The processional cross, adorned with palms, is seen outside St. Stephen Cathedral in Owensboro on April 14, 2019, during the Palm Sunday liturgy. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC
Source & Summit: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
(The faithful) taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the source and summit of the whole Christian life, offer the Divine Victim to God, and themselves along with it.
-The Second Vatican Council fathers in Lumen Gentium, #11
Source & Summit is a feature of The Western Kentucky Catholic online, celebrating the National Eucharistic Revival: Year of Parish Revival. Intended to help Catholics of our parishes to probe the riches of our liturgical year and celebrate the liturgy well, the column will always start with the Bible readings for the Mass of the Day to help us reflect on, and help to “unpack” and expand our experiences at liturgy into the domestic church (the home) and the workplace.
Sunday reflections will be based on the Lord’s Day, the Liturgy, the Eucharist, and, occasionally, community.
Sunday, March 24, 2024:
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032424.cfm
Isaiah 50:4—7
Psalm 22:8—9, 17—20, 34—24
Philippians 2:6—11
Mark 14:1—15:47
The end of the Passion reading today climaxes with Jesus’ death, where the paradox of human and divine power again becomes visible: Jesus hanging on the cross from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., silent during those agonizing hours except for his final cry: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, silent even in the face of mockery and derision, as bystanders and religious leaders alike taunt him with their versions of power: “Save yourself by coming down from the cross,” and “Come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” The silent Jesus resists these appeals to “traditional” power just as he had resisted the temptations in the desert. Precisely because of the way he died, in silence, with no recriminations or cursing, Jesus’ identity is revealed – not by his apostles, not by religious leaders, but by a Roman soldier who proclaimed: “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Truly, power made perfect in weakness, recognