The Easter Blog

Passion Sunday, Year C

March 19th, 2007

Passion Sunday [Palm Sunday], Year C

The Procession with Palms

Gospel Lk 19, 28-40

A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Luke

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jesus went ahead with his ascent to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethpage
and Bethany on the mount called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples
with these instructions: ‘Go into the village straight ahead of you.
Upon entering it you will find an ass tied there which no one has yet
ridden. Untie it and lead it back. If anyone should ask you, ‘Why are
you untying the beast?’ say, ‘The Master has need of it.’” They departed
on their errand and found things just as he has said. As they untied the
ass, its owners said to them, “Why are you doing that?” They explained
that the Master needed it. Then they led the animal to Jesus, and laying
their cloaks on it, helped him mount. They spread their cloaks on the
roadway as he moved along; and on his approach to the descent from
Mount Olivet, the entire crowd of disciples began to rejoice and praise
God loudly for the display of power they had seen, saying:

“Blessed be he who comes as king

in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven

and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your
disciples.” He replied, “If they were to keep silence, I tell you the
very stones would cry out.”

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Passion Sunday [Palm Sunday], Year C

Mass

Reading I Is 50, 4-7

A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah

I did not cover my face against insult and I know I will not be
ashamed.

The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how
to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not
turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those
who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.
The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my
face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Reading II Phil 2, 6-11

A Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians

He humbled himself to become like us and God raised him on high.

Your attitude must be Christ’s: though he was in the form of God, he
did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, he
emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness
of men. He was known to be of human estate, and it was thus that he
humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross!
Because of this, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name
above every other name, so that at Jesus’ name every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue
proclaim to the glory of God the Father: Jesus Christ is Lord!

This is the Word of the Lord.

Gospel Lk 22, 14 - 23, 56 or 23, 1-49

Verse before the Gospel Phil 2, 8-9

Christ became obedient for us even to death dying on the cross. Therefore
God raised him on high and gave him a name above all other names.

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke

[Long Form]

When the hour arrived, Jesus took his place at table, and the apostles
with him. He said to them: “I have greatly desired to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer. I tell you, I will not eat again until it is
fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Then taking a cup he offered a blessing
in thanks and said: “Take this and divide it among you; I tell you, from
now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the coming of
the reign of God.”

Then taking bread and giving thanks, he broke it and
gave it to them, saying: “This is my body to be given for you. Do this
as a remembrance of me.” He did the same with the cup after eating,
saying as he did so: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which
will be shed for you.”

“And yet the hand of my betrayer is with me at
this table. The Son of Man is following out his appointed course, but
woe to the man by whom he is betrayed.” Then they began to dispute among
themselves as to which of them would do such a deed.

A dispute arose
among them about who would be regarded as the greatest. He said: “Earthly
kings lord it over their people. Those who exercise authority over them
are called their benefactors. Yet it cannot be that way with you. Let
the greater among you be as the junior, the leader as the servant. Who,
in fact, is the greater - he who reclines at table or he who serves the
meal? Is it not the one who reclines at table? Yet I am in your midst
as the one who serves you. You are the ones who have stood loyally
by me in my temptations. I for my part assign to you the dominion my
Father has assigned for me. In my kingdom, you will eat and drink at my
table, an you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

“Simon, Simon! Remember that Satan has asked for you to sift you all like
wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may never fail. You in
turn must strengthen your brothers.” “Lord,” he said to him, “at your
side I am prepared to face imprisonment and death itself.” Jesus replied,
“I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have
three times denied that you know me.”

He asked them, “When I sent you
on mission withour purse or traveling bag or sandals, were you in need
of anything?” “Not a thing,” they replied. He said to them: “Now,
however, the man who has a purse must carry it; the same with the
traveling bag. And the man without a sword must sell his coat and buy
one. It is written in Scripture,

‘He was counted among the wicked,’

and this, I tell you, must come to be fulfilled in me.  All that has to
do with me approaches its climax.” They said, “Lord, here are two swords!”
He answered, “Enough.”

Then he went out and made his way, as was his
custom, to the Mount of Olives; his disciples accompanied him. On
reaching the place he said to them, “Pray that you may not be put to the
test.” He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, then went down on his
knees and prayed in these words: “Father, if it is your will, take this
cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.” An angel then appeared
to him from heaven to strengthen him. In his anguish he prayed with all
the greater intensity, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling
to the ground. Then he rose from prayer and came to his disciples, only
to find them asleep, exchausted with grief. He said to them, “Why are
you sleeping? Wake up, and pray that you may not be subjected to the
trial.”

While he was still speaking a crowd came, led by the man named
Judas, one of the Twelve. He approached Jesus to embrace him. Jesus said
to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” When the
companions of Jesus saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord,
shall we use the sword?” One of them went so far as to strike the high
priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. Jesus said in answer to their
question, “Enough!” Then he touched the ear and healed the man. But to
those who had come out against him - the chief priests, the chiefs of
the temple guard, and the ancients - Jesus said, “Am I a criminal that
you come out after me armed with swords and clubs? When I was with you
day after day in the temple you never raised a hand against me. But this

is your hour - the triumph of darkness!”

