1. -- Lanie LeBlanc OP - Palm Sunday
2. -- Dennis Keller OP - Palm Sunday;   The TRIDUUM >  Chrism_Mass;   Holy_Thursday;   Good_Friday;  Holy_Saturday_The_Easter_Vigil;   First_Sunday_of_Easter
3. -- Fr. John Boll OP - Palm Sunday
4. --
5. --(Your reflection can be here!)

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Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion 2025

The readings for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion are definitely among the most familiar to us. It is pretty easy to glide through them sometimes because we know what happens even if we forget some details. I decided that I needed to read a different translation, The Message, to perk up my ears and heart!

One particular phrase really stuck with me as I read it, long after, and repeatedly days since I did! It was about the apostles falling asleep in the garden while Jesus went to pray. It was that they were “drugged with grief”. It wasn’t that they were just tired. It wasn’t that they didn’t care!

I know that feeling ! It is the kind that makes you feel foggy, a bit paralyzed, incredibly unmotivated, and literally unable to get up in the morning until you hit the snooze button way too many times. It definitely comes with grief. It also comes with feeling overwhelmed, incredibly frustrated or helpless.

In my interactions this week, I’ve heard some conversations that indicated those kinds of feelings although the speakers were pretty articulate rather than sounding “drugged “. All of a sudden, the world situation has been upended. Almost everyone seems a bit powerless and angry over everything, mentioned either in person, in texts, or in the media. Confusion is part of any conversation from the rising costs of basic foods to cuts in important health services.

In our readings, Jesus comes back into the picture to wake up the apostles and tells them to pray! When we feel ”drugged” with grief or helplessness, we, too, need Jesus and we need to pray. Jesus took charge of his own life, willingly doing the will of the Father. Jesus can help us do the same, a little at a time.

Just before Jesus breathed his last, Jesus said something to the Father that I think is pertinent to how we might better live our lives more intentionally and less “drugged” by the confusion of the day or event that might be altering our focus. In this alternative translation, Jesus says, “Father, I place my life in your hands”. That is a bit different than “into your hands I commend my spirit”.

I personally needed that re-phrasing… I really don’t have to have all the answers! We all know that there are dark days/nights/times of the soul and times in the desert. The remedy for this “drugged” feeling, I think, is the same as getting through those times. It is trusting in the Faithful One, the One whose promises are true, who is the ONLY ONE who does have all the answers.

Let us pray for ourselves and all those caught up in the upheaval that is affecting so many in the world. Let us be kind to ourselves and others as we allow the Faithful One to provide both rest and direction for these times. Let us know that, whether spoken or not, our lives, both present and eternal, are indeed in the hands of the all-knowing, all- loving, and all-powerful Almighty One.

Blessings,
Dr. Lanie LeBlanc OP
Southern Dominican Laity
lanie@leblanc.one

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Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

April 13, 2025

Procession of Palms

Luke 19:28-40

How glorious this procession of the King into the City of Peace, one of the oldest cities in the world. He comes not as a conqueror but as successor to David, that second king of Israel who succeeded in uniting all twelve tribes. He finished the work of Moses that formed the nation of Israel in the 40 years wandering in the desert to the home land now united by David’s efforts. The crowd shouts “Hosanna to the son of David.” He comes not as David who conquered and pacified the tribes. He comes on a donkey as a king of peace to the city of peace. No swords, just the waving of palm branches and cloaks strewn on the road. His kingship is established without violence. His entrance is an invitation to join a kingdom united by respect and love for others. The establishment of his kingdom is expected to be rejected by people of violence, hatred, and those whose fortunes, prestige, and power are on the backs of the nation made slaves by law, by religious and secular power, and control of wealth. In this new kingdom, the like of which has never been experienced since the foundation of the world, violence, hatred, greed, avarice, disrespect, bondage, and slavery have no place. That kingdom stands in contrast to the kingdoms of the world that Satan attempted to lure Jesus. Satan pictured it as an easy way for Jesus to establish the kingdom. But it was just more of the same. It was/is the way of the world. A few Pharisees in the crowd sensed this procession would not set well with the Roman Procurator. For that matter, it would not set well with religious leaders and wealthy Sadducees of Judaism. Here was a King who would liberate and forever be a source of freedom from the chains of authoritarian leaders, the extreme wealthy, those whose prestige demanded obeisance of ordinary people.

How strange that Jesus comes to do battle with the enslavers without an army? With out swords and flaming arrows, he comes into the seat of religious and civil power and their fight to the death to maintain the status quo. He comes without violence to bring liberation to even the violent, to those who are thieves of human freedom and flourishing. Yet in moments we will hear a narrative of religious court, the Sanhedrin, flourishing by political correctness and falsehood. His battle and plan for establishment of this kingdom are the story we hear in the liturgy of the Word regarding the great work of Jesus’ suffering in conquering the status quo, the way of the world, the hubris of secular and religious power. That combat follows the triumph of this procession.

