Passion Sunday (A)

(Edited) Sunday reflections: (From) liturgical years 2014 (A), 2015 (B), and 2016 (C)

April 13, 2014
Liturgical readings
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22
Philippians 2:6-11
Matthew 26:14 - 27:66

"Though He was in the form of God, He emptied himself and took the form of a slave."

The letter of Paul to the Philippians expresses well the core of Matthew's passion narrative: a narrative which begins from the betrayal of Judas Iscariot; to the Last Supper; to the Lord's arrest; to the trial before Pilate; to the Lord's scourging and crucifixion; to His entombment; and finally ending with the Pharisees arranging with Pilate for the guards in His grave. All these events reveal to us the humility and meekness the Lord exemplified as man even if He is God's beloved Son.

We can understand in depth the Lord's Passion and Death on the Cross,
if we refer to St. Andrew of Crete's (ca. 660-740 A.D.) message:

"Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward his passion,
and to cover his path not with olive branches and palms, but by
doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being
humble and by trying to live as he would wish. Then we shall
be able to receive the Word at his coming, and God, whom no
limits can contain will be within us.

The passion and death of our Lord has such a great influence and impact on many Catholics, that more time is devoted to contemplate on this mystery and gift of the faith. All Catholics can have a depth of spiritual insight if all reverently make an effort to kneel in deeper prayer and silence in the Eucharistic liturgy, when this part of the gospel is read:

"Jesus cried out in a loud voice, and then gave up his spirit."

The mystery and gift of Christ's self-sacrificing love for humanity penetrates the very core of man's mortal existence. Human suffering is a mystery; but through Jesus, everyone is given the gift to understand it in his person.

Scripture quote:
Though he was in the form of God, Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men...He humbled himself, obediently accepting death, death on a cross! (Philippians 2)