We arrive at Palm Sunday, and I confess I’ve never been entirely sure whether this is part of Lent, the end of Lent, or whatever. The beginning at Ash Wednesday is very clear and simple, the end not so much. Maybe there’s a lesson in there somewhere!
The full title of this feast is “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion” – which captures pretty well the sense of “everything but the kitchen sink” – it’s like we go through all of Holy Week in one mad rush, from Hosannas to Crucifixion in under an hour. Our readings are also unique for this day, with an extra Gospel at the beginning of mass (Mk 11:1-10). We then have the usual two readings and the “real” Gospel which is a full account of the Passion, two complete chapters from Mark (which might be the shortest gospel overall, but still makes for a lengthy reading!) – Mk 14:1—15:47.
So where to focus?
Your Lenten journey will probably guide you to favor one piece or another of this, perhaps over-rich, meal. For myself I felt drawn to the first reading from Isaiah (Is 50:4-7). This has a wonderful ambiguity to it. The references to “giving 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” have often been read as referring to Jesus. As prophecy that is entirely appropriate. But in context they are also a clear reference to the writer himself – the treatment of Isaiah.
There is also a reference to us.
I guess, for myself, I can’t avoid feeling a connection with someone who says: “The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue” and hope that I also in my little way “might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them”. Not everyone will feel that identification, but anyone can feel a connection to this: “The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced” – if you truly believe the premise, then the conclusion is inescapable.
We can, and should, identify with Isaiah, and with Jesus himself – that’s why he gave us his body to eat – so that we can be one with him, as he and the Father are one (cf John 17:20-23). But we have to accept the offer. We can withstand anything with God’s help, even death – because we know that Jesus conquered death, so it has no hold over us (John 11:25).
As Paul puts it in the wonderful hymn he writes to the Philippians (Phil 2:6-11), Jesus emptied himself and was glorified. If we also work at emptying ourselves, we too will find we are filled with the glory of God.