Palm Sunday

This Sunday gives us two gospels, the first as we gather for the blessing of the palms before processing into the church, the second in its usual place, but much longer than we are accustomed to. We celebrate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem amid waving palms and hymns of glory. And we, who have been here before, know that it will not last. For the gospel within the Mass is the entire story of Jesus' passion and death, from his betrayal by Judas to his death and burial.

The first and second readings give us the setting for this drama, help us move from the tales of the daily life of Jesus to this holiest of weeks. The first reading, one of the Servant Songs from Isaiah, teaches us how to endure in the face of violence and inhumanity, to continue living out our call to the end, as Jesus did. Then Paul tells us what our attitude must be: one of emptying, obedience and humble surrender, the attitude of Jesus in the face of his passion and death.

These are big things. None of this fits into "a little story." Yet it is Jesus' story and must become our story. The closest I come to seeing this in the world around me is in the lives of some of our oldest Sisters. Many of them live with physical pain, all live with the pain of weakness, diminishment and often forgetfulness, loneliness and frustration. They continue living out their call to the end. They are being emptied so as to be able to surrender totally to their beloved who was emptied for them.

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself..." - Philippians 2:5-7

By Mary Buckley CSJ