{"id":2967,"date":"2017-04-05T10:26:46","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T15:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2024-06-20T15:43:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T15:43:46","slug":"palm-sunday-reflection-with-dr-jean-pierre-fortin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/?p=2967","title":{"rendered":"Palm Sunday Reflection with Dr. Jean-Pierre Fortin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/-Gvm-Un484U<\/a><\/p>\n

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
\n\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

At The Procession With Palms \u2014\u00a0 Gospel\u00a0MT 21:1-11<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem
\nand came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,
\nJesus sent two disciples, saying to them,
\n“Go into the village opposite you,
\nand immediately you will find an ass tethered,
\nand a colt with her.
\nUntie them and bring them here to me.
\nAnd if anyone should say anything to you, reply,
\n‘The master has need of them.’
\nThen he will send them at once.”
\nThis happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet
\nmight be fulfilled:
\nSay to daughter Zion,
\n“Behold, your king comes to you,
\nmeek and riding on an ass,
\nand on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”<\/em>
\nThe disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them.
\nThey brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them,
\nand he sat upon them.
\nThe very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,
\nwhile others cut branches from the trees
\nand strewed them on the road.
\nThe crowds preceding him and those following
\nkept crying out and saying:
\n“Hosanna to the Son of David;
\nblessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord;
\nhosanna in the highest.”
\nAnd when he entered Jerusalem
\nthe whole city was shaken and asked, “Who is this?”
\nAnd the crowds replied,
\n“This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”<\/p>\n

At The Mass\u00a0\u2014 Reading 1IS 50:4-7<\/a><\/h4>\n

The Lord GOD has given me
\na well-trained tongue,
\nthat I might know how to speak to the weary
\na word that will rouse them.
\nMorning after morning
\nhe opens my ear that I may hear;
\nand I have not rebelled,
\nhave not turned back.
\nI gave my back to those who beat me,
\nmy cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
\nmy face I did not shield
\nfrom buffets and spitting.<\/p>\n

The Lord GOD is my help,
\ntherefore I am not disgraced;
\nI have set my face like flint,
\nknowing that I shall not be put to shame.<\/p>\n

Responsorial PsalmPS 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24<\/a><\/h4>\n

R. (2a) My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?<\/strong>
\nAll who see me scoff at me;
\nthey mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
\n“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
\nlet him rescue him, if he loves him.”
\nR. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?<\/strong>
\nIndeed, many dogs surround me,
\na pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
\nThey have pierced my hands and my feet;
\nI can count all my bones.
\nR. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?<\/strong>
\nThey divide my garments among them,
\nand for my vesture they cast lots.
\nBut you, O LORD, be not far from me;
\nO my help, hasten to aid me.
\nR. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?<\/strong>
\nI will proclaim your name to my brethren;
\nin the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
\n“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
\nall you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
\nrevere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
\nR. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reading 2PHIL 2:6-11<\/a><\/h4>\n

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
\ndid not regard equality with God
\nsomething to be grasped.
\nRather, he emptied himself,
\ntaking the form of a slave,
\ncoming in human likeness;
\nand found human in appearance,
\nhe humbled himself,
\nbecoming obedient to the point of death,
\neven death on a cross.
\nBecause of this, God greatly exalted him
\nand bestowed on him the name
\nwhich is above every name,
\nthat at the name of Jesus
\nevery knee should bend,
\nof those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
\nand every tongue confess that
\nJesus Christ is Lord,
\nto the glory of God the Father.<\/p>\n

Verse Before The GospelPHIL 2:8-9<\/a><\/h4>\n

Christ became obedient to the point of death,
\neven death on a cross.
\nBecause of this, God greatly exalted him
\nand bestowed on him the name which is above every name.<\/p>\n

GospelMT 26:14\u201427:66<\/a><\/h4>\n

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
\nwent to the chief priests and said,
\n“What are you willing to give me
\nif I hand him over to you?”
\nThey paid him thirty pieces of silver,
\nand from that time on he looked for an opportunity
\nto hand him over.<\/p>\n

