Pause for Prayer: PALM SUNDAY

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Our worship on Palm Sunday begins with blessing and waving palm branches and singing Hosanna! Even here, on the first day of Holy Week, there's room for joy in Lent!  But moments later the mood of our prayer changes with the day's readings, culminating in the gospel of the passion (the suffering and death) of Jesus.  Today's scripture tells the story.

 

Holy Week begins today, Lord...

 

In some ways, it will be an ordinary week:

    I'll still have my regular work and duties.

    I'll still need to care for my family and friends.

    I'll still have to do the laundry and take out the trash. 

    I'll still have shopping to do and bills to pay.

    I'll still have to deal with life's everyday problems

       whose responsibilities won't diminish or take a break...

And I'll do all this in a world that will largely ignore
    all we celebrate on these holy days:
        Palm Sunday
            Holy Thursday
                Good Friday
                    Holy Saturday
                        Easter!

So I ask you to help me, Lord,
    to make and keep this week holy...

I hope and pray this week will be peaceful -
    in spite of all I have to do...

I hope and pray these days will be prayerful:
    that I'll make time to spend with you alone
       and time to pray with the church on these holy days...

I hope and pray that in my mind and heart
    these days will be different from any others,
       in how I see and experience the world around me,
       in how I plan and spend my time...

Help me know and live this week of special days,

    these solemn, sober, grace filled, joyful days:

       a time to grow in faith, and hope and love,

       a time to grow in my relationship with you...

 

More than all the weeks and all the days

   of the rest of the year, Lord,

may the days of this week be truly prayerful

   and, to your glory, truly holy...

Amen. 

Let's pause for prayer on this Palm Sunday with Rory Cooney's Palm Sunday Processional, a piece I used for years in my parish in Concord and which brings us to the streets of Jerusalem as Jesus entered his city.  

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When they heard that Jesus was coming.

    Sing Hosanna to the Chosen One! 

 

All the people went out to meet him.

    Sing Hosanna to the Chosen One!

 

Spread their cloaks and branches before him.

Children sang with palm branches waving.

 

Blest is he like David before him.

Blest is he, God's blessing upon him.

 

Guiding cloud and pillar of fire.

Satan's foe and friend of the sinner.

 

Word of God and firstborn of people.

Promise kept and crown of creation.

 

Vision blest and hope for the future.

God's beloved and radiant with glory.

 

Wondrous bread and stream in the desert.

Holy thirst and God's living water.

 

Eye of God who see to the heart of us.

Healing touch, the sight for our blindness.

 

Rising sun, the light of the world.

Word of life who give us your Spirit.

 

Friend in death who weep for our dying.

Freed in death, who roll back the stone for us.

 

Friend in death, who wake us to new life.

Friend in life, we sing glad hosannas.

    

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Why is my Palm Sunday homily so short?

 

The liturgical directives for Palm Sunday call for a "brief homily," owing to the length of the Passion narrative  and the fact that such a compelling story needs little additional comment. For years now, I've made an effort to respect these circumstances by preaching a brief homily, consisting mostly of the gospel's compelling language.  In addition to the video above, here's my text for this weekend.

Although it's at the very heart of our faith,
   the story of the suffering and death of Jesus
     is recounted in its entirety only twice a year,
   and then in the same week,
     on Palm Sunday and Good Friday.

Though we hear this story infrequently,
   its characters, words and images 

      are vivid in our imagination.

Particular words and phrases
  have embedded themselves 

in our memory and in our hearts,
    evoking prayer and repentance...

Don't these words echo in a place deep in your soul? 

“One of you will betray me..."

“Surely, it is not I, Lord?”

"This very night before the cock crows
   you will deny three times 
      that you know me..."

"Father, if it is possible,
   let this cup pass from me;
        yet, not as I will but as you will…

 

“Stay here and keep watch with me for an hour...”

“The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak…”

 

"I do not know the man..."

 

Betrayed by a kiss…

 

“Those who take up the sword

    will perish by the sword…”

Peter went out and wept bitterly...

 

They stripped him,
   put a crown of thorns on his head
      and spat upon him…

"Crucify him! Crucify him!"

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

He cried out in a loud voice
   and gave up his spirit…

“Truly, this was the Son of God…”

Any of these phrases and the images they call forth
   would be good food for prayer in the days ahead...

We enter the Week we call holy
   when Christians around the world

      pause to remember and celebrate
         the suffering,  death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

May the story of his suffering and death
   refresh our faith in his loved poured out for us...

May the words of Jesus' passion,
   embedded in our hearts,
bring us his mercy
   and lead us to the peace of Easter...

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How I've been proclaiming the Passion for the last 40+ years...

Beginning when I was a campus minister at Saint Ann University Parish (serving Northeastern University and Emerson College) I began proclaiming the Passion on Palm Sunday and Good Friday in a solo voice. I'd be interested in hearing what you think of this approach. (Here's a link to the scripture text.)

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NIGHT PRAYER: Saturday 3/28

It's the eve of the week we call holy, Lord,

and as I pray tonight I'm wondering:

    what you might have in store for me 

        over the next seven days...

How will you nudge me to pray this week,

    especially on Palm Sunday,

        on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter?

How will you stir my heart when I hear

    on Palm Sunday and on Good Friday,

        the story of your suffering and death?

When I hear how, at your last supper with your friends,

    you knelt before them and washed their feet,

how will you move my heart to want to serve others

    in my family? in my neighborhood? among the poor?

 

Your companion, Judas, betrayed you, Lord:

    how will his story lead me to repentance

    for the ways that I've betrayed you

    in thought, word and deed? 

How will you strengthen me on Good Friday, Lord,

    to carry my own cross with a generous spirit

    as I reflect on you carrying your Cross

    for the forgiveness of my sins?

 

While the church waits at your tomb on Saturday, Lord,

    will I trust that you wait by my side with me

    every day, every night, for the whole of my life,

    in good times and in bad? 

 

What will you stir in my heart at the Easter Vigil

    as I the scriptures tell the story of creation?

    the story of your love for your chosen people, Israel? 

    the wisdom of your prophets and the longing of the psalms?

 

Will I, in my waiting, trust

    that even when I cannot find you,

I have faith that you will rise,

    that you will come again,

    to bring me peace?

And how, on Easter, 

    how will your Spirit stir in me, Lord?

Will I welcome your rising in my life?

    in my distress? in my problems, in my trials?

 

Will I look for signs of your new life 

    even in my fears and worries? 

    in my confusion? my grief? my sadness?

 

Will I come out of my own tomb

    to follow where you lead me

        in faith, in hope, in peace?

Open my mind and my heart, Lord,

    open my eyes and my ears,

    open my imagination and my soul

to all you have in store for me this week, Lord,

    this week that we call holy...

Protect me, Lord, as I lie awake

    and watch over me when I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

(A beautiful song, based on John's gospel,

    summing up the whole message of Holy Week...)

 

 There Is No Greater Love 

    by Michael Joncas

 

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There is no greater love, says the Lord, 

than to lay down your life for a friend;

there is no greater love, no greater love, 

than to lay down your life for a friend.

1) As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. 

Live on in my love.

You will live in my love if you keep my commands, 

even as I have kept my Father's.

2) All this I tell you that my joy may be yours

and your joy may be complete.

Love one another as I have loved you:

This is my command.

3)You are my friends if you keep my commands;

no longer slaves but friends to me.

All I heard from my Father, I have made known to you: 

Now I call you friends.

4) It was not you who chose me, it was I who chose you, 

chose you to go forth and bear fruit.

Your fruit must endure, so you will receive 

all you ask the Father in my name.

 

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The Week we call Holy...

The images above give us thumbnail sketches for the high points of Holy Week and this post offers an overview of the liturgies of Holy Week. While I hope you'll find these comments helpful,  you'll only begin to truly understand Holy Week by participating in it's liturgies.

 

In the week we call holy, the Church celebrates the most ancient and beautiful rites in its spiritual heritage.  Although these are not days of obligation, they are the most important days of the whole church year.

 

Holy Week begins this year on March 2 with Palm (Passion) Sunday. With different degrees of solemnity,  parishes will commemorate the Lord's Entrance into Jerusalem with a blessing of palm branches and a procession. At this Mass every year, the Passion, the story of the suffering of death of Jesus, is recounted in the gospel. This year we will hear the Passion according to St. Matthew. The Passion is proclaimed on only two days of the year: Palm Sunday and Good Friday. 

 

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week are the final days of Lent and most dioceses will celebrate the Chrism Mass early in Holy Week. At this Mass at the cathedral, the bishop blesses and consecrates the holy oils that will be used for the celebration of the sacraments beginning at the Easter Vigil and then through the year until next Easter.

 

Lent ends at sundown on Thursday of this week and we enter the Paschal Triduum (pronounced trid'-oo-um, it means 3 days). The Triduum is one feast, celebrated over three days.

 

The “three days” are numbered from sundown Holy Thursday to sundown Good Friday; from sundown Good Friday to sundown Holy Saturday; and from sundown Holy Saturday to sundown Easter Sunday. The liturgical moments of that one feast are:

 

- The Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday night including: the reception of the holy oils in the local parish church; the Washing of Feet (as Jesus did at the Last Supper); and a procession with the Eucharist to the altar of repose.  Prayer before the reserved sacrament at this altar may continue until midnight.

 

- The Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Friday includes: the Word liturgy; the sung Solemn Intercessions; the Veneration of the Cross; and Communion from the reserved sacrament, consecrated the night before at mass on Holy Thursday.

 

- The Easter Vigil (the first and greatest Mass of Easter) on Holy Saturday night includes: the lighting of the new fire and a candle light procession with the Easter Candle, leading to the sung Easter Proclamation; the Liturgy of the Word which, in full, includes 9 scripture readings; the liturgy of baptism and/or, if no one is to be baptized, the assembly's renewal of their baptismal promises; and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

 

The Triduum closes with Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday night.

 

Easter joy overflows in the celebration of the Eucharist on Easter Sunday morning.

 

Yes, these liturgies are longer than the usual Sunday mass - but they are also rich and beautiful in symbol, ritual, prayer, and song. It's a shame that many Catholics go to their graves without ever having celebrated the most important feasts of their faith!

