FOR HOLY WEEK REFLECTIONS Meditations on the Word of God On

FOR HOLY WEEK REFLECTIONS

Meditations on the Word of God on Palm Sunday. We will focus on the Description of the Lord's Passion in the account of the Holy Mother of the Evangelist. Consider the last hours of Jesus' life before the crucifixion. We are entering Holy Week, this is a very important moment because we will follow Jesus step by step. We will see how he lives the mystery of the Passover which is being done in him. We contemplate the Passion of Christ and then enter it in our daily life. We want to imitate him in his path of obedience to the Father in love. When we think about the evangelical descriptions of the Lord's Passion, we are tempted to treat individual narratives as peculiar treasures of historical information. We are looking for various details that allow us to get closer to what Jesus experienced on the Way of the Cross, during the trial, and which he experienced while hanging on the tree of the Cross. Each description of the Passion we treat as a separate part of the thematic whole. Mark's Gospel is addressed to the Gentiles, although there may be Judeo-Christians among them. These are people who are just entering the path of faith. Saint Mark wants to lead his listeners to the point where, following the Roman centurion, they will be able to confess: ‘Jesus, You are the true Savior of the world!’ Descriptions of Christ's Passion in Mark's Gospel are extremely dramatic and realistic. We must remember that both for the Gentiles and for the Jews, the Passion and death on the Cross are events which disgrace, and discredit Jesus. In antiquity, the Cross was used as an instrument of death for people without rights; for the worst bandits. The cross was placed for convicts who were not only killed, but also and they wanted them defamed. So the cross was a warning to their followers but also to the disciples, to the people and for their relatives. In the Gospels, the Cross has a completely different meaning. Let's think today why St. Mark describes Jesus' passion and death in such a faithful and natural way? An introduction to the understanding of the Mark's description of the Passion is the description of the anointing of Jesus in Bethany. The Evangelist, Mark, informs us that before the Passover (2 days before), the high priests and scribes had already made a decision to get rid of Jesus. They were looking for a way, first how to get hold of Him, and then to kill Him. Mark notes that the chief priests and scholars had doubts as to whether this should be done at Passover because there was a risk of inducing a disturbance among the people. Many pilgrims came to celebrate the Passover, so the Romans feared riots. Pilate, therefore, was in Jerusalem at that time, so he could quickly make decisions and give orders when necessary. After, the Gospel takes us to the house of Simon the leper, to Bethany, where Jesus was sitting at the table. The anointing takes place in the home of Simon the leper. This man, by name, appears for the first time in the Gospel. Some point out that perhaps this leper is the man who was healed at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. That incident gives us a better understanding of Jesus on the Cross. Jesus meets a leper on his way, touches him, and heals him. The Evangelist informs us that the leper lived in secluded places ... in caves that were a symbol of tombs. Due to his illness, the leper became a representative of humanity subjected to death. Evangelist emphasizes that the healed man returns to the city and Jesus himself takes his place in the wilderness. This is how it can be read in the key of announcements, in the symbolic key, that Jesus shows his mission from the very beginning. He came to take upon himself, this disease, this death poison, this leprosy that oppresses people in various ways. This disease must have touched Jesus in some way, just as it affects every human being. In this context, in the house of Simon the leper, there appears a woman with an alabaster vial full of expensive nard oil. Everything happens in preparation for the Passover, at a time when the Jews, in preparation for the Passover, gave out gifts very generously. This was the way to prepare for Easter. In this way, they expressed solidarity with the poor, so that the poor could also live these most important holidays with dignity. However, the witnesses of this event consider it a gesture of waste. They are amazed and condemn the woman whom Jesus defends. Did they not understand the actions of this woman? This is not about a sentimental gesture. She gives Jesus what is most precious. It can be said that this woman knows the mind of God, this Mystery of God, who in a marvelous way brings life out of death; who reveals the power of Jesus' greatest helplessness in the midst of his deepest emptying. Jesus will give his life so that the plan of salvation may be fulfilled. Saint Paul, in the letter to the Philippians, says that Jesus emptied himself, (he will call this state of nakedness KENOSIS, - the humiliation of Jesus) who became obedient to death, and a death on a Cross. The anointing at Bethany foreshadows that death, the Mystery of the Cross; it is a reminder of all the symbolic gestures that Jesus made in announcing this path of salvation; which leads to life through death. In what she does, the woman announces the tomb to which Jesus will take all human sinfulness, and that man suffers from the disease of death. Jesus suspended on the cross is the poorest. He has no power to defend himself. He is nothing! His hands are nailed, his feet are nailed, and he can't even speak anymore because of the pain. The poorest convict. Immediately after leaving the house of Simon the leper, the Lord Jesus eats the Supper with his disciples, a