They led him away under arrest
and brought him to the house of the high priest, while Peter followed at
a distance. Later they lighted a fire in the middle of the courtyard and
were sitting beside it, and Peter sat among them. A servant girl saw him
sitting in the light of the fire. She gazed at him intently, then said,
“This man was with him.” He denied the fact, saying, “Woman, I do not
know him.” A little while later someone else saw him and said, “You
are one of them too.” But Peter said, “No, sir, not I!” About an hour
after that another spoke more insistently: “This man was certainly with
him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter responded, “My friend, I do not know
what you are talking about.” At the very moment he was saying this, a
rooster crowed. The Lord turned around and look at Peter, and Peter
remembered the word that the Lord had spoken to him, “Before the rooster
crows today you will deny me three times.” He went out and wept bitterly.

Meanwhile the men guarding Jesus amused themselves at his expense. They
blindfolded him first, slapped him, and then taunted him: “Play the
prophet; which one struck you?” And they directed many other insulting
words at him.

At daybreak the council, which was made up of the elders
of the people, the chief priests, and the scribes, assembled again.
Once they had brought him before their council, they said, “Tell us, are
you the Messiah?” He replied, “If I tell you, you will not believe me,
and if I question you, you will not answer. This much only will I say:
‘From now on, the Son of Man will have his seat at the right hand of
the Power of God.’” “So you are the Son of God?” they asked in chorus.
He answered, “It is you who say I am.” They said, “What need have we of
witnesses? We have heard it from his own mouth.”

Then the entire assembly rose up and led him before Pilate. They started
his prosecution by saying, “We found this man subverting our nation,
opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar, and calling himself the Messiah,
a king.” Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered,
“That is your term.” Pilate reported to the chief priests and the crowds,
“I do not find a case against this man.” But they insisted, “He stirs
up the people by his teaching throughout the whole of Judea, from Galilee,
where he began, to this very place.” On hearing this Pilate asked if
the man was a Galilean; and when he learned that he was under Herod’s
jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who also happened to be in Jerusalem
at the time.

Herod was extremely pleased to see Jesus. From the reports about him he
had wanted for a long time to see him, and he was hoping to see him work
some miracle. He questioned Jesus at considerable length, but Jesus
made no answer. The chief priests and scribes were at hand to accuse him
vehemently. Herod and his guards then treated him with contempt and
insult, after which they put a magnificent robe on him and sent him back
to Pilate. Herod and Pilate, who had previously been set against each
other, became friends from that day.

Pilate then called together the chief priests, the ruling class, and the
people, and said to them: “You have brought this man before me as one who
subverts the people. I have examined him in your presence and have no
charge against him arising from your allegations. Neither has Herod, who
therefore has sent him back to us; obviously this man has done nothing
to deserve death. Therefore I mean to release him, once I have taught
him a lesson.” The whole crowd cried out, “Away with his man; release
Barabbas for us!” This Barabbas had been thrown in prison for causing
an uprising in the city, and for murder. Pilate addressing them again,
for he wanted Jesus to be the one he released.

But they shouted back, “Crucify him, crucify him!” He said to them for
the third time, “What wrong is this man guilty of? I have not discovered
anything about him deserving the death penalty. I will therefore chastise
him and release him.” But they demanded with loud cries that he be
crucified, and their shouts increased in violence. Pilate then decreed
that what they demanded should be done. He released the one they asked for,
who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder, and delivered
Jesus up to their wishes.

As they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene who was coming
in from the fields. They put a crossbeam on Simon’s shoulder for him to
carry along behind Jesus. A great crowd of people followed him, including
women who beat their breasts and lamented over him. Jesus turned to them
and said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves
and for your children. The days are coming when they will say, ‘Happy
are the sterile, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never
nursed.’ Then they will begin saying to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’,
and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ If they do these things in the green wood,
what will happen in the dry?”

Two others who were criminals were led along with him to be crucified.
When they came to Skull Place, as it was called, they crucified him there
and the criminals as well, one on his right and the other on his left.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”
They divided his garments, rolling dice for them.

The people stood there watching, and the leaders kept jeering at him,
saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of
God, the chosen one.” The soldiers also made fun of him, coming forward
to offer him the sour wine and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews,
save yourself.” There was an inscription over his head:

“This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals hanging in crucifixion blasphemed him, “Aren’t you
the Messiah? Then save yourself and us.” But the other one rebuked him:
“Have you no fear of God, seeing you are under the same sentence? We
deserve it, after all. We are only paying the price for what we’ve done,
but this man has done nothing wrong.” He then said, “Jesus, remember me
when you enter upon your reign.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you: this
day you will be with me in paradise.”

It was not around midday, and darkness came over the whole land until
midafternoon with an eclipse of the sun. The curtain in the sanctuary was
torn in two. Jesus uttered a loud cry and said,

“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

After he said this, he expired. The centurion, upon seeing what had
happened, gave glory to God by saying, “Surely this was an innocent man.”
After the crowd assembled for this spectacle witnessed what had happened,
they returned beating their breasts. All his friends and the women who
had accompanied him from Galilee were standing at a distance watching
everything.

There was a man named Joseph, an upright and holy member of the Sanhedrin,
who had not been associated with their plan or their action. He was from
Arimathea, a Jewish town, and he looked expectantly for the reign of God.
This man approached Pilate with a request for Jesus’ body. He took it
down, wrapped it in fine linen, and laid it in a tomb hewn out of the
rock, in which no one had yet been buried.

That was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was about to begin. The
women who had come with him from Galilee followed along behind. They saw
the tomb and how his body was buried. Then they went back home to prepare
spices and perfumes. They observed the sabbath as a day of rest, in
accordance with the law.

The gospel of the Lord.

or

(Short Form)

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke

The elders of the people and chief priests and scribes rose up and led
Jesus before Pilate. They started
his prosecution by saying, “We found this man subverting our nation,
opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar, and calling himself the Messiah,
a king.” Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered,
“That is your term.” Pilate reported to the chief priests and the crowds,
“I do not find a case against this man.” But they insisted, “He stirs
up the people by his teaching throughout the whole of Judea, from Galilee,
where he began, to this very place.” On hearing this Pilate asked if
the man was a Galilean; and when he learned that he was under Herod’s
jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who also happened to be in Jerusalem
at the time.

Herod was extremely pleased to see Jesus. From the reports about him he
had wanted for a long time to see him, and he was hoping to see him work
some miracle. He questioned Jesus at considerable length, but Jesus
made no answer. The chief priests and scribes were at hand to accuse him
vehemently. Herod and his guards then treated him with contempt and
insult, after which they put a magnificent robe on him and sent him back
to Pilate. Herod and Pilate, who had previously been set against each
other, became friends from that day.

Pilate then called together the chief priests, the ruling class, and the
people, and said to them: “You have brought this man before me as one who
subverts the people. I have examined him in your presence and have no
charge against him arising from your allegations. Neither has Herod, who
therefore has sent him back to us; obviously this man has done nothing
to deserve death. Therefore I mean to release him, once I have taught
him a lesson.” The whole crowd cried out, “Away with his man; release
Barabbas for us!” This Barabbas had been thrown in prison for causing
an uprising in the city, and for murder. Pilate addressing them again,
for he wanted Jesus to be the one he released.

But they shouted back, “Crucify him, crucify him!” He said to them for
the third time, “What wrong is this man guilty of? I have not discovered
anything about him deserving the death penalty. I will therefore chastise
him and release him.” But they demanded with loud cries that he be
crucified, and their shouts increased in violence. Pilate then decreed
that what they demanded should be done. He released the one they asked for,
who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder, and delivered
Jesus up to their wishes.

As they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene who was coming
in from the fields. They put a crossbeam on Simon’s shoulder for him to
carry along behind Jesus. A great crowd of people followed him, including
women who beat their breasts and lamented over him. Jesus turned to them
and said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves
and for your children. The days are coming when they will say, ‘Happy
are the sterile, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never
nursed.’ Then they will begin saying to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’,
and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ If they do these things in the green wood,
what will happen in the dry?”

Two others who were criminals were led along with him to be crucified.
When they came to Skull Place, as it was called, they crucified him there
and the criminals as well, one on his right and the other on his left.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”
They divided his garments, rolling dice for them.

The people stood there watching, and the leaders kept jeering at him,
saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of
God, the chosen one.” The soldiers also made fun of him, coming forward
to offer him the sour wine and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews,
save yourself.” There was an inscription over his head:

“This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals hanging in crucifixion blasphemed him, “Aren’t you
the Messiah? Then save yourself and us.” But the other one rebuked him:
“Have you no fear of God, seeing you are under the same sentence? We
deserve it, after all. We are only paying the price for what we’ve done,
but this man has done nothing wrong.” He then said, “Jesus, remember me
when you enter upon your reign.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you: this
day you will be with me in paradise.”

It was not around midday, and darkness came over the whole land until
midafternoon with an eclipse of the sun. The curtain in the sanctuary was
torn in two. Jesus uttered a loud cry and said,

“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

After he said this, he expired. The centurion, upon seeing what had
happened, gave glory to God by saying, “Surely this was an innocent man.”
After the crowd assembled for this spectacle witnessed what had happened,
they returned beating their breasts. All his friends and the women who
had accompanied him from Galilee were standing at a distance watching
everything.

There was a man named Joseph, an upright and holy member of the Sanhedrin,
who had not been associated with their plan or their action. He was from
Arimathea, a Jewish town, and he looked expectantly for the reign of God.
This man approached Pilate with a request for Jesus’ body. He took it
down, wrapped it in fine linen, and laid it in a tomb hewn out of the
rock, in which no one had yet been buried.

That was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was about to begin. The
women who had come with him from Galilee followed along behind. They saw
the tomb and how his body was buried. Then they went back home to prepare
spices and perfumes. They observed the sabbath as a day of rest, in
accordance with the law.

The gospel of the Lord.

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