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
\nthe disciples approached Jesus and said,
\n“Where do you want us to prepare
\nfor you to eat the Passover?”
\nHe said,
\n“Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
\n‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near;
\nin your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘”
\nThe disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,
\nand prepared the Passover.<\/p>\n

When it was evening,
\nhe reclined at table with the Twelve.
\nAnd while they were eating, he said,
\n“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
\nDeeply distressed at this,
\nthey began to say to him one after another,
\n“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
\nHe said in reply,
\n“He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me
\nis the one who will betray me.
\nThe Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
\nbut woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
\nIt would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
\nThen Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
\n“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
\nHe answered, “You have said so.”<\/p>\n

While they were eating,
\nJesus took bread, said the blessing,
\nbroke it, and giving it to his disciples said,
\n“Take and eat; this is my body.”
\nThen he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,
\n“Drink from it, all of you,
\nfor this is my blood of the covenant,
\nwhich will be shed on behalf of many
\nfor the forgiveness of sins.
\nI tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine
\nuntil the day when I drink it with you new
\nin the kingdom of my Father.”
\nThen, after singing a hymn,
\nthey went out to the Mount of Olives.<\/p>\n

Then Jesus said to them,
\n“This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken,
\nfor it is written:
\nI will strike the shepherd,
\nand the sheep of the flock will be dispersed;<\/em>
\nbut after I have been raised up,
\nI shall go before you to Galilee.”
\nPeter said to him in reply,
\n“Though all may have their faith in you shaken,
\nmine will never be.”
\nJesus said to him,
\n“Amen, I say to you,
\nthis very night before the cock crows,
\nyou will deny me three times.”
\nPeter said to him,
\n“Even though I should have to die with you,
\nI will not deny you.”
\nAnd all the disciples spoke likewise.<\/p>\n

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane,
\nand he said to his disciples,
\n“Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
\nHe took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
\nand began to feel sorrow and distress.
\nThen he said to them,
\n“My soul is sorrowful even to death.
\nRemain here and keep watch with me.”
\nHe advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying,
\n“My Father, if it is possible,
\nlet this cup pass from me;
\nyet, not as I will, but as you will.”
\nWhen he returned to his disciples he found them asleep.
\nHe said to Peter,
\n“So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?
\nWatch and pray that you may not undergo the test.
\nThe spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
\nWithdrawing a second time, he prayed again,
\n“My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass
\nwithout my drinking it, your will be done!”
\nThen he returned once more and found them asleep,
\nfor they could not keep their eyes open.
\nHe left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time,
\nsaying the same thing again.
\nThen he returned to his disciples and said to them,
\n“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
\nBehold, the hour is at hand
\nwhen the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.
\nGet up, let us go.
\nLook, my betrayer is at hand.”<\/p>\n

While he was still speaking,
\nJudas, one of the Twelve, arrived,
\naccompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs,
\nwho had come from the chief priests and the elders
\nof the people.
\nHis betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying,
\n“The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him.”
\nImmediately he went over to Jesus and said,
\n“Hail, Rabbi!” and he kissed him.
\nJesus answered him,
\n“Friend, do what you have come for.”
\nThen stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.
\nAnd behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus
\nput his hand to his sword, drew it,
\nand struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear.
\nThen Jesus said to him,
\n“Put your sword back into its sheath,
\nfor all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
\nDo you think that I cannot call upon my Father
\nand he will not provide me at this moment
\nwith more than twelve legions of angels?
\nBut then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled
\nwhich say that it must come to pass in this way?”
\nAt that hour Jesus said to the crowds,
\n“Have you come out as against a robber,
\nwith swords and clubs to seize me?
\nDay after day I sat teaching in the temple area,
\nyet you did not arrest me.
\nBut all this has come to pass
\nthat the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled.”
\nThen all the disciples left him and fled.<\/p>\n

