Lectio Divina, Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, March 24, 2024

The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread 
were to take place in two days’ time.
So the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way 
to arrest him by treachery and put him to death.
They said, “Not during the festival, 
for fear that there may be a riot among the people.”

When he was in Bethany reclining at table 
in the house of Simon the leper, 
a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil,
costly genuine spikenard.
She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head.
There were some who were indignant.
“Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil?
It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages 
and the money given to the poor.”
They were infuriated with her.
Jesus said, “Let her alone.
Why do you make trouble for her?
She has done a good thing for me.
The poor you will always have with you, 
and whenever you wish you can do good to them, 
but you will not always have me.
She has done what she could.
She has anticipated anointing my body for burial.
Amen, I say to you,
wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world,
what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, 
went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them.
When they heard him they were pleased and promised to pay him money.
Then he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 
when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, 
his disciples said to him,
“Where do you want us to go
and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
He sent two of his disciples and said to them, 
“Go into the city and a man will meet you,
carrying a jar of water.
Follow him.
Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there.”
The disciples then went off, entered the city, 
and found it just as he had told them; 
and they prepared the Passover.

When it was evening, he came with the Twelve. 
And as they reclined at table and were eating, Jesus said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me, 
one who is eating with me.”
They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one,
“Surely it is not I?”
He said to them,
“One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish.
For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”

While they were eating,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them, and said, 
“Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, 
and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
“This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you,
I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine 
until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Then, after singing a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus said to them, 
“All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written:
    I will strike the shepherd,
        and the sheep will be dispersed.
But after I have been raised up,
I shall go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him, 
“Even though all should have their faith shaken,
mine will not be.”
Then Jesus said to him,
"Amen, I say to you, 
this very night before the cock crows twice
you will deny me three times.”
But he vehemently replied, 
“Even though I should have to die with you,
I will not deny you.”
And they all spoke similarly.

Then they came to a place named Gethsemane,
and he said to his disciples,
“Sit here while I pray.”
He took with him Peter, James, and John, 
and began to be troubled and distressed.
Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death.
Remain here and keep watch.”
He advanced a little and fell to the ground and prayed
that if it were possible the hour might pass by him; 
he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you.
Take this cup away from me,
but not what I will but what you will.”
When he returned he found them asleep.
He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep?
Could you not keep watch for one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
Withdrawing again, he prayed, saying the same thing.
Then he returned once more and found them asleep, 
for they could not keep their eyes open 
and did not know what to answer him.
He returned a third time and said to them, 
“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
It is enough.  The hour has come.
Behold, the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.
Get up, let us go.
See, my betrayer is at hand.”

Then, while he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, 
accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs 
who had come from the chief priests,
the scribes, and the elders.
His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying, 
“The man I shall kiss is the one; 
arrest him and lead him away securely.”
He came and immediately went over to him and said,
“Rabbi.”  And he kissed him.
At this they laid hands on him and arrested him.
One of the bystanders drew his sword,
struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you come out as against a robber, 
with swords and clubs, to seize me?
Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple area, 
yet you did not arrest me; 
but that the Scriptures may be fulfilled.”
And they all left him and fled.
Now a young man followed him
wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body.
They seized him,
but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.

They led Jesus away to the high priest,
and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.
Peter followed him at a distance into the high priest’s courtyard 
and was seated with the guards, warming himself at the fire.
The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin
kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus 
in order to put him to death, but they found none.
Many gave false witness against him,
but their testimony did not agree.
Some took the stand and testified falsely against him,
 alleging, “We heard him say,
‘I will destroy this temple made with hands
and within three days I will build another
not made with hands.’”
Even so their testimony did not agree.
The high priest rose before the assembly and questioned Jesus,
saying, “Have you no answer?
What are these men testifying against you?”
But he was silent and answered nothing.
Again the high priest asked him and said to him, 
“Are you the Christ, the son of the Blessed One?”
Then Jesus answered, “I am;
and ‘you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power
and coming with the clouds of heaven.’”
At that the high priest tore his garments and said,
“What further need have we of witnesses?
You have heard the blasphemy.
What do you think?”
They all condemned him as deserving to die.
Some began to spit on him.
They blindfolded him and struck him and said to him, “Prophesy!”
And the guards greeted him with blows.

