Sunday Gospel reflections: Jesus shares our journey
Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord (Year C)
With blessed palms we enter our church Sunday focused in faith on Jesus, the suffering servant of God. Sunday’s liturgy plunges us into the mystery of his sacred journey to Calvary. Listening to the reading of the Passion, we hear of Jesus’ compassion for his bewildered, failing disciples, and his humble yet firm response to the various authorities who are satisfied with nothing less than his death by crucifixion.
As we journey in faith this week, we rediscover how the paschal mystery, for which Jesus had so carefully prepared his disciples, is intimately bound up with our own journeys in life and faith as his disciples today. While he struggled each step of the way toward his own Calvary, he is supporting us in our daily trials to persevere through the hardships we face, to endure our weaknesses, to be patient with our failures, to be understanding and loving of others we find difficult to live or work with.
We realize it is in being united with Jesus that we can face any obstacles that life places in our path, whether family tensions, loss of health, financial upheaval, or death of a loved one.
As we journey with Christ through Holy Week, let us offer him our gratitude for his sharing our journey. With him, our Calvary becomes the pathway to personal transformation that opens us to the fullness of the resurrection in God forever.
— Fr. Michael Traher, SFM
Luke 19:28–40
Isaiah 50:4–7
Psalm 22:8–9, 17–18, 19–20, 23–24
Philippians 2:6–11
Luke 22:14—23:56 or Luke 23:1–49