Mass of the Day:

Isaiah 50:4-7; Responsorial Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Gospel Acclamation Philippians 2:8-9; Luke 22:14-23:56

It seems strange to follow the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem with the narrative about the last supper and the trial. What happened to change the crowd from joy and hope to anger and violence? Jesus came into the city of peace as the prophetic king, the anointed one of God, the longed from Messiah. How come just days later the crowds shouted and insisted on his death? What happened? Who made up this crowd? Were these just the stooges of the powerful? Were these people the ones disappointed Jesus did not overthrow the secular power of Rome?

The first reading from Isaiah opens a doorway to answer these questions. Isaiah claims his mission came from God to speak with a “well-trained tongue.” And for what purpose? So that he might speak to the weary a word rousing them from weariness. His words from God would provide courage and hope to the nation in captivity in Babylon. Each morning, Isaiah claims, God opens his ears so that Isaiah might hear. He would suffer for his encouragement, for the giving of hope. How strange that the weary people got tired of the message and despised the prophet who spoke the truth. Despite persecution by the crowd and leadership, Isaiah is certain he will not be disgraced. This prophecy applies to Jesus. His ministry, his healing, his miracles of loaves and fishes are forgotten. During his ministry crowds flocked to hear him, to seek healing, to have their hearts lifted up. The expectations of the crowds and leadership who feared losing their power, prestige, and wealth certainly were not about a new kingdom. They sought liberation from Roman power. Jesus opened a doorway to liberation of the hearts and minds, not merely a political change that failed to reach the hearts of the crowd. After his arrival as king, he is condemned. This prophecy is right on regarding the treatment Isaiah experienced. The Kingdom Jesus came to initiate is reaches to the heavens far above the dust of the earth. It will take an all or nothing battle to establish that Kingdom of God.

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippians continues the message. His writing explains the saving action that is Jesus’ condemnation and execution. Paul insists it is God’s plan to – yes to what? He portrays Jesus being obedient even to death. That speaks of a total commitment to the founding of the Kingdom. We can think of how the United States was founded. It involved total commitment from those who believed in freedom and the wonder and value of every person. It might help in understanding this obedience of Jesus to God’s plan if we think of the Latin definitions of the verb obedire. One definition from Latin Classics is “to listen.” The obvious implication is that the listening is not with ears. It is listening with the heart. Any commitment that rises from what we love is more inspiring than following orders with will power. Jesus is obedient, listens to the Father with whom Jesus is bound by the Spirit who is the union among the three persons of the Trinity. The Father is the creator creating all that is. The Father loves all that is. And as every true father and mother loves their children and gives their life for them. Humanity becomes serfs, peasants by being enslaved by unjust power, wealth, status. Hebrew tradition teaches that God’s justice seeks all creation flourishes. When the woman was discovered in adultery, Jesus showed mercy without condemnation. The model of the Kingdom of God is restoration, not punishment, changed hearts not mere behavior. Those were the narratives of the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent. The Pharisees, Chief Priests focused on the law more than on the welfare of the people. Sin, violations of the law, can be used as a method of control, of gaining compliance for their status, power, and wealth. Alone with sin in their teaching comes a terrible punishment. In the Kingdom of God, the dominant force is not sin but love, care for and respect for the dignity and worth of every person. Jesus work in this coming holy week is to overwhelm sin and liberate every person from whatever slavery burdens them.

Luke’s narrative begins with the last supper, the annual celebration of Passover, a remembering of the liberation of the Hebrew Tribes from slavery to Pharoah. There are four blessing cups at the Passover meal, each one is preceded with a blessing by the presider. Jesus will “not drink of the fruit of the vine again until the Kingdom of God comes.” Jesus is not referring to the Second Coming, but to the Resurrection which is the final victory he effects over what enslaves us. That is the initiation of the Kingdom of God he came to establish. That is the Kingdom the tempter Jesus’ ministry laid the ground work for. We remember in the gospel of the first Sunday of Lent that Jesus rejected those temptations to short cut his work.

At this supper, Jesus spoke about a betrayer. Luke does not mention Judas by name, avoiding any publicity for the evil deed. Immediately after, the disciples begin arguing about who was the greatest. From our perspective and from what we know is to follow, this argument seems so childish. There is a message here to take to heart. Impetuous Simon declared he is ready to follow Jesus even if it kills him. Jesus calls him Simon, his name as a fisherman. Satan wants Simon as his follower. Jesus warns him, calling him Peter, the name Jesus gave him. This leader, tasked with confirming the faith of the others, will deny Jesus before the cock crows announcing the dawn of a terrible day.

Jesus warns all of them about what is going to come their way. He reminds them of their missionary journeys when they were welcomed into homes and cared for by those to whom they preached. Jesus says they should be prepared to care for themselves as they carry on his mission to establish the Kingdom.

