Gospel: Luke 19:28-40 (before the procession with Palms)

First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7

Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11

Gospel: Luke 22:14-23:56 (Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ)

 

Today’s liturgy teaches us that the Lord has not saved us by his triumphal entry. The Apostle Paul, in the second reading, epitomizes in two verbs the path of redemption: Jesus “emptied” and “humbled” himself. Jesus emptied himself: he did not cling to the glory that was his as the Son of God, but became the Son of man in order to be in solidarity with us sinners. Even more, he lived among us in “the condition of a servant”. Therefore, he humbled himself, and the abyss of his humiliation, as Holy Week shows us, seems to be bottomless.

 

The humiliation of Jesus reaches its utmost in the Passion: he is sold for thirty pieces of silver and betrayed by the kiss of a disciple whom he had chosen. Nearly all the others flee and abandon him; Peter denies him three times in the courtyard of the temple. He suffers in his body terrible brutality: the blows, the scourging and the crown of thorns make his face unrecognizable. He also experiences shame and disgraceful condemnation by religious and political authorities: he is made into sin and considered to be unjust.

 

God’s way of acting may seem so far removed from our own, that he was annihilated for our sake, while it seems difficult for us to even forget ourselves a little. We are called to choose his way: the way of service, of giving, of forgetfulness of ourselves. Let us walk this path, pausing in these days to gaze upon the Crucifix; it is the “royal seat of God”, to learn about the humble love which saves and gives life. Jesus invites us to walk on his path. Let us turn our faces to him, let us ask for the grace to understand at least something of the mystery of his obliteration for our sake; and then, in silence, let us contemplate the mystery of this Week.