Paschal feast, during which he breaks the Bread, and gives it to His disciples, he gives them a Chalice to drink, the Blood of the Covenant. These are further symbols, signs, which open us to understanding what will happen later on Golgotha. While listening to the description of the betrayal and the Supper that Jesus is eating with his disciples, let us first of all pay attention to one sign. The Lord Jesus breaks the Bread and gives it to His disciples. At the same time, the Lord Jesus also gives a cup filled with wine, saying that THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT. Three unleavened loaves and four chalices were used during the Paschal Supper. Everything had its own order and its importance. During the Supper, the moment of breaking the second Unleavened Bread was a very powerful sign. This breaking of bread was accompanied by the words: HERE IS THE BREAD WHICH FED OUR FATHERS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT. Let whoever is hungry come and celebrate the Passover with us. This year Egypt - next year in the Land of Israel. This year as slaves, and next year in the Land of Israel as free. Unleavened, broken bread was called the bread of torment, humiliation. The meaning of this sign was emphasized even more by the fact of combining this broken bread with bitter herbs, which were to symbolize the fate of slaves sitting in the darkness of Egypt. Unleavened bread meant a hasty exit from captivity; a break with all that was slavery. The bread is broken because during the exit, the history of every Jew was broken like broken bread. He had to detach himself from what he had already accumulated in his life; from your security, from your plans. Bread of torment, humiliation. Bread with memory, on one hand slavery, on the other hand - liberation. Its liberation leads by detachment from the old way of life; therefore it is Unleavened Bread, Bread in which there is no old leaven. Bread made from new grains; from the new fruits of the earth. In the call that accompanied the breaking of the second fine bread at the Feast is an invitation to everyone who is hungry. Here is the bread of torment. Let those who are hungry come and celebrate the Passover. During the Passover, the Jews were very sensitive to the poor. They wanted everyone to experience this most important holiday with dignity, but this call to the poor also had a spiritual dimension. Only the poor, only the needy, who do not consent to slavery, who are plagued by slavery, only they can actually celebrate the exit, the Passover, the exit from slavery to freedom; transition from old to new life. For this we need a desire. We look at Jesus who in the Upper Room, just before his Passion and death, figuratively speaking - before breaking his life, takes the bread of torment in his hands and says: THIS IS MY BODY. The Lord Jesus changes these words that are traditionally heard during the Paschal Banquet. As the disciples looked at Jesus, who took the Bread of anguish in his hands, they thought that according to the meaning of the fine bread, the goals at this moment break the action of God, which frees us from slavery and gives new life, but at the same time they realized that this liberating action of God, comes with tension, with the danger that the old has to be left behind; what is old, what belongs to the old world... These things were hidden in the Breaking of Bread, and Jesus says that all this is fulfilled in His Body. The Lord Jesus shows that leading a man from slavery to a new life, that is, the true Pasch, will take place in his body, in this tormented, disgraced body that hung on the Cross. This is the arena of a new passage of God liberating and saving, but in order to participate in this salvific exit and passage, one must find himself in the position of a poor, needy man, in the position of a man who refuses to be enslaved to evil; who is ready to leave behind his personal Egypt, his pharaohs and those who give a false sense of stability in life. Breaking Bread in the Jewish tradition meant death: the separation of body and soul. So in what is happening in the Upper Room, when Jesus breaks the Bread of Torment and calls this His Body, we see an announcement and a prophetic entry into the death on the Cross. This is violent death! Paschal! It is precisely because it is Paschal that it already carries the experience of the Power of God. This is the experience of the Israelites standing on the shores of the Red Sea, when they look at the abyss of waters and experience how great God is in His Power and His Love. God who saves (Ps 34) the broken-hearted. God saves the crushed to dust (literally) the dead, although the broken Bread that Jesus has in his hand means emptying, announces his entry into death, it also announces in this context a saving history in the context of the Exodus, in the context of the exit, already foreshadows the victory of life. He, crushed to dust, death, which will be held by the Strong Hand of the Father. These two scenes that we have analyzed and meditated on so far, the anointing at Bethany and the Supper with the disciples, are the introduction to the passion and death of Jesus. In them, everything that will happen in real moments is made present, but there is one more scene to consider - this is the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. After the Supper, Jesus and his disciples go to the Garden of Olives, along the Kidron Brook, on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives, and this is where Jesus' extraordinary prayer takes place. It is struggling with the will of God. The Lord Jesus goes to the Garden of Olives, Gethsemane. He took Peter, James and John with him. They are the Apostles who accompany Jesus in the most important events. They too were