March 24, 2024 - Palm / Passion Sunday - A Reading of Mark's Passion Narrative on Palm Sunday

Faith, when it is spiritual and cerebral, can be comfortable. Simultaneously faith in Jesus can call us beyond that. I realize I am guilty of being attracted to what is cerebral and spiritual. In past posts I have written about the structure of the Triduum worship. I explored Dante's Divine Comedy on Maundy Thursday. I have written as well about the dichotomies of the Last Supper betrayal.

The Palm/Passion Sunday service demonstrates an emotional dichotomy during a Sunday morning service. We remember the story in this worship from the Jesus processional into Jerusalem to the Good Friday crucifixion. We say our hosannas in Creator's narthex, proceed into the sanctuary, lay down the palm leaves we have just lifted in praise and we read and listen to Mark's passion narrative. They will be burned for next year's Ash Wednesday remembrance.

This start of Holy Week (the first where we have the first pastor called to be Creator's pastor since the pandemic started), invites us into reflection and gratitude. Community is both being affirmed and being built today. Mark's Passion narrative in recounting the details of what was said and done highlights and dramatizes the rise and fall of what makes up most human communities.

This year as I read lament of Jesus as he cried to God on the cross "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani " I felt the sting of this man, feeling forsaken, struggling with what he feels he is meant to go through while experiencing the complexities of being a part of a human community.