Vol.5 No.28 DoM Palm Sunday E Message
Spiritual Gift of the Week
We ask for humility that we may walk the way of the Cross with Christ
and with his Mother,
in order to bring forth an ever deeper conformity with Christ.
Spiritual Instruction of the Week,
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord…
He became obedient, even unto death on a Cross…”
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Dear Beautiful Daughters of Mary,
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord…
He became obedient, even unto death on a Cross…”
Our focus during Lent has been the illogical nature of sin—Our hope during Lent is (as always) the loving logic of God, revealed in the redemptive death and Resurrection of Christ. As we prepare for Palm Sunday and Holy Week, it is profoundly important, even essential, to open our hearts to Jesus, to Mary and to their walk to the Cross.
The earliest Christian communities considered the Cross of Christ a scandal. It was incomprehensible that the way of crucifixion could be a path to the Victory of God. Paul however proclaimed just this to the people of Corinth. He proclaimed Christ, not just risen, but also, crucified. (1 Cor. 1:23) Paul acknowledged the Cross was “stumbling block” for the Jews, and “folly” for the Gentiles—and yet, he did not waver when he preached. For Paul, the power of God is revealed in the tortuous suffering and death of Christ.
We are not unlike the early Christian communities. We still find the Crucifixion a “stumbling block.” Our “stumbling” however does not come from questioning the powerlessness of Christ. In truth, that Christ was powerless means little to our culture. We have become too familiar—too accustomed—too acquainted with the notion. The Cross hangs over our doors and around our necks. Christ’s body is often removed from the cross. Sometimes the cross is used as mere symbol of something past. We often forget that Christ’s Cross points to a reality. We are de-sensitized to its meaning—and we must prayerfully overcome this anesthetized disposition.
Next week is Holy Week. We want to contemplate the passion and death of Christ, our Savior. So we seek an image that will stir our consciousness. We seek a parallel. For us, in 2016, we may turn to persecuted Christians in our world. Beheadings for example are a poignant parallel to crucifixion. Even to think of a beheading is particularly hard for us. We don’t like to face the savagery of human beings. We cannot tolerate it—especially the intimacy of the act of beheading—an intimacy which makes the cruelty of the act clear. And yet, even the horrific character of a beheading does not compare to the intimacy and heinous nature of a crucifixion. The Roman historian Cicero in fact, was so repulsed by the events of Jesus’ passion, he refused to record the details.
We know that Jesus walked to Golgotha carrying his own cross, And his mother watched—and in doing so, she becomes our way over whatever stumbling block we encounter. If we walk with Mary—if we cry with her—if we see Jesus’ suffering through her eyes—-we will most surely deepen in our sensitivity to his Cross.
To prepare our hearts for Mary’s sorrowful suffering,let us contemplate the words of Adrienne von Speyr:
“Mary walks with her Son on the Way of the Cross. She walks it with the entire human sorrow of a human mother who must be present at her son’s end. Not only the end of his life—the end also of his plans, his hopes, his activity. Mary experiences it thus, although she knows of her Son’s unending mission. But she is not spared learning the way of sufferings as an ordinary flesh and blood woman experiences it; she must taste her Son’s disgrace with him and move in fear toward her coming separation from him. She walks this way together with the other sorrowing women; it is a hard and painful road. She sees all the torments that are inflicted on the Son, the preparations that are bing made for the crucifixion. Around her she hears and sees the people who are going out with her to the spectacle of her Son’s death. There is no place in her for any human consolation.
And then she sees the Cross…”Let us pray…
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“Mother of Mercy”—words of Pope Francis, January 1, 2016:
“The Mother of forgiveness teaches the Church that the forgiveness granted on Golgotha knows no limits. Neither the law with its quibbles, nor the wisdom of this world with its distinctions, can hold it back. The Church’s forgiveness must be every bit as broad as that offered by Jesus on the Cross and by Mary at his feet. There is no other way…She is the Mother of mercy, because she bore in her womb the very Face of divine mercy, Jesus, …”
Veni, Spirito Santo, la misericordia di Dio ci salva—Come Holy Spirit, it is by God’s mercy that we are saved,
Deb
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