The terror Jesus experienced at Gethsemane is vivid. We easily overlook this in the light of the following judgement and death and burial. His sweat was so thick that it appeared to have the consistency of blood. He suffered mightily. An angel is said to come to comfort him for what is coming his way. The rest of the narrative is familiar to us. Listening to it with eyes closed, imagining the flow of the events increases our understanding of the Jesus’ victory. The covenant established in this battle with evil is the Kingdom of God. Unlike the covenant at Sinai, this one is sealed not with the blood of animals but sealed with life blood, the blood of this person, Jesus. It is the Kingdom of God being established. And the proof of its acceptance by God is what happens in three days. The resurrection proves that Jesus won the battle by loving so deeply and completely that he gave his life blood to achieve this Kingdom. The victory, the victory over death itself, over those who would enslave humanity by violence, by threats, by terror, by economic and social warfare – the proof is the Resurrection. We must understand the enemies of the Kingdom of God. The darkness and silence in our liturgy allow us to examine our living and realize how Jesus’ death was the battle against what keeps us slaves. We can place ourselves on a cross next to him and die to all those things that keep us from full participation in the Kingdom of God. The fickle crowd is an example of ourselves. We must realize how our very lives are hampered by slavery imposed without our willing it. When we acknowledge and reject those slaveries, we can become full citizens of the Kingdom of God. In the community that is formed in the Kingdom, there is hope, there is peace of spirit, there is a vibrant life, caring, and acceptance of each and every person in this community that makes real and present what an ancient city said of Christians: “See how they love one another.”

Dennis Keller Dennis@PreacherExchange.com

The TRIDUUM

Chrism Mass - Tuesday April 15, 2025

Isaiah 50:4-7; Responsorial Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Gospel Acclamation Philippians 2:8-9; Luke 22:14-23:56

(At this Mass, the Shepherd of the Diocese (bishop) asks all clerics to promise obedience to his direction. Clerics are shepherds of smaller flocks in parishes. At this time, any clerics who completed a five-year probationary period for incardination in the diocese can be incardinated, that is, become a permanent cleric for this diocese.)

In this Mass of including the blessing of the oils of Chrism, the oils for Catechumens – Baptism; for Ordination; and Healing Anointings are blessed. The bishop consecrates these oils for distribution to the parishes and institutions of the diocese. The readings reflect this blessing and its usage. There is a common theme in the three readings: anointing to bring glad tidings to the lowly, healing the brokenhearted, liberty for captives, and release of prisoners. The focus is on matters of the heart and of the body that contains the heart. The oil used in anointings are applied to healing of their pains, infirmities, mental health, and a strengthening of spirit. These persons are anointed with the oil of gladness by the Word offered by the Prophet. Persons anointed for service receive the power of the Spirit in their work. Isaiah adds a strange word in his prophecy – VINDICATION. God provides a day of vindication. Walking in the Way of the Lord can bring times when God seems to have forgotten us. Vindication is not getting even with an aggressor. Here its meaning is a return of peace and joy to those oppressed. Suffering has its vindication as evidenced by the Resurrection. Our resurrections in this life often seem much delayed and even absent. In the revelation of the second reading, we are encouraged to hope for the vindication Jesus Christ, the first born of the dead. What a difficult concept to wrap our minds around. That is because the paradox of a “first born of the dead” is a matter for the heart and not logic or worldly experience. If Jesus is the first born that means the rest of us are children, brothers to that First Born son. The book of Revelation which is the source of this second reading is complicated and frightening – at least to me as a child. It is an encouragement to cling to faith, hope, and charity amidst the disasters and despotic leadership we experience both in the secular and religious worlds. We are made into a kingdom (ah, that Kingdom of God theme again) of priests for God. Interesting: we rarely think of ourselves as being priests. There is no gender separation in this priesthood. We are empowered by God in our becoming members of God’s family through baptism. We are empowered to bless our children, our food, our homes, our work, our recreation, our joys, and our sorrows. That leads us to the gospel. Jesus repeats the prophecy from Isaiah, claiming it as his meaning and purpose. As his sisters and brothers, we share in that meaning and purpose. We have stature and tasks in this Kingdom of God. That is not only in our parish encounters, but in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our work, in our recreation – again in our joys and sorrows.

This Chrism liturgy is a celebration in anticipation of anointings in our community – our parish. Let us be glad and rejoice!

Holy Thursday – Mass of the Lord’s Supper
(In John’s gospel is the command Jesus gives to his apostles and disciples who serve the Kingdom. That command is to do for the people of the Kingdom what he demonstrates by doing for each of them, that is, washing their feet. Washing feet in those days of unpaved and often animal feces on the streets what a task left to the lowest servants of a household. That command goes to each of us as well, not only clerics who serve the Kingdom.)

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; Responsorial Psalm 116; 1st Corinthians 11:23-26; Gospel Acclamation John 13:34; John 13:1-15

The first reading is a remembrance of the release of the Hebrew tribes from Egypt. It is noteworthy that the blood on the lintels of Hebrew doorways was a sign to the angel of death that life was to continue in marked dwellings. Scientists have tried to explain the deaths of first born by relating to an eruption of a volcano that created dangerous gases over Egypt killing first born persons whose sleeping arrangements were elevated about those of others. That does not really answer the question as to why the Hebrew first born were spared. The life blood of a year-old lamb is the lifesaving gift for Hebrew children and adults. It is helpful to remember the shout of John the Baptizer when he saw his cousin, Jesus, walking by. “This is the Lamb of God.” The prophet Isaiah speaks of the Suffering Servant in the second book of Isaiah. The language of Isaiah uses the same word for Servant as it does for Lamb. The Baptizer announces to the assembled crowd that Jesus is the Servant of Isaiah, the one longed by the people just as a deer longs for running water. The hymn Sicut Cervus is about that.

The reading from Exodus is about liberation. Those tribes, loosely connected by ancestry, were freed from the unnamed Pharoah. Surely the pain of the slavery would have etched the name of that Pharoah in the memory of those Hebrews! He is not named on purpose. The term Pharoah stands for every despot, every tyrant, every authoritarian, overbearing dictator and want-to-be in every age. Feudalism offered a renewed Pharoah in the persons of nobility who offered protection in exchange for serfdom. Slavery of races continue that Pharoah regime. Jim Crow, violence rising from racism, nationalism, poverty unaddressed all are tools of Pharoah.

But freedom for the Hebrew peoples did not bring to a fruitful close to the struggle. Forty years in desert wandering, with its anxieties, its failures, its doubts had to occur to form these loosely knit people into a nation. That nation was motivated by God’s creation of each person as worthy of dignity and worth. Slavery of any sort is contradictory to that. The forming of the Kingdom of God, brought into existence by the ministry, passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus, made that dignity and worth real. His ascension to the right hand of the Lord means the King – the Shepherd (kingship in its origin meant more like a shepherd caring for his people, than one who dominates and lives lavishly off the labor and sweat of its subjects), is alive and continually cares for the Kingdom’s inhabitants.

The second reading describes the Passover meal the night before release from Egypt. The participants were dressed as for a journey. And what a journey that was, a revelation, a growing up in the Lord’s presence. Paul letter describes the Eucharist. The gospel of John in the scene before the crucifixion refers to a meal but does not repeat the institution of the Eucharist. He describes that institution when he writes about the feeding of thousands of people gathered. There was abundance and leftovers from a few fish and a couple of loaves of bread. The theme in that miracle is that all are gathered, all are fed and satisfied. It follows, of course, Jesus’ preaching about the Kingdom of God. The feeding, the nourishment, the satisfaction of those gathered, sharing the same food, the unification by banquet is a clear reference to the Eucharist as Jesus blessed and breaks. In one account of the miracle of loaves and fish, Jesus directs the apostles to seat people in groups of fifth and hundreds. Many believe this is a reference to the first gatherings where fifty families – or if the home was large – or a hundred families gathered coming together after hearing the Word preached in the synagogue to celebrate the Eucharist. Unity, sharing, and nourishment are central to the theme.

But John’s gospel has nothing about the Eucharist written in his “last” supper. Instead, the gospel this Thursday is about service. Jesus gets down to his tunic and washes the feet of all the apostles – maybe some disciples and women as well. Then he insists they are to follow his behavior. They are servants to the people. That “mandatum,” command is not just to the apostles, whose successors are bishops. It applies to all who follow in his way.

The last action this evening does not end the liturgy: it is the transfer of the Eucharist to a remote tabernacle. There it is reserved for viaticum for the sick. In church practice it is reserved as well as a focal point for meditation, prayer, and adoration. The work of Jesus in this liturgy is worthy of our meditation, emulation, and worship. Private time before this Blessed Sacrament is a great time to recommit to the Way, especially in these tumultuous times.

(After this liturgy, the altar is stripped signifying the Lord will not eat or drink again till the Kingdom is Established. The Communion remaining is taken from the main tabernacle of reservation to another tabernacle, indicating the absence of the Lord’s presence through what is about to happen on Friday. The Eucharist is reserved for viaticum, not only for the sick and dying, but also for all of us who share in the death – and Resurrection to come – with the Lord. It is also a focal point for mediation and adoration. When we receive Communion at Friday’s Commemoration of Jesus’ passion and death, we receive the reserved host as preparation for our dying to the way prevalent in the world. The sharing of communion with the dying and sick is “viaticum,” that is, “food for the way,” the journey from death into abundant and everlasting God’s life.)

Good Friday April 18, 2025

Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Responsorial Psalm 31; Hebrews 4:14=16 & 5:7-9; Gospel Acclamation Philippians 2:8-9; John 18:1--19:42

This part of the three day liturgy is remembrance of the great mystery of Jesus, his incarnation of God with Man in the person of Jesus, of his ministry of healing and teaching, his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem as King, successor of David, his betrayal, his confrontation with secular and religious power, and his condemnation and suffering and death. These actions are plentiful grist for our review, meditation, and placing ourselves in the events. These events fuel introspection into how we live. How do we live that infinite gift of life? It was given to us with the cooperation of the Father Creator and our parents. Are we appreciative?

This Friday’s part of this liturgy is about Jesus’ combat. He is the Messiah, the successor King to David who unified the disparate tribes into one nation. Were we to overlook this battle between the Way of the World and the Way of the Christ, we can forget this is a battle. When we realize that, we begin to understand the resurrection as the victory celebration of the Son of Man, Son of God. If our Lord and Master suffers to bring about the Kingdom of God in creation, we ought to expect our lives in the Lord will contain combat as well as we face the world and its ways. How is it the prophets speak of the Messiah as bringing hope to the hopeless, healing to the infirm and challenged. We are to love each person we encounter in a world insisting on competition, even cut-throat competition viewed by the world as a battle of survival of the fittest. The prophets of Israel focused on the hurt, those who are nothing in the eyes of the world. In our time these are the ones who lack access to health care, to education, to decent housing, to fulfilling employment. The prophets include people struggling, those held captive, and those imprisoned.

We hear from the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading from the second book of that prophecy. We hear the prophet writing of Suffering Servant, the Pascal Lamb. The words his suffering arouse empathy in those who love. Experience tells us life includes joy and suffering. Through both joy and suffering hearts grow bringing to mind an understanding our role in the salvation of the world. Our suffering is a share in the sufferings of the Christ, the one anointed by God.

The crowd comes to the garden to arrest Jesus. Jesus tells the crowd three times, “I Am.” John used that term in imitation of the identity of the burning bush Moses encountered. Jesus claimed to be God. That floored the crowd who understood the implication; Jesus claimed to be God. By contrast, Peter responding to the questioning of servants during Jesus’ trial insists, “I am NOT.”

In response to Pilate’s query about his kingship, John reveals Jesus’ kingship is not of this world. His kingship is beyond and superior to the machinations of this world. Jesus’ work, including this terrible suffering, is to initiate the Kingdom of God.

When fearful Pilate attempted to release him, the crowd urged on by the propaganda of religious leadership, shouted for blood. Pilates question about truth is relevant even these days. Pilate responds to Jesus’ statement with a contemporary question: “What is truth?” With that Pilate surrendered his principles.

Would we have courage to stand with the women and the apostle John beneath the cross. Or would we be hiding away in locked rooms, fearful of pain, suffering, even death? Certainly, we can be empathetic to the cowering apostles and disciples. We cannot in truth condemn them for their lack of commitment/courage. Putting ourselves in that time and place can reveal to us how we are in our hearts.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus found the courage to publicly take request the Body of Jesus. Nicodemus brought burial spices as was burial customs then. Even after meeting with Jesus at night, it seems he had no belief in a resurrection. Nicodemus was of the Sanhedrin but had not participated in the illegal night meeting condemning Jesus.

A three-hour extremely painful death snuffed out Jesus’ life. Then all is quiet, fear putting the disciples and apostles in hiding. The women who witnessed Jesus on the cross made plans to return to the tomb after the solemn holy day. Religious law forbade any work on the Sabbath especially on the holiest day of Passover. Our three-day liturgy shares in the quiet of this day and night and next morning. This is a great day for silence, prayer, and reflection. Our thoughts may flow into the question if we have the capacity to accept suffering in our living as sharing in the suffering of Jesus? This would as St. Paul writes, a filling up of the sufferings of the Christ.

Holy Saturday The Easter Vigil April 19, 2025

(There is a total of seven readings – though only three or five are typically read because of the length of this Vigil Service. Each is followed by a responsory psalm or canticle. That canticle is followed by a prayer that takes its theme from the reading, amplifying the theme of the responsory. The readings chart the progress of God’s liberation and redemption of the world. The readings focus on the institution of a new covenant in the Blood of the Christ in cup, covenant, and cross. There is a short reflection on each of the readings, hopefully leading to an experience of the providence of God.)
Genesis 1:1 -2:2; Responsorial Psalm 104 (or 33); Genesis 22:1-18; Responsorial Psalm 16; Exodus 14:15 -15:1; Responsorial Canticle Exodus 15: 1-18; Isaiah 54:5-14; Responsorial Psalm 30; Isaiah 55:1-11; Responsorial Canticle Isaiah 12:2-6; Baruch 3:9-15, & 32- 4:4; Responsorial Psalm 19; Ezekiel 36:16-17 & 18-28; Responsorial Psalm 42 (this psalm when there are baptisms, otherwise 12 or Isaiah Canticle 12 or Psalm 51) Romans 6:3-11; Responsorial Psalm 118 (this is a wake up shout of Alleluia) Luke 24:1-12

This series of seven readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, A.K.A. the Old Testament/Covenant about God’s intervention step by step to the coming of the Messiah over a period from the call of Abram and Sarai from Ur of the Chaldea to the west till the time of the birth of Jesus. And then from his ministry till his Resurrection and Ascension.

Genesis 1:
This narrative of creation centers on God’s work as Father-Creator. This is the starting point for God’s plan for creation. This is not just about humanity but all of creation. God creates man and woman – complementary to one another and equal, both created simultaneously. Humanity – not just the male – humanity as woman and man is to fill the earth and have dominion over fish and birds and living things that move on the earth. Ah, that terrible word, “dominion!” Many choose to understand that word as allowing and encouraging lack of respect for the earth, for birds of the air, fish of the sea, and living beings – i.e., animals. Dominion should be translated more in terms of shepherding, caring for, respecting, aiding all creation to flourish. Instead, often the powerful, wealth seekers, prestige demanding use dominion to encourage abuse of the world and its inhabitants. In that sense, even the slaughter of persons is acceptable, sort of collateral damage to be overlooked in the pursuit of some irreverent goal. The goal of humanity is to seek the flourishing of creation, including other persons. God sees God’s work, declaring that work is very good. So, cursing the earth, its flourishing, its people is contrary to God’s declaration of what is very good. The responsorial psalm begs God to send God’s Spirit to renew the face of the earth from all that has harmed it – including humanity. This is the starting point of God’s working. This is the beginning of God’s plan for creation.

Genesis 22:
What happens before this second reading includes the perversity of humanity’s choices. It begins with the Apple story. It is the awareness of choice between what is good and what is evil. With the help of Satan, evil becomes a known reality. This is first but followed by the murder of Abel. That is followed by a pretty universal choosing of evil by humanity. Noah is a just man and head of a just family. He is chosen for a reset of humanity’s role and for the salvation of creation. The flood is followed by an idolatrous event. Humanity feels it has power over heaven and earth. The result of this idolatry is the inability for humanity to converse with one another. Failure to communicate is a common opening for conflict.
This is a preamble to founding of a people that will reunite humanity into one family. Abram is called. That is this second reading this night. God teaches Abraham – renamed following the call – about faith, about love. God calls for the unthinkable. That a man who longed for a son, an heir to his life and work, should sacrifice this son. Abraham would have regretted his commitment to God. This was like what the Canaanites and other peoples did to appease their gods. The sacrifice of the first born to the sadistic god, Moloch, was a common practice. Abraham was taught this was not God’s will. The willingness to offer his most precious joy to God was a lesson Abraham learned. Every person is precious to God as well. The responsorial psalm begins, “You are my inheritance, O Lord.” The experience of the “Binding of Issac” is about God’s love for man and the essential of loving God. It is from that love that all other loves come.

Exodus 14:
The Hebrew tribes escaping from Egypt are confronted with the sea before them and Pharoah’s charioteers behind them. Facing either one is certain death. It is God’s intervention that following ten plagues convinced Pharoah and his officials to allow the tribes to leave. God’s intervention is not only to prove to the Hebrew tribes that God is for them. More than that, as God’s naming God’s self states, it proves that God will always be with them. This crossing of the sea must have been a lot frightening, especially to children. The charioteers of Pharoah were destroyed, effectively preventing Pharoah of capable of recapturing this people, returning them to slavery. God is for his chosen people; God is liberator.

The responsorial psalm is a song by Miriam, shouting aloud the work of God and praising his presence. It is a rousing song, meant to thank God and to poetically and in song give these refugees a song of praise and hope for the travails and struggles ahead. There had to be a rallying song to carry these people over the next forty years into the next generation.

Isaiah 54:
This prophecy is from the second book of Isaiah, about the Babylonian captivity period. That captivity and slavery served as a purification and growth of faith of the people. Where could they find hope. It was during this period of captivity that study and work reviewing their history. They collected the oral traditions in songs, stories told, recalled in rituals. These were written down. What triggered this was the kids coming home with the Babylonian creation myths from the Babylon Enuma Elish. In that myth Marduk became the god of creation after defeating the other gods in battle. The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures were the effective counterpoint to the Babylonian myth. These writings were a source of understanding and inspiration for the renewal of the covenant of Sinai. There were four oral traditions that were collected, each with a varied method and theme. The Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomic, and the Priestly traditions formed those first five books. The variations of creation and other themes came from merging those four traditions.

Why this is important is that the faith of the Hebrew nation became Israel in the desert wanderings. Those collections became along with historical books brought about a period of prophecy during which God spoke to the nation through anointed prophets. This prophecy in second Isaiah is the Vigil’s fourth reading of salvation history. In this writing the prophet describes the nation as the bride of the Maker. It tells of the abandonment and return of the Husband’s, the Creator’s, care, and protection. The abandonment was caused by the nation turning away from the Creator, thus floundering, and losing its place among the nations. The Creator promised the nation would be established in justice. God’s justice is that all creation will flourish including his chosen people. We are still working on that.

The Responsorial Psalm is a thanksgiving prayer-song for God’s rescuing the nation --- well us as well.

Isaiah 55:
There is a significant shift in this chapter of Isaiah. From the fourth reading from second Isaiah, this beginning of the third book of Isaiah as a promise of results from God’s intervention. These beautiful verses attest to that. “Thus says the Lord: all you who are thirsty come to the water! You who have no money come receive grain and eat; come without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!” Included in this abundance are warnings about scoundrels and wicked persons. “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” It continues to the end of this reading: “so shall my word be that goes from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”

Baruch 3:
We do not often hear from Baruch. He was the scribe of Jeremiah and a continuation of Jeremiah’s writings. He asks why it is that Israel is captive in a foreign land, grown old and defiled with dead. He answers his question, this way: “You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom! Had you walked in the way of God you would have dwelt in enduring peace.” He continues in this reading writing about the wisdom of God, personifying wisdom as a woman of great beauty. Wisdom is defined as the application of knowledge for living a complete, fulfilling, peaceful, and joyful life. Pursuing wisdom is the practice of a person who seeks value and purpose in living.
The Responsorial Psalm tells us about wisdom and how we can attain it. “Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.”

Ezekiel 36:
This is the prophet who has a vision of what Israel became because of idolatry. God’s vision is that the Israelite kingdom wrought by King David had defiled that land by their conduct and deeds. Because of their disasters at the hands of foreign nations who conquered them, God’s holy name had been defiled. The Israelites were responsible for the defilement because of their idolatry. Those foreign people laughed at the God of Israel. "These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to leave their land.” What kind of god would forsake his own people by allowing them to be overrun and taken into exile? God did not abandon them. God’s intervention was not for the sake of the people. “Not for your sakes do I act, house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you came. I will prove the holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations, in whose midst you have profaned it. Thus, the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord GOD.” God promises to return this idolatrous nation to their place. He will sprinkle clean water on them to cleanse them of their impurities. God says God will give them a new heart and place a new spirit within them, taking from their bodies their stony hearts and giving them natural hearts. This is hope for us in our age of idolatry that creates gods served by our time, our desires, by our stony hearts that fail to serve the widow, the orphan, the alien in our midst. We allow poverty to crush the spirits and hearts of those on the margins of our nation.

When baptisms are performed during the vigil, the Responsorial Psalm is psalm forty-two. “Like a deer that longs for running streams, my soul longs for you, my God.” If no baptisms are performed the
Responsorial is psalm fifty-one. “Create a clean heart in me, O God.”

Finally comes the Epistle to the Romans:
Paul writes to the Romans, reminding all who are baptized each is baptized into the death of Christ, Jesus. We are buried with him and are raised with him into new life. Baptism brings us into a community of the raised into a newness of life supported by a community and which we support in that community. The community is described by Paul as the Body of Christ. We are united to him through death to the world like Christ who died at the hands of the world, the secular world, and the world of empty religiosity. “Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.”

The responsory and Gospel acclamation are a great shouted praise prayer of Alleluia. That alleluia is a great chorus in response to the seven readings and the letter to the Romans. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.”

Gospel: Luke 24:

What a terrific, terrifying surprise met these women from Galilee! They came to provide appropriate care to the body of Jesus. It was the first day of the week, a new beginning even as a new day was beginning with its dawn. Imagine their fears as they saw the huge stone rolled away. They were frightened by two in bright garments who appeared. They prostrated on the ground. The message of added to their confusion. That is our response as well after having witnessed Friday. “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?” The two continued “he is not here but has been raised.” Don’t you remember what he said in Galilee? Luke writes the women remembered and now could believe the reality of his words. They moved rapidly to faith because of their recall of Jesus words in Galilee. Women in that culture were not accepted as valid witnesses. But they were the first witnesses to the completion of the salvation story. He conquered death. He conquered the methods and practices of the world and its leaderships. After this long three-day liturgy, there is relief among us worshippers that it is accomplished. There is a huge sigh of relief having finished the three-day liturgy. The Jewish understanding of religious celebration of high holydays is that the remembering is a cause of God’s remembering and as God’s remembers the event springing from God is present again. There is no wonder all the lights came on, all attendees held shares of that light, adding brightness and warmth to the whole community, those assembled in the name of the God who saves!

First Sunday of Easter April 20, 2025

Acts of Apostles 10:34 & 37-43; Responsorial Psalm 118; 1st Corinthians 5:6-8; Sequence “Victimae Paschali Laudes”; Gospel Acclamation 1st Corinthians 5:7-8; John 20:1-9

The antiphon for the Responsorial Psalm sets the theme for this Sunday’s worship. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!” In the past week, our parish witnessed a remembering in ritual and prayer an earth shaking event. The Chosen People’s history of response to God’s work among them and response to the prophets who brought God’s message has created a new era. Many parts of Christian Scriptures call this is the final era of Creation. When all is finished, when the richness of God’s presence is completed and recognized, then Creation will be complete. Then, as the book of Revelation expresses, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The old will have disappeared. How wonderful to be part of the growth of the new order! How scary at the same time is when and how all this will be brought to completion?

We remembered this week how this new era, this new Kingdom of God, came about. Jesus ministered to the old world, healing, teaching, walking with humanity and speaking of the Kingdom of God that was coming. Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, he entered the very old city of Jerusalem. He came there as King. Many feared he would replace them.

In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter, who is authority commissioned by Jesus lays out the message to the Jews. He witnesses to John the Baptist as the announcer of the coming Messiah. God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power at his baptism and at the transfiguration. That was a message identifying Jesus as Messiah. Peter goes on as witness to the crucifixion and to the resurrection. He says there were chosen witnesses to these events not everyone. And these witnesses ate and drank with Jesus after his resurrection, thus denying Jesus was a ghost, an apparition, or imaginings of minds. As support, Peter insists Jesus Messiahship is proven by Scriptures especially by the prophets. Peter uses an argument based on Hebrew Scriptures, in which the law and the prophets are the revelation of God promising the Anointed one. The result of these recent events is for those who believe in him receive forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name. So begins the preaching mission of the apostles and disciples. This is the template for their preaching.