 

Know that you are invited to celebrate this great Paschal feast.

 

Set aside these hours to give thanks and praise to the One who set aside his life for us that we might have forgiveness of our sins and the gift of God's peace.

We should glory in the cross 

of our Lord Jesus Christ,
for he is our salvation, 

our life and resurrection;
through him we are saved and made free!
- Galatians 6:14

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Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 3/28

Cover of Plush: Stone Temple Pilots

 

This is the third No Kings Day - this time on the eve of Holy Week when Christians celebrate Christ who reigns from a cross, crowned with thorns...

 

You rule, Lord!

 

With universal dominion, 

  you reign over all creation:

    over every living being on earth,

    over all that was and all that is

    and all that ever more shall be...

 
Command us, then, to survey your kingdom

  and see it as you see it, Lord: 

    one world, one village, one human family;     

        one unique life given each of us, 

    deserving of  reverence, 

        respect and compassion,

            each of us made in your image divine;

     for each one, Lord, each precious life,

        descends from you and your royal line...

 

Come wrap us, then, in your reign of love:
    Rule 

        over our minds and hearts!

    Rule 

        over our passions and zeal!

    Rule

        over our pride and ego! 

    Rule

        over greed and desires! 
    Rule 

        over our dreams and schemes!

    Rule

        over our will and defiance!   

    Rule

        over our lust for power!  

    Rule 

        over our work and achievements!

    Rule 

        over our arts and science!

    Rule 

        over our deeds and decisions!

  

Rule over our hearts, O Lord,

    with the word of your life and your truth,

    with your tenderness, patience and kindness
    with your mercy, wisdom and justice...

 

Let your reign and rule 

    be always the measure
        of our compassion and care,
        of our selfless sacrifice,
        of our generous mercy,
        of our attentive, unsparing love...

 

And remind us, Lord,

    that you rule as a servant:

born in a stable 

    the Cross is your throne;

you bleed for your subjects,

    your crown's made of thorns;           

your scepter is mercy,

    your edicts, good news;

you lay down your life

    that your people might live... 

  

With regal power reconcile us 

  and all the tragic divisions     

    in our villages, cities and towns,  

    in our families 

        and with our neighbors and friends,

    in and between all the nations on earth,

    in our use and care of our planet's goods,

    in our kinship with you among the poor...

 

You rule, Lord!

    You're our King of Kings and Lord of hosts,

    our Wonder Counselor and Mighty God,

    our Prince of everlasting peace!

With power and dominion, 

    you reign over all:

        over every living being on earth

        over all that was and all that is

        and all that ever more will be...

 

Reign over all your people, O God,

    and teach us to govern with mercy

as you have, kindly, ruled over us,

    your daughters and sons, your own... 

 

Amen.

   

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NGHT PRAYER: Friday 3/27

 

For several years I've posted a weekly Lenten series on a selected topic.  This year, on the Fridays of Lent, I'll be featuring songs we sing to honor the Cross of Jesus. (Here are links to the first, second,  third, fourth and fifth posts in this series.)  The very fact that we sing of the Cross on which Jesus died is a testimony to our faith and belief that in his suffering we find our healing and our life...  Tonight's selection is includes lyrics attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, an 11th century saint. This hymn trains our vision on the suffering of Christ on the Cross and calls us to reflect on the reality that he was crucified, bearing the burden of our sins: mine, yours and those of all of humanity...  This recording gives us Heather Sorenson's contemporary arrangement of Joel Shoemake's and Barry French's moving rendition of a very old hymn.  

I suggest you pray with the song first, and then move on to my Night Prayer...  

 

If a video doesn't appear below, click here!

 

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded 
With thorns, Thine only crown; 
How pale Thou art with anguish, 
With sore abuse and scorn! 
How does that visage languish 
Which once was bright as morn!

 

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered

Was all for sinners’ gain:

For mine was the transgression,

 But Thine the deadly pain;

Lo, here I fall, my Savior!

’Tis I deserve Thy place;

Look on me with Thy favor,

And help me with Thy grace.

 

O Sacred Head, O Hands and Feet,

O Love Incarnate, broken for me,

 

O Sacred Head, O Hands and Feet,

Who bought my pardon, Who set me free

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Night Prayer 

 

When I see you on your Cross, Lord, 

I sometimes turn away 

in shame, remorse and embarrassment,

finding myself liable, responsible, culpable 

for the suffering you lived

until you died

for me and for us all,

out of love for us so undeserving 

of your mercy and forgiveness... 

 

And sometimes, Lord,

when I see you on your Cross,

I gaze with grateful longing

for your holy outstretched arms,

reaching to embrace me

and take me to yourself,

to wash me in the mercy

spilling from your side,

healing me 

of all the sins you bore

in love for me...

 

Give me faith and strength, Lord,

to stand before your Cross,

to gaze upon your sacrifice

and know that in your holy wounds

I'm pardoned, loved and saved

- redeemed -

set free to rise with you

to everlasting life,

in peace that has no end...

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

 

Would you like to pray with the song again?

 

If a video doesn't appear below, click here! 

 

 

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