WE SHOULD SEE this week as one unit, summed up under the phrase "Paschal Mystery". It includes the suffering, death and resurrection as well as the ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit. In fact, all these elements can actually be seen present on the cross on Good Friday.

On this Sunday we commemorate a day of both triumph and tragedy.

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The joy of this day

There is the joy of Jesus entering Jerusalem and getting an enthusiastic welcome from the crowds. "Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Words we continue to sing during the Eucharistic Prayer at every Mass. But the picture very soon changes to darkness, to suffering and death.

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Having the mind of Christ

Our key to understanding this week is in today's Second Reading from Paul's letter to the Philippians. "Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus." Though Jesus was in the form of God, he "emptied" himself, and went down to the lowest depths of degradation and humiliation, dying naked and as a convicted criminal.

The same idea is found in the First Reading from Isaiah which describes the "Suffering Servant" who does not resist the violence brought on him by his enemies. "For my part I made no resistance neither did I turn away." Here there is an absolute refusal to meet violence with violence but on the other hand it is not pure passivity. Violence is positively and deliberately met with non-violence. An attitude which inspired people like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Nelson Mandela - not all of them Christians.

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The measure of Christ's love

This is the measure of Jesus' is love us, laying down his life for his friends, and thus an expression of God's love for us. And, because of the intensity of the love Jesus showed he is swept up into the glory of God, so that we, too, may follow.

But, on the way, we too have to be ready to empty ourselves in love for him and to be totally at the service of our brothers and sisters in the same spirit of caring and active non-violence.

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The Passion

The Passion reading today consists of two whole chapters from Mark's Gospel. In our limited space here it is not possible to reflect on the huge richness of material given. It is for each one to concentrate on a few of the incidents recorded by Mark but it is important to read them in the light of the First and Second Readings which give the underlying meaning and direction to all that Jesus experiences in his Passion.

The Passion reading may be divided into the following sections:

The final hours
1, The chief priests and teachers of the Law plot secretly to get rid of Jesus without the people in general knowing about it. (14:1-2)
2, Jesus is anointed with expensive perfume by a woman who bursts into the house of Simon the leper. To Judas, it is a waste. It could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus, however, sees it as an anticipation of the embalming for his burial. (14:3-9)
3, Judas agrees to 'hand over' Jesus to the priests in exchange for money. How often have I betrayed truth, integrity, love or justice for material gain? (14:10-11)

'One of you will hand me over'
4, Jesus prepares to share the Passover meal with his disciples. When Jesus says one of them is going to betray him, none of them rules himself out as a possible traitor. "Is it I, Lord?" Can I rule myself out? The betrayer is one who shares the Paschal/Eucharistic meal, the one bread broken and given to all. Do I see the close relationship between my celebration of the Eucharist and the way I interact with those around me? (14:12-21)
5, The Lord's Supper. "This is my Body; this is my Blood." The institution of the Eucharist - the sacramental celebration in thanksgiving and memory for what God did for us in the life, suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. (14:22-26) As an active member of the Christian community I am part of that Body. (14:22-26)
6, Jesus predicts Peter's denial. How many times have I promised to serve Jesus with utter faithfulness? (14:27-31)

Jesus before his judges…
7, The prayer in the garden. Jesus overcome by fear and terror turns to his Father in prayer which ends in his total acceptance of what his Father wants. His disciples give him no support; they have never seen him like this and they do not know what to do. (14:32-42)
8, Jesus is arrested. Judas identifies him by a kiss. The utter distortion of love. Peter lashes out with a sword - he does not yet understand the way of non-violence. Jesus goes with his captors but challenges the justice of their action (active non-violence). His closest followers run for their lives. Given my record, can I condemn them? (14:43-52)
9, Jesus before the Sanhedrin. The false accusations in which Jesus' words are twisted against him. Jesus' silence before people who seek not justice but the perversion of justice. Jesus' claims to be the Messiah and Saviour King of his people is all they need - in their blindness - to do away with him. Who do I see in Jesus? (14:53-65)
10, Not once, but three times, Peter swears to God to have no knowledge of Jesus. No sooner has he done this, than he breaks down for betraying someone he dearly loves. Peter three times. I, how many times? (14:66-72)

… and the Roman governor
11, Jesus before Pilate. Only the Roman governor can pass sentence of death. Does Jesus claim to be King of the Jews, setting himself up against Roman rule, as the members of the Sanhedrin claim? Jesus maintains complete silence. As Lord and King, he is beyond being judged by a provincial governor but Pilate, who sees Jesus as someone totally under his power to condemn or acquit, cannot understand. (15:1-5)
12, The crowd, instigated by their leaders, call for the release of the gangster Barabbas in place of Jesus. It calls, on the other hand, for the execution of Jesus. Pilate, the opportunist with an eye on his future career, compromises whatever sense of justice he has and hands Jesus over. I, too, have so often acted like Pilate for short-term benefits. (15:6-15)

The Way of the Cross
13, Jesus has claimed to be a King. The soldiers mockingly dress him in purple (the colour of the rich and powerful) and give him a crown of thorns while physically abusing him. Jesus says not a word. The King of kings empties himself. (15:16-20)
14, Now follows the painful Way to the Cross. He is offered a drug to ease his pain (a touch of kindness amid all the barbarity) before being nailed to the cross (unimaginable pain as the nails pierced the wrists). His claim to be King of the Jews is posted. For most, a joke to be laughed at, eliciting mockery and jeering. "If you are the Saviour King, save us and yourself. Ha, ha, ha!"
What do I see as I make myself part of this scenario? Do I see my God and his Love shining through these horrors? How do I respond? (15:21-32)

Tragedy and triumph
15, There is darkness everywhere. Jesus himself has reached the lowest depths of mental and physical suffering. "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" Then with a loud cry Jesus dies. Mark actually says that Jesus exepneusen, that is literally, he 'breathed out'. Many see here not just Jesus 'breathing his last' but also, in a much deeper sense, breathing out the Spirit, the Spirit of his Father and of himself. His death is the moment of final achievement when he passes on his Way, his Vision to all those who put their trust in him. At the same time, the curtain shielding the Holy of Holies in the Temple is ripped apart. God has begun a new presence in the Risen Jesus and in his Body, the Church. A pagan soldier at the foot of the cross sees the Truth: "Truly this person is son of God." It is a time for me too to open myself to be filled with that Spirit. And alone among Jesus' disciples, only the women are there with Jesus. (15:33-41)
16, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the very Sanhedrin which had condemned Jesus, but a man who looked to the coming of God's Kingdom gets permission to bury Jesus in a rock tomb which is securely sealed by a large stone. To the ordinary witness - and perhaps to many disciples - it seems to be the end of everything. (15:42-47)

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So much to feel and understand

Clearly, there is a huge amount for us to reflect and pray on in these readings, not just for today but for the whole week and indeed beyond. As St Ignatius of Loyola suggests in his Spiritual Exercises, let us make ourselves personally present in each of these scenes, especially those which speak most to our own life situation at this time. "I try to liest to the way words are spoken, I attempt to see the expression on the face, I am present with as heightened an awareness as I can muster, so that I enter into the mystery I am contemplating… I should pay special attention to how the divinity hides itself so that Jesus seems so utterly human and helpless. To realise that Christ loves me so much that he willingly suffers everyting for my rejections and sins…" (A Contemporary Reading of the Spiritual Exercises, by David L. Fleming s.j.)