The sequence for this liturgy is a song of joy recounting the events of this Passover, this moving from death to life. This is called a sequence. Christ is the hope of humankind. The last line of this song is a prayer asking the victor King to have mercy those gathered in his name.

Imagine being in Mary Magdala’s sandals on this first day of the week. Here is a new beginning, for which Mary was not prepared. Her heart must have pained her as she saw the massive stone rolled back from the cave-tomb. Fear clutching her heart, she ran to tell Peter, the authority chosen by Jesus to lead. She was in terror someone had stolen his body. She lacks faith. In her subsequent encounter with the risen Jesus, she thinks he is the gardener. She comes to faith when he addresses her by name. Her coming to faith in the Risen One is through this experience of meeting Jesus and her conversation with him. But it continues and grows stronger with each encounter. She is an example of what happens to us.

Peter, the authority figure, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved ran to the tomb. They came running out of fear for what they would find. They came without faith, without understanding what Jesus had told them. John comes to the tomb first, an indication he was more likely to come to faith in the resurrection before Peter. Peter, reliant on authority of the Scriptures, would be dependent on the Hebrew Scriptures and then on recall of Jesus’ words to come to faith. But as of yet neither John or Peter understood the scriptures about Jesus or applied Jesus’ words to them. John, coming to the tomb, pushed to a quicker step by his love and being loved in a special way by Jesus, came to faith based on love of Jesus. He looked into the tomb and believed. John waited for Peter to enter. Was he waiting for confirmation of his loving faith by the authority of Scripture? Peter saw physical evidence dismissing the possibility of grave robbers. The face cloth was folded neatly, separate from the burial cloth. Remembering the raising of Lazarus, Peter realized Jesus was not clothed in burial clothes when he disappeared. Lazarus came, called from the tomb wearing the death garments. Peter, the authority, needed to come to fullness of faith by depending on an understanding of the prophecies about Jesus. Grave robbers would not have been so careful. John saw this with eyes of love and believed. Peter needed the evidence of Scripture to fully believe. How do we, did we come to faith in the resurrection: was it love from our experiences, or was it Scripture – perhaps both?

With this three-day liturgy we a new reality. Death is not the end, a clear passage point, a portal to another dimension. Death lost its terror and oblivion because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. He leads the way to fullness of life now and through the passage. The hamster wheel of worldly values loses its siren song with this newly revealed reality. Human life is about more than production. It is about growing our spirit, our depth of character. Everything is renewed; a rebirth portrayed by the coming of spring. The one who died at the hands of the world’s secular and religious leadership has been raised to die no more. The values and purpose of human life have been elevated to the transcendence level, which is a new paradise. Faith can understand this: faith is a gift like a seed. To grow it must fall into the ground and die, raise again, grow, and bear. Alleluia! Praise the Lord!
 

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2025-04-13 Homily
PASSION/PALM SUNDAY Year C

(Luke19:28-40); Is.50:4-7; Philippians2:6-11; Luke22: 14-23:56

“Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem”

Why did you pick up that Palm branch?
Why choose to process into the Church?

We have journeyed with Jesus all this year
following him in the Gospel of Luke,

We have heard him proclaim the Good News.

We have experienced miracles, The blind see, the lame walk,

We have fasted with him 40 days, experienced hunger
and resisted temptation with Him.

We have Seen his glory on the Mountain at his transfiguration,
slept with Peter, James, and John
and were awakened by Christ.

We have been Cultivated with the Fig tree
that we might bear much fruit.

We have received his forgiveness with the prodigal son.
And have been invited into the banquet.

Jesus has journeyed into our lives,
become one of us,
entered into our struggles and needs
taught us and healed us.

So why, now, pick up palm branches
and follow Him Proclaiming Hosanna!?

It may be because you know something,
you have seen a glimpse of the light in Him.

In this week, In this time we call holy,
He journeys into our darkest moments,
where we fear, but long for his presence.

He journeys
into our fear and violence,
into our rejection, betrayal, and loneliness
into our lost hope, despair and depression
into our sadness and grief.
Into our brokenness and sin.

So we pick up a palm
and follow him into Jerusalem
hoping for another miracle.

But there he leads us to the cross

He invites us to journey with him ... to the Cross.
It is this journey to the Cross,
and only this journey,
that reaches into our darkest experiences.
And brings us to the point of Hope.

Here we see that light, caught only in glimpses.
That hope, that is known only in the deepest darkness.
That hope that cannot be extinguished.

So for now,
we will rest here with him.
... Three days,
... Until the dawn!


Fr. John Boll OP

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Volume 2 is for you. Your thoughts, reflections, and insights on the next Sundays readings can influence the preaching you hear. Send them to preacherexchange@att.net. Deadline is Wednesday Noon. Include your Name, and Email Address.
-- Fr. John