Eucahristic Readings for Palm Sunday: Year A
Matthew 21:1-11 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 The Liturgy of the Word Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11 Matthew 26:14- 27:66
“Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.” (Matthew 26:23)
What a shift from four days ago. As Jesus entered Jerusalem four days ago people were hailing him King of kings and Lord of lords. And now, at one of Christianity’s most important sacraments, Holy Communion, at the table, our Lord Jesus says, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.” And Judas will do this dirty deed with a kiss later after supper and after our Lord Jesus attends prayer three times.
We truly are a fickle breed. Too many of us tend to go the way of the loudest rhetoric. There is not enough personal thinking and praying happening in our lives. Again, I go back to Blaise Pascal’s quote, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
All of us have personal responsibility for how we go forward. Most of the time in the Bible, when a crowd makes a decision, it’s the wrong decision, like melting down our gold and making a golden calf to worship. I have a poster of an old monk walking alone and the caption reads, “It is better to walk alone, than with a crowd going in the wrong direction” by Diane Grant. We each should carefully think about each next step we take. Be hesitant about loud rhetoric. Listen to the Spirit of God and celebrate the coming of the King of Kings and Lord of lords.
Today is Palm Sunday (Celebratory) and Passion Sunday (Grief). Should we be both? If not, which one are you?
Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do. John
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