Those who had arrested Jesus led him away
\nto Caiaphas the high priest,
\nwhere the scribes and the elders were assembled.
\nPeter was following him at a distance
\nas far as the high priest’s courtyard,
\nand going inside he sat down with the servants
\nto see the outcome.
\nThe chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin
\nkept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus
\nin order to put him to death,
\nbut they found none,
\nthough many false witnesses came forward.
\nFinally two came forward who stated,
\n“This man said, ‘I can destroy the temple of God
\nand within three days rebuild it.'”
\nThe high priest rose and addressed him,
\n“Have you no answer?
\nWhat are these men testifying against you?”
\nBut Jesus was silent.
\nThen the high priest said to him,
\n“I order you to tell us under oath before the living God
\nwhether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
\nJesus said to him in reply,
\n“You have said so.
\nBut I tell you:
\nFrom now on you will see ‘the Son of Man
\nseated at the right hand of the Power’
\nand ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.'”
\nThen the high priest tore his robes and said,
\n“He has blasphemed!
\nWhat further need have we of witnesses?
\nYou have now heard the blasphemy;
\nwhat is your opinion?”
\nThey said in reply,
\n“He deserves to die!”
\nThen they spat in his face and struck him,
\nwhile some slapped him, saying,
\n“Prophesy for us, Christ: who is it that struck you?”<\/p>\n

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard.
\nOne of the maids came over to him and said,
\n“You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”
\nBut he denied it in front of everyone, saying,
\n“I do not know what you are talking about!”
\nAs he went out to the gate, another girl saw him
\nand said to those who were there,
\n“This man was with Jesus the Nazorean.”
\nAgain he denied it with an oath,
\n“I do not know the man!”
\nA little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter,
\n“Surely you too are one of them;
\neven your speech gives you away.”
\nAt that he began to curse and to swear,
\n“I do not know the man.”
\nAnd immediately a cock crowed.
\nThen Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken:
\n“Before the cock crows you will deny me three times.”
\nHe went out and began to weep bitterly.<\/p>\n

When it was morning,
\nall the chief priests and the elders of the people
\ntook counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
\nThey bound him, led him away,
\nand handed him over to Pilate, the governor.<\/p>\n

Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned,
\ndeeply regretted what he had done.
\nHe returned the thirty pieces of silver
\nto the chief priests and elders, saying,
\n“I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.”
\nThey said,
\n“What is that to us?
\nLook to it yourself.”
\nFlinging the money into the temple,
\nhe departed and went off and hanged himself.
\nThe chief priests gathered up the money, but said,
\n“It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury,
\nfor it is the price of blood.”
\nAfter consultation, they used it to buy the potter’s field
\nas a burial place for foreigners.
\nThat is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood.
\nThen was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah
\nthe prophet,
\nAnd they took the thirty pieces of silver,
\nthe value of a man with a price on his head,
\na price set by some of the Israelites,
\nand they paid it out for the potter’s field
\njust as the Lord had commanded me.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him,
\n“Are you the king of the Jews?”
\nJesus said, “You say so.”
\nAnd when he was accused by the chief priests and elders,
\nhe made no answer.
\nThen Pilate said to him,
\n“Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?”
\nBut he did not answer him one word,
\nso that the governor was greatly amazed.<\/p>\n

Now on the occasion of the feast
\nthe governor was accustomed to release to the crowd
\none prisoner whom they wished.
\nAnd at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.
\nSo when they had assembled, Pilate said to them,
\n“Which one do you want me to release to you,
\nBarabbas, or Jesus called Christ?”
\nFor he knew that it was out of envy
\nthat they had handed him over.
\nWhile he was still seated on the bench,
\nhis wife sent him a message,
\n“Have nothing to do with that righteous man.
\nI suffered much in a dream today because of him.”
\nThe chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds
\nto ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.
\nThe governor said to them in reply,
\n“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”
\nThey answered, “Barabbas!”
\nPilate said to them,
\n“Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?”
\nThey all said,
\n“Let him be crucified!”
\nBut he said,
\n“Why? What evil has he done?”
\nThey only shouted the louder,
\n“Let him be crucified!”
\nWhen Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all,
\nbut that a riot was breaking out instead,
\nhe took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd,
\nsaying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood.
\nLook to it yourselves.”
\nAnd the whole people said in reply,
\n“His blood be upon us and upon our children.”
\nThen he released Barabbas to them,
\nbut after he had Jesus scourged,
\nhe handed him over to be crucified.<\/p>\n