While Peter was below in the courtyard,
one of the high priest’s maids came along.
Seeing Peter warming himself,
she looked intently at him and said,
“You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
But he denied it saying,
“I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.”
So he went out into the outer court.
Then the cock crowed.
The maid saw him and began again to say to the bystanders,
“This man is one of them.”
Once again he denied it.
A little later the bystanders said to Peter once more,
“Surely you are one of them; for you too are a Galilean.”
He began to curse and to swear, 
“I do not know this man about whom you are talking.”
And immediately a cock crowed a second time.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him,
“Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.”
He broke down and wept.

As soon as morning came, 
the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, 
that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council.
They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
Pilate questioned him,
“Are you the king of the Jews?”
He said to him in reply, “You say so.”
The chief priests accused him of many things.
Again Pilate questioned him,
“Have you no answer?
See how many things they accuse you of.”
Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them
one prisoner whom they requested.
A man called Barabbas was then in prison 
along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion.
The crowd came forward and began to ask him
to do for them as he was accustomed.
Pilate answered, 
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
For he knew that it was out of envy 
that the chief priests had handed him over.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd 
to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
Pilate again said to them in reply,
“Then what do you want me to do 
with the man you call the king of the Jews?”
They shouted again, “Crucify him.”
Pilate said to them, “Why?  What evil has he done?”
They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.”
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged,
handed him over to be crucified.

The soldiers led him away inside the palace, 
that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort.
They clothed him in purple and, 
weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him.
They began to salute him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!” 
and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him.
They knelt before him in homage.
And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the purple cloak,
dressed him in his own clothes,
and led him out to crucify him.

They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon,
a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
to carry his cross.

They brought him to the place of Golgotha
— which is translated Place of the Skull —,
They gave him wine drugged with myrrh,
but he did not take it.
Then they crucified him and divided his garments 
by casting lots for them to see what each should take.
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
The inscription of the charge against him read,
“The King of the Jews.”
With him they crucified two revolutionaries, 
one on his right and one on his left.
Those passing by reviled him,
shaking their heads and saying,
“Aha!  You who would destroy the temple
and rebuild it in three days,
save yourself by coming down from the cross.”
Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, 
mocked him among themselves and said, 
“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
come down now from the cross
that we may see and believe.”
Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.

At noon darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 
“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”
which is translated,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some of the bystanders who heard it said, 
“Look, he is calling Elijah.”
One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed 
and gave it to him to drink saying, 
“Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

        Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the centurion who stood facing him
saw how he  breathed his last he said, 
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”
There were also women looking on from a distance.
Among them were Mary Magdalene, 
Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome.
These women had followed him when he was in Galilee
and ministered to him.
There were also many other women
who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

When it was already evening,
since it was the day of preparation,
the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea,
a distinguished member of the council,
who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God,
came and courageously went to Pilate
and asked for the body of Jesus.
Pilate was amazed that he was already dead.
He summoned the centurion
and asked him if Jesus had already died.
And when he learned of it from the centurion, 
he gave the body to Joseph.
Having bought a linen cloth, he took him down,
wrapped him in the linen cloth,
and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock.
Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses
watched where he was laid.

MEDITATE

Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me.

In these times when religion and faith in God are considered not much more than an afterthought by many people in our society, it's easy to imagine even respected influencers scoffing at the devotion of the lady with the alabaster jar. Jesus’ words get to the heart of the matter, as usual. Why do the onlookers care so much about what she does with the alabaster jar? Why have people ever criticized religious devotion throughout the ages? It’s because it’s so much easier to recognize our physical needs than it is to recognize our spiritual ones; and when the latter are chosen over the former, those who don’t understand spiritual matters consider the choice to be a waste. Jesus commends the lady’s act of devotion, because the act brings into better focus the spiritual realm that could easily be brushed aside by our worldly concerns. After all, Jesus’ victory will be a spiritual one and not a worldly one as many had hoped for.

Take it; this is my body

The disciples listened when Jesus told them to eat his body. Only true believers would do such a thing. Yet, in the very next chapter, even the disciples who just ate of his body will abandon Jesus. Christ’s body is not only the Eucharist. It is also the Church. So when we partake in Communion we are becoming part of his Body, the Church. The disciples demonstrate how we can be part of the Body and believe, while still failing to do what God expects of us. This is why he gave us the sacrament of confession. Christ’s body must be without blemish. He is the Spotless Lamb. Meditate on the meaning of this, and why St. Paul teaches that “any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself” (1 Corinthians 11:29).