with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Evangelist Mark emphasizes that Jesus feels the fear of his approaching death. He began to tremble and feel fear. His soul is sad to the point of death. He asks the disciples to stay with Him; to keep awake; that they may enter His Hour of Death. Alone, walking a stone's throw away, he falls to the ground and prays. He prays to God, for whom nothing is impossible; for whom everything is possible; that the hour might pass from him. Abba, Father, everything is possible for you ... Take this cup from me, not as I want, but as you. The cup is a symbol of fate, destiny, the fulfilling will of God. The cup can also be read as a symbol of God's wrath over sin. God does not accept sin. Sin is always sin, but God never rejects the sinner. Jesus, being aware of the drama that takes place in his body, that is, in his humanity, asks the Father to remove this cup from him, but at the same time adds: not what I want, but what you want. This request is very human, it is a cry of a man frightened by suffering and fulfilling God's plan, but at the same time full of trust and readiness to do the Father's will. Let what you want happen ... Mark thus emphasizes the fact that everything that happens is in accordance with God's will, but that Jesus, fully, consciously, freely, accepts the cup that will have to be drunk. The Cup of Passion, the Cup of Bitterness, the Cup of Solitude. His disciples, instead of keeping watch, they are sleeping. He awakens them, calls them to order, encourages them to be vigilant, to pray that they do not succumb to temptation, because, as the spirit says, it is willing, but the body is weak. These sleeping Apostles are probably a symbol of a man who does not fully understand what he is participating in. He is not fully aware of the seriousness of the situation, the seriousness of what is happening, what he participates in. He is overwhelmed by sleep. He has his eyes closed, i.e. he does not see the proper sense of the events that are unfolding and that are ahead of them ... This dream of the Apostles also foreshadows their absence, perhaps at the Cross, when Jesus will be dying completely alone. They will not be at the Cross. This is probably the way Mark tells us to keep our eyes and hearts open, animated by the spirit of faith and trust in God, to see the meaning of salvation in these tragic events, not to focus only on what is external, superficial. Jesus is aware that His Hour has come. The Son of Man is handed over into the hands of sinners; who take the Son of God, the Son of Man, true God and true Man, do whatever they want with Him. And the exhortation: Get up! Let's go ... Once again Mark emphasizes the awareness of Jesus that it is His will, desire, to fulfill the Father's will. The passion that He undertakes, takes him from all freedom, but in this consent, God's history, that is, the history of salvation, may be completely fulfilled in his body. The Red Sea of human hatred and nails Jesus to the Cross. Immediately there is a temptation and voices. Everyone is shouting: Let him come down from the Cross! Let him deal with the torturers and we will believe in him. Jesus proves his Majesty: The Lord Jesus tilts the cup of the Cup of Passion and death and takes more and more. Mark describes this scene with all cruelty; allows the audience to experience the shock. Why? Mark wants to introduce us to a specific Mystery of Life in which Jesus participates, and then each of His disciples will participate. Mystery entry into darkness; in this overwhelming darkness, in this silence, the cry of Jesus is heard, who, like the Jews, stands over the abyss of the Red Sea, on the threshold of the endless desert; who, like a leper locked in the grotto of death, pronounces the words of the psalm 22. My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me? The rest of the psalm will come true only when Jesus has nothing, not even his own breath, it is then, God, who will not despise the needy, the poor, who will hear him. He will not despise the misery of Man crushed to dust. God will show the strength of his arm that all, looking at these events, meditating on them, may cry out: “The Lord has done this!” In such circumstances of total emptiness, loneliness, darkness, Jesus gives up his spirit. At this point, when Jesus gives his Spirit, when he tilts the Cup of Passion, the Cup of death, to the very bottom, everything is coming true, is fulfilled. This is indicated by the tearing of the veil in the temple and the confession of the Roman centurion: “Jesus, You are truly the Savior of the world.” The tearing of the temple veil refers to the mockery of people passing by the Cross and confirms the destruction of the temple and its re-erection within three days. With the death of Jesus, there is a symbolic destruction of the former temple, that is, the destruction of the entire system of sacrifices based on human logic, God's grace has done this for us. The Lord Jesus becomes a new temple. A temple where everyone can receive salvation for free, thanks to the Father's boundless love, by virtue of the unilateral Covenant. You only need to accept this Love. This Covenant must be entered into. And a sign of accepting Love and entering into the Covenant is the transformation into a disciple who obeys God's will and His Word. We hear about it in the first reading, with The Book of Isaiah. In an attitude of obedience to God, which is a sign of opposition in the world... everything evokes the hardness of the spirit of this world, which leads to suffering, to torment. After all, obeying God very often leads to death. A disciple must have total trust if he or she is to be successful in a relationship with God. Success in a relationship with God, as we see in the example of Jesus, is eternal life.