Palm Sunday

Our readings for Palm Sunday:

1. Isaiah 50: 4-7
2. Psalms 22: 8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
3. Philippians 2: 6-11
4. Luke 22: 14 - 23: 56

• Seeking a well trained tongue
• A person in great need is often hard to reach.  They can feel isolated, alone, cut off from the rest of humanity by their tragedy.  This can especially happen to those grieving the loss of a loved one.
• Have you ever been confronted by someone whose need was so deep that you had no idea what to say to them?
• What were you able to say/do for them?
• How did you come to that response to their need?
  

• Feeling abandoned
• What is something that God has done for you just lately that you're grateful for?
• Were you seeking that blessing, or did it come as a surprise?
• What were you praying for at that time?
• Why do you think that God answered you the way that He did?
• What does that tell you about God?
• What does that tell you about yourself?
  

• What wondrous love
• Jesus' gift of Himself was no snap decision, no single impulsive act that committed Him to His death.  Rather, His whole life among us was one decision after another, one giving of self after another, one death after another.
• What do you think that it means to imitate Christ?
• What good can come of trying to live a life as Jesus did?  Didn't Jesus live that self-denying life so that we would not have to?
• What has denying yourself ever gotten you?
  

• Hangin' with Jesus
• You have to feel awe that Jesus was able to extend mercy to St. Dismas even in the midst of his own agony, shame, and isolation.
• Have you ever ministered to someone else when you were troubled in one way or another?
• What made you think to look outside yourself, and touch that other person?
• How were you able to get past your own problems in that moment?
• Did that offering of yourself help you in any way?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
• Where might God be inviting me to bring hope to another?
• Am I honest with God in prayer?
• How is God inviting me to be closer to Jesus today?
• Where might God be inviting me into a miracle? 
  

Splinters In My Shoulders

 I hate the Romans.
They find an endless litany of ways to remind you that they are the dominant force on the planet.

Their soldiers can demand that you carry their arms and armor for a mile.

Every transaction is an opportunity for another tax.

Even the money bears the image and likeness of the emperor.

 

The wood that they pressed upon me was stained,

Heavy,

Rough in places, worn smooth in others.

And I wasn't sure which revolted me more: the bloody stains

Or the smooth spots worn down by the spasms of agony of former victims.

 

I wanted nothing to do with it.

But, of course, like all things with the Romans,

What I wanted did not matter.

So they lashed that hateful instrument of torture to my back.

And bid me walk for the pathetic, beaten, mutilated man beside me.

 

I could tell that he was barely hanging on.

Putting one foot in front of the other through sheer act of will.

Meanwhile, the soldiers just wanted to get his execution over and done with,

So that they could get home to their families and get a little rest

For my part, I was already trying to decide how I would describe today to my wife.

 

Even in the midst of His agony, He comforted others.

Telling them to take heart,

No cries for pity parted His lips.

No screams of outrage or mourning tumbled out of his bruised and beaten frame.

His eyes always seeking others, to meet and comfort them.

 

Finally, he looked at me.

And suddenly I joined the crowd of mourners,

Reduced to tears at his cruel fate.

Reduced to groans and sighs in the face of such cruelty.

He held me in the embrace of his eyes and thanked me for my service.

 

I could not leave His side after that.

I knew that I had to stay close to Him as long as possible.

I did not know what would come of that impulse, 

But I knew that I would be forever incomplete if I left His side.

And I have found my best self on that via dolorosa ever since.

Shalom!