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium
\nand gathered the whole cohort around him.
\nThey stripped off his clothes
\nand threw a scarlet military cloak about him.
\nWeaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head,
\nand a reed in his right hand.
\nAnd kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying,
\n“Hail, King of the Jews!”
\nThey spat upon him and took the reed
\nand kept striking him on the head.
\nAnd when they had mocked him,
\nthey stripped him of the cloak,
\ndressed him in his own clothes,
\nand led him off to crucify him.<\/p>\n

As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon;
\nthis man they pressed into service
\nto carry his cross.<\/p>\n

And when they came to a place called Golgotha
\n\u2014which means Place of the Skull \u2014,
\nthey gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall.
\nBut when he had tasted it, he refused to drink.
\nAfter they had crucified him,
\nthey divided his garments by casting lots;
\nthen they sat down and kept watch over him there.
\nAnd they placed over his head the written charge against him:
\nThis is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
\nTwo revolutionaries were crucified with him,
\none on his right and the other on his left.
\nThose passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying,
\n“You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
\nsave yourself, if you are the Son of God,
\nand come down from the cross!”
\nLikewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said,
\n“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
\nSo he is the king of Israel!
\nLet him come down from the cross now,
\nand we will believe in him.
\nHe trusted in God;
\nlet him deliver him now if he wants him.
\nFor he said, ‘I am the Son of God.'”
\nThe revolutionaries who were crucified with him
\nalso kept abusing him in the same way.<\/p>\n

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land
\nuntil three in the afternoon.
\nAnd about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
\n“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”<\/em>
\nwhich means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
\nSome of the bystanders who heard it said,
\n“This one is calling for Elijah.”
\nImmediately one of them ran to get a sponge;
\nhe soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed,
\ngave it to him to drink.
\nBut the rest said,
\n“Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.”
\nBut Jesus cried out again in a loud voice,
\nand gave up his spirit.<\/p>\n

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.<\/em><\/p>\n

And behold, the veil of the sanctuary
\nwas torn in two from top to bottom.
\nThe earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened,
\nand the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
\nAnd coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection,
\nthey entered the holy city and appeared to many.
\nThe centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus
\nfeared greatly when they saw the earthquake
\nand all that was happening, and they said,
\n“Truly, this was the Son of God!”
\nThere were many women there, looking on from a distance,
\nwho had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.
\nAmong them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph,
\nand the mother of the sons of Zebedee.<\/p>\n

When it was evening,
\nthere came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph,
\nwho was himself a disciple of Jesus.
\nHe went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus;
\nthen Pilate ordered it to be handed over.
\nTaking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen
\nand laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock.
\nThen he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb
\nand departed.
\nBut Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
\nremained sitting there, facing the tomb.<\/p>\n

The next day, the one following the day of preparation,
\nthe chief priests and the Pharisees
\ngathered before Pilate and said,
\n“Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said,
\n‘After three days I will be raised up.’
\nGive orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day,
\nlest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people,
\n‘He has been raised from the dead.’
\nThis last imposture would be worse than the first.”
\nPilate said to them,
\n“The guard is yours;
\ngo, secure it as best you can.”
\nSo they went and secured the tomb
\nby fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion At The Procession With Palms \u2014\u00a0 Gospel\u00a0MT 21:1-11 When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tethered, and a colt read more <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ips","category-ips-students","category-ips-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2967"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4686,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967\/revisions\/4686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}