PASTOR’S MEANDERINGS 17 – 18 MARCH 2018 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT (B) SUNDAY REFLECTION Lord, you have nourished us with the bread of life, made from the wheat of your life, given for us on the Cross and in the Last Supper. You strengthen us with your word of promise in the Scriptures which enlighten our path. Make our hearts burn within us as we gather round your altar to accept you and your word. Help us look in faith on the Cross from which you continually draw us onwards towards you who are our everlasting future. STEWARDSHIP: Cycle B Reading “If anyone would serve Me,” says Jesus in today’s Gospel, “let him follow Me; where I am, there will my servant be.” In what way is Jesus inviting me to follow Him? What service is He asking of me? Cycle A Reading When Jesus heard about the illness of His friend, Lazarus, He responded, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Every aspect of our lives – our sufferings as well as our gifts – can, if surrendered to Christ, lead to blessing for ourselves and others. Tertullian “He who lives to benefit himself confers on the world a benefit when he dies.” READINGS FOR PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD 25 MAR ‘18 Mk. 11:1-10: in fulfilment of ancient prophecy and deep longings, the Messiah enters His city to bring His people lasting peace. Is. 50:4-7: The one who suffers insult and rejection continues to place his trust in God. Phil. 2:6-11: In this hymn of praise, Paul encourages us to have the same mind as Christ, who, though divine, committed Himself totally in obedience to the Father’s will. Mk. 14:1-15:47: The Passion Narrative is the key stone which holds the whole gospel story together. St. Catherine of Siena “Nothing great was ever done without much enduring.” PASSION TIDE: Entering the church this weekend you may wonder if the decorating committee has been suddenly overtaken by a purple fetish or that there may have been a sale at the fabric store that just could not be passed up. For the younger members of the congregation it may be a puzzlement but for older members it will elicit memories of a bygone period. The joy of Easter is almost here, but before that we must accompany Jesus in His Passion. Traditionally the final two weeks of Lent in the Roman Rite are used as an immediate preparation for the sorrowful events of the Easter drama. It is a period of time to focus more and more on the Passion and death of Jesus and so accompany Him on His way to Calvary. For several centuries the Fifth Sunday of Lent was known as “Passion Sunday” and marked the beginning of a special sub-season called Passiontide, which extended up until Holy Saturday. During this time the Church’s liturgy became more somber and a sorrowful mood was reflected in the various practices that occurred in the liturgy. The most obvious example of a more somber mood was the veiling of statues and images, which remains an optional practice in the current Roman Missal: “In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from [the fifth] Sunday [of Lent] may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.” It was also on the Friday of this initial “Passion Week” that the feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated (it is now fixed annually on September 15). The current Roman Missal still provides an alternative prayer for that day (Friday in the Fifth Week of Lent), remembering Mary’s own bitter passion. O God, who in this season give your Church the grace to imitate devoutly the Blessed Virgin Mary in contemplating the Passion of Christ, grant, we pray, through her intercession, that we may cling more firmly each day to your Only Begotten Son and come at last to the fullness of his grace. Palm Sunday was seen as the “Second Sunday in Passiontide,” and is currently listed in the liturgical calendar as “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.” It is on this day that the Passion narrative is read, the longest Sunday Gospel reading of the entire year. The Church beckons us on Palm Sunday to look toward the cross and see Christ’s immense love for us, sacrificing Himself for our sins. It is a preview of what is to come on Good Friday. After Palm Sunday, Passion Week gives way to Holy Week and the Church follows Jesus during His final days in Jerusalem. The Passion narrative was traditionally proclaimed during Mass on each day of Holy Week leading up to Holy Thursday. Wednesday during this week is known as “Spy Wednesday” and signified the day on which Judas betrayed Jesus and informed the Sanhedrin of his plan. It has been the custom of the Roman Church, at least in modern times (meaning from the 17th Century forward), to veil the crosses and the images of the saints from the 5th Sunday of Lent until Easter. This has been, and ought to continue to be, one of the defining characteristics of the season of Passiontide – a season which, if after the post-conciliar liturgical reforms lost in name, need not be lost in spirit. Still in many churches throughout the West, crosses and statues are veiled now and will remain veiled for two full weeks. According to The Catholic Encyclopedia states that “Before Vespers of Saturday preceding Passion Sunday [i.e. the 5th Sunday of Lent] the crosses, statues, and pictures of our Lord and of the saints on the altar and throughout the church, with the sole exception of the crosses and pictures of the Way of the Cross, are to be covered with a violet veil, not translucent, nor in any way ornamented. The crosses remain covered until after the solemn denudation of the principal crucifix on Good Friday. The statues and pictures retain their covering, no matter what feast may occur, until the Gloria in Excelsis of Holy Saturday.” However, it is noted that the statue of St. Joseph may remain uncovered, if outside the sanctuary, during the month of March, which is dedicated to his honor. Of course, this practice is no longer mandatory in the Novus Ordo, but it is certainly permitted. However, if the custom is to return to popularity, it will be necessary to come to some understanding of the meaning behind the veiling. Why does the Church veil the cross in these final days of Lent, a time when she is most intent on meditating upon the Lord's dolorous passion? The Mystical Interpretation Abbot Gueranger enlightens us with a mystical interpretation of the Gospel which, in former times, was read on this Sunday: As Christ hid Himself from the rage of the Jewish authorities (John 8:59), so now He is hidden from the world in preparation for the mysteries of His passion. “The presentiment of that awful hour [of our Savior’s passion] leads the afflicted mother [the Church] to veil the image of her Jesus: the cross is hidden from the eyes of the faithful. The statues of the saints, too, are covered; for it is but just that, if the glory of the Master be eclipsed, the servant should not appear. “The interpreters of the liturgy tell us that this ceremony of veiling the crucifix during Passiontide, expresses the humiliation to which our Savior subjected Himself, of hiding Himself when the Jews threatened to stone Him, as is related in the Gospel of Passion Sunday [John 8:46-59, They took up stones therefore to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple (John 8:59)]. The Church begins this solemn rite with the Vespers of the Saturday before Passion Sunday.” The Spiritual Interpretation Dom Gueranger continues and directs us to acts of devotion for the Cross: “Twice during the course of the year, that is, on the feasts of its Invention and Exaltation, this sacred Wood will be offered to us that we may honor it as the trophy of our Jesus’ victory; but now, it speaks to us but of His sufferings, it brings with it no other idea but that of His humiliation.” Considering that, in the season of our Lord’s passion, all the strength of our devotion should be directed to the Cross of Christ, we may be surprised that the images of the Cross are to be covered in these days. However, when we recognize that we now venerate the Cross not so much as an emblem of victory (as in the Triumph of the Cross) but as an instrument of humiliation and suffering, we will soon understand the spiritual realities which are conveyed through the covering of the crosses. In His passion, our Savior’s divinity was almost totally eclipsed, so great was His suffering. Likewise, even His humanity was obscured – so much so that He could say through His prophet: I am a worm and no man (Psalm 21:7). His face and whole body were so disfigured by the blows and scourges that our Jesus was scarcely recognizable! Thus, the wounds He endured hid both is divinity and His humanity.