Palm Sunday and Holy Week Reflection (Year B)
March 28, 2021
Liturgy of the Palms: Mark 11:1-11
Liturgy of the Word: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11;
Music: Ah, Holy Jesus – Vocalist: Ali Hosford
Every year, when the church gathers together for worship on the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week…it always invokes a myriad of emotions as we listen to the story of Jesus’ triumphal and celebratory entry into Jerusalem which changes quickly to a more somber service, as we listen to the reading of the Passion Gospel…the scriptures that heartbreakingly remind us of Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross on Good Friday. Yet, we know, and have come to believe on this side of history, that death did not have the final say…because, as we will be reminded in the scriptures next Sunday –just three days later, the tone changes quickly, once again, with the joyous news of Jesus’ resurrection that we proclaim on Easter day….Alleluia! Christ is Risen…the Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!
The account of Holy Week is hard stuff…nobody wants to dwell on suffering and death…we want to jump ahead to Easter…and the joy-filled days…
Yet…Jesus’ Passion story has something important to teach us every year if we will allow ourselves to enter fully into the Holy Week scriptures and stories that are speaking to us…in this time and in this place….
This year, for me…I’m thinking about voices…the loud ones and the quiet ones…
More specifically…I’m thinking about the voices that nailed Jesus to the cross…The loud ones…the voices which hold so much power over others, and dominate others…I’m thinking about the voices that sow division and hatred…I’m thinking about the voices that fail to respect the dignity and worth of every human being…
I’m thinking about the voices that nailed Jesus to the cross…the quiet ones…
The ones Jesus spoke up for, when they were being silenced…
The ones Jesus advocated for with love and compassion and mercy…
The ones Jesus affirmed their belovedness in God…
I’m thinking about the ways Jesus sought to reconcile all these voices (the loud, the quiet, the in between ones) to God and one another as he went about his life’s work and mission of loving, teaching and healing, and as he made his final journey to the cross when he was lifted up to reveal the power of God’s love to transform death into life, as promised and fulfilled in the Resurrection of Jesus…
I’m thinking about the ways that Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection opened up the possibility of a new way forward for God’s people to work together, to join their voices together, in a delicate balance of listening and speaking truth, to bring forth healing out of hatred and divisions, to bring forth a vision of God’s reign of love destined to be established here on earth, as in heaven… A love that promotes justice and peace, and respects the dignity of every human being….
And today, I’m also thinking about all the voices we listened to through the stories of the saints we studied in our Lent Madness book group these past several weeks…some followed Jesus in quiet ways…some followed Jesus with loud voices in the streets….But they all had one thing in mind, and on their hearts…and that was to follow in the way of love that Jesus had revealed to them…in their time and in their place…
So, I end today, with an invitation for you to allow yourself to be fully present this week to Jesus’ Passion story as it unfolds throughout Holy Week and on Good Friday…Think about whose voices are standing out for you… Whose voices are you noticing for the first time this year? Whose voices do you wish you could hear more from? And then pray…spend time in silence to listen for the voice of God. And then…GO…use your voice, in this time and in this place…to follow Jesus in the Way of Love…a way of life that reveals a vision of God’s reign of love here on earth, as in heaven… A love that promotes justice and peace, and respects the dignity of every human being….
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:2
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK
Hymn before prayers of the people: HYMN 488 - Be thou my vision