Intercessions ~ Palm Sunday

 

The world is grieving./ This is the 19th century of Saint George/ which burned to the ground as the small town of Zavorychi, Ukraine was destroyed./ Grant that as Christians gather on Palm Sunday,/ we would treasure our house of worship and faith community./ At the start of Holy Week,/ we pray for the conversion of our sad world./ We pray to the Lord.

As awful as the burning of a church is,/ there is the murder of  civilians,/ children and their mothers,/ pregnant women,/ elderly people,/ frail or defenseless people./ Some have even been visibly executed./ It is the time of mass graves again./ Pope Francis has called it "sacrilegious."/ There is almost nothing to say,/ only the silence of humanity which has once again shamed itself./ We pray to the Lord.

Words like atrocity,/ uncivilized,/ war crimes,/ seem to no longer express the terrible realities of the twenty-first century./ The envelope of air we live in is filled with poisonous smoke,/ the ground is soaked with toxins,/ the waters are clogged with waste and death,/ the birds are gone,/ even the trees in the forests and parks are splintered and burn./ For the healing of our planet./ We pray to the Lord.

There are many who speak of this Ukrainian outrage with words like fake and lies./ We pray for them and for any who excuse,/ ignore or defend evil./ For religious leaders who are weak/ and protective of their own interests./ We pray to the Lord.

This Friday remembers humankind rejecting Christ,/ the all Good One./ The message of the crucifix is:/ "Look at what we are capable of doing."/ We pray boldly for a world that does not seem to learn/ that is content to live in barbarous ignorance./ We pray to the Lord. 

In the face of new horrors,/ this great confrontation with evil,/ many people are helping./ May God bless and protect them — the people who drive through danger to save others,/ those providing food,/ shelter,/ comfort and medical help,/ those who search for the ones left behind,/ reporters who bravely reveal the awful truth./ We pray to the Lord.

Palm Sunday Gift

Many of us won't be able to participate in Mass this weekend because of the health crisis in which we find ourselves these days. So I thought I'd use our space here to find you and to share these pussywillow branches with you. They are an encouraging sign of renewal, hope and new life. I send them with every good wish and a blessing for your family and every family in the world where there is anxiety, fatigue, sickness, loneliness or stress.

Were we at the Palm Sunday Mass we'd have heard St. Matthew's familiar Gospel account (21:1-11) of Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem. But the verse that stands out for me today is this: "Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road."

If you heard yesterday's audio-post, you might remember the thoughts about the withered tree Duccio placed behind Jesus' halo. My only fear is that I would come to the end of my life never having been fruitful in Christ. But looking again, by contrast, we see two other trees still further behind—tall, leafed-out and green. Young boys are scrambling up the trees to cut the branches they'll lay down on the road. 

But what does it mean? It means, that along with the pussywillow branch, I offer this prayer for you:

O Christ our Saviour,

 Christ, the tree of our ascent,

may we move

 up and out

 of spiritual infancy,

to maturity of faith—

that I would live my own unique life

as truthfully, generously and beautifully, 

as you, Jesus, lived yours. 

Intercessions ~ Palm Sunday

Many of us are away from Mass this Palm Sunday because of the world health crisis./ We pray for all the people with whom we'd normally worship today;/ may they be safe and well./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for Pope Francis,/ who recently said that this time is not about God's judgement,/ but our judgement about the things that truly matter./ May human hearts be transformed to mercy,/ compassion and love./ We pray to the Lord.

For the President of the United States/ who says frequently these days,/ "We are all in this together."/ May we learn in new ways the depth of what it means to be part of God's global community./ We pray to the Lord.

The health care providers are working themselves to exhaustion:/ the doctors,/ nurses/ and all who support the work of caring for the sick./ We pray for them and their loved ones./ We pray to the Lord.

Some people are not being helpful these days,/ playing politics,/ defying new regulations,/ looking to make money,/ hoarding,/ acting recklessly./ May consciences evolve by God's light./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the well-being of our families and friends./ For the sick/ and the many who have died recently by this terrible disease./ For the newly afflicted countries/ lacking the resources needed to help the sick./ We pray to the Lord.

Intercessions ~ Palm Sunday

Germany ~ 1505 ~ Palm Sunday Sculpture

We pray for Pope Francis,/ as he leads the Church in prayer this Holy Week from Rome./ For the safety of pilgrims who will travel to Jerusalem these last days of Lent./ We pray to the Lord.