This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.

Christ wants to build a loving relationship with us, and he is willing to die to do it. As he had this Last Supper with his disciples, he knew everything that was going to happen to him in the next day, and went through with it all anyway because of love. In John 3:16, we read that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Christ would not have said that if he wasn’t planning on backing it up with action. He continues to back up those words, not only at every Mass, but in all the ways he showers his grace and forgiveness upon the world. Our sins are all covered by this blood of the New Covenant.

Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times

How often, despite our sincerest intentions to stay faithful to God, do we still deny him nonetheless? It may be by not going to Mass on Sunday, or by failing to stand up for the faith at work for fear of the outcome. If we allow Christ’s intimate knowledge of our own shortcomings to pierce our hearts, and see how he loves us despite them all, we can have the conversion of heart that Peter had. This same Peter who denied Christ three times would later proclaim the Gospel all the way to Rome, and lead the Church through some of its darkest persecution as the first pope. Redemption is possible for those who have a contrite heart.

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

In Lent we experience what Christ is talking about here firsthand. The disciples were understandably tired after a long day, and probably deemed that they deserved a rest. We are all guilty of doing that. We can get pretty creative in the excuses we come up with for relaxing our lenten disciplines. Christ’s words can bring into focus the whole point of Lent: to make us more aware of the spiritual battle within us. We cannot tune into that battle very well if we are constantly giving into the weak desires of the flesh.

My God, why have you forsaken me?

God forsook his son, his only son? Indeed, why?

It’s because Christ became our sins. For that brief time on the Cross, Jesus bore everything that ever messed up his father’s original plan. As much as it pained God to do it, this was the only way to reconcile everything to himself. Christ died once and for all, but now all who look to the Cross can receive its salvation. In a clever twist of fate, God used an act of great evil, the murder of his son, to bring about the greatest good: salvation for all the world. But it came at a cost that God the Father hated to bear.

When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Much attention is given to the Good Thief, but this centurion's proclamation of faith is not given as much consideration. It is especially powerful when considered along with the story of the Good Thief, though. We don't know where the centurion or the thief were in their spiritual journeys, but by being in the presence of Christ they received the heart of conversion. When Peter acknowledged Christ as the Son of God, Christ said it was not man but the Holy Spirit who revealed that to him. The same could likely be said of the centurion when he acknowledged Christ as the Son of God, then. We often tend to bunch the characters in the Gospels into groups, and may assume the centurions were just all sinful since they were the punishers of Christ and represented the big, bad Roman Empire. We usually see them forcing Jesus to carry his cross in the Stations of the Cross at our church. Picture one of those centurions right now. Then meditate on the power that the presence of Christ must have had, if his death could convert the heart of even a Roman soldier who directly participated in killing him.

PRAY

Lord, no one is too far from your mercy and grace. The story we read this Palm Sunday reminds us in so many ways of not only your immense love for us, but also the perfection of your plan to save us from our sins. May we never grow weary of the salvation you offer, and may we experience your mercy anew as Holy Week approaches. Thank you for redeeming us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

LISTEN

The world grew dark when Jesus died. It was perhaps the most important moment in all of history, and it was probably also one of the quietest. After all, the God who created everything had just breathed his dying breath. Contemplate how God can speak profoundly even in the darkest moments, even in complete silence. Darkness can also be of a spiritual nature, when we lose sight of God in the midst of the boring monotony of everyday life and our souls feel empty. When we are done reading a Scripture passage, this kind of darkness may creep in again. Let’s not forget to look for God there too, and listen for him in every moment of our day.

Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

About the Author:

David Kilby is a freelance writer from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report. He received his undergrad degree in humanities and Catholic culture from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. In addition to working with the Knights of the Holy Eucharist (knights.org), he has served as a journalist for Princeton Packet Publications, and the Trenton Monitor, the magazine for the Diocese of Trenton. Some of his published work can also be found in St. Anthony Messenger, Catholic Herald (UK), and Catholic World Report. For the latter he is managing editor. Find more of his writing at ramblingspirit.com

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