Racism is our nation's original sin./ We pray for the three African American, Baptist congregations/ whose historic churches were burned recently. / For their consolation and endurance./ For those who conceal and protect hateful hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

For the President of the United States,/ our Congress/ and people in leadership around the world./ May they know the truth of God's justice and mercy./ May they possess servant-hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem/ to begin the sacred work of his suffering and death,/ may we welcome and accept his invitation/ to allow for God to rule our decisions,/ our politics,/ our families/ and our work./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the sick,/ the wounded and the damaged,/ the imprisoned and the refugee./ We ask blessings for the many who work to help others in their suffering and need./ We pray to the Lord.

In the early Spring,/ as our hemisphere turns green,/ may we grow in humility,/ self-knowledge, / and a deepened respect and care for our increasingly vulnerable planet./ We pray to the Lord.

Intercessions ~ Palm Sunday

As Christians begin Holy Week today,/ may we hear and feel the prayers we pray,/ for those who will preach the message of the cross,/ for the safety of those who pray in Jerusalem this week./ We pray to the Lord.

Spring has officially begun./ May we begin anew:/ growing our spiritual vision,/ detecting God's presence,/ seeing others rightly,/ in love and justice./ May Christ's light dispel stubborn ignorance./ We pray to the Lord.

Young people march across the nation this weekend,/ demanding that their lives and safety be a national priority,/ and that we end gun violence and mass shootings in the nation's schools./ May we listen to them with our hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for law enforcement,/ investigtors and helpers during the three weeks of bomb menace in Austin, Texas./ We pray for those who live where bombs explode everyday,/ and boldly ask for the removal of bombs held in our own hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

As Passover begins this Friday,/ we pray for the Jewish people around the world;/ may they grow in the love of God./ For those who persist in the hatred of Jews/ and who cloak that hatred in religious beliefs./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those in prison,/ the sick,/ the home bound,/ the weak and the children of war./ For those who this week feel they hate God,/ or who hate their lives./ We pray for a peaceful world./ We pray to the Lord.

Lenten Mercy-Meditation: Palm Sunday

The sermon at Mass should be short today because the Passion of Jesus is long. And the presence of so many themes tempts the preacher to talk too much. But there is one theme that is largely ignored and that is the meaning of the palm branch itself. We're perhaps used to hearing that palm branches are ancient signs of victory. Branches were waved in front of generals and armies returning from victories. Even successful athletes were surrounded by palm branches. Images of martyrs hold palm branches.

But I'd suggest there is a symbolism that is much closer to each of us personally. It has to do with the nature of religion itself. I suppose there are as many meanings or emphases of religion as there are people. Religion is: dogmas and doctrines, laws, clergy and hierarchies, authority, vows, liturgical worship, morality, sexual ethic, good deeds, institutions. And while I'm in no position to say what other religions are, including all the denominations of a splintered Christianity, it seems to me that Catholicism, with its Gospel, is supposed to be a spiritual way for people. I fear we often lose that awareness and call.

Oaks, Maples, Aspens and Birches lose all their leaves within a few days or weeks each fall. But a palm tree renews itself continuously throughout the year; as it loses a leaf it at once starts to grow another. It is never without its leaves, renewing itself little by little, one leaf at at time. It is a very apt symbol of our personal and steady self-renewal, revival, restoring or freshening. Sad to say, the cultural understanding of personal renewal isn't very deep, often no deeper than our skin and hair: get the right creams, the right body augmentation, the right style, the right look and your good to go. It makes for an empty person.

But if Resurrection only means what happened to Jesus and the promise of life on the other side of the grave, I believe we have sold Jesus short. Personal renewal is the heart of our religion. It isn't just a Lenten thing or an Eastertime thing. Renewal is our way of life. So, can you think of some life-approaches that might effect (palm tree like) personal and on-going renewal? I had a spiritual director who at the end of each session together always prayed over me, that God would grow-me-up. How I valued that prayer! 

Here are some ideas for renewal that come to mind:

• Read the book I bought and never read.
• Make the visit I've been procrastinating over.
• Lose 5 lbs (or more if needed).
• Go for a walk every day - get sunlight and new air.
• Clean out a closet, an attic, a basement: St. Basil says, "If you haven't used it in a year it no longer belongs to you, but to the poor."
• Keep a garden - if even a couple of houseplants well-tended.
• Give myself ten minutes of hermit time each day - God alone.
• Learn to say yes if I know how I can be selfish.
• Learn to say no if I'm wearying out.
• Quit the cigarettes and give the money to an organization that takes care of the most hungry children.
• Restore Sunday as an old-fashioned rest day: break the crazy cultural cycle of making money, spending money, noise and haste.
• Take an evening or summer class (even online) to study something that's always interested you but you never explored.
• Get free of something that's dumb-ing you down.
• Read the New Testament from cover to cover over a period of weeks or months.
• Commit to a charity and keep the commitment.
• Restore Friday as a day of penance.

Intercessions ~ Palm Sunday

In his recent visit to Naples/ Pope Francis had lunch with one hundred prison inmates,/ We pray for prisoners around the world,/ asking for their rehabilitation and conversion./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for pilgrims to the Holy Land this week./ For the movement of hearts and minds to growth in Christ./ and for those whose lives in the Holy Land are all struggle and grief./ We pray to the Lord.

The Jewish people celebrate Passover this time of year./ For their peace,/ fidelity and growth in the Covenant God has made with them./ We pray to the Lord.

We entrust our families to the God of blessings at the start of Holy Week./ For the healing of families which are toxic with hate,/ bitter memories,/ wounds and addictions./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask for the gift of a more peaceful world as Easter approaches./ For those to be blessed and encouraged who work for peace,/ justice and reconciliation./ We pray to the Lord.

For the sick and for refugees,/ those who no longer believe,/ the embittered,/ the depressed,/ and for anyone who is away from home./ We pray to the Lord.

And for all who have died/ we ask the promised gift of Easter life/ in all of its healing and joy./ We pray to the Lord.

"The Children of the Hebrews..."

THE ACCOUNT OF JESUS' entry into Jerusalem before His Passion is told in each of the four gospels. The details differ, but this shouldn't disturb us as the gospel writers aren't trying to give us newspaper reports. Rather, they are sharing the underneath message: who Jesus is; what Jesus is doing.

There are long debates online as to whether Jesus rode one or two donkeys. It's hard to see how this kind of complicated and tedious argument helps us to know Jesus better. In the early 1970's Leonard Bernstein composed The Mass. After the "Kyrie" a single voice, accompanied by guitar is heard:

Sing God a simple song
Lauda, laude
Make it up as you go along
Lauda, laude
Sing like you like to Sing
God loves all simple things
And love is the simplest of all."

It is foretold in the Book of the Prophet Zechariah (9:9) that Zion's future king would ride upon the little animal of peace. But perhaps the reference is also to the ass as a work animal, the beast of burden, as Jesus is now the sin-carrier. The crowd is looking for a politician; they don't understand. But perhaps you and I do, inviting Jesus to enter my inner place, come to usher in a new  era of personal reconciliation, hope, joy and justice (as the new pope has stressed).

There's nothing in the gospels that tells us that it was children who climbed the trees, cut the branches and laid their cloaks on the ground, but the crowd. It's the hymns of the Church that reference children.

All glory, laud and honor
To you, Redeemer, King!
To whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.
(Passiontide Hymn: All Glory, Laud and Honor)

Or on Palm Sunday, Eastern Christians sing:

Sitting on your throne in heaven
Carried on a foal on earth, O Christ God
Accept the praise of angels and the songs of children who sing:
Blessed is He that comes to recall Adam!

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus enjoins us: "And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven'." (NIV 2011) What's the point?

• Children seem to have a trusting nature.
• Children tend to believe in what's unseen.
• Children are teachable (that's what humility is).
• Children don't mind being seen as needy; they even relish being carried.
• Children have an ability to accept others and look beyond differences.
• Children come without pretensions, masks, ambition, accomplishments or power claims.
• Children live in the present.
• Children can be irrepressibly joyful.

Be like that with God, Jesus teaches. But children can also be messy. Many people, maybe especially religious people, have to stop thinking that God insists or expects we be all fixed up before approaching Him: that we have  the perfect prayer, the right doctrine, the required posture or disposition, being in some kind of inner state of worthiness. I'm thinking too of pious people who speak  in affected tones. The lyrics to Charlotte Elliott's hymn Just As I Am, Without One Plea, correct that thinking.

Just as I am, though tossed about
with many a conflict, many a doubt,
fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

In this icon for Palm Sunday, the children are very involved. They have climbed the tree and are spreading their coats on the ground. One upfront mom  even holds an infant who happily waves a little palm branch in  welcoming Jesus. As we ponder the icon we might consider also the Jesus-injunction to change and become like little children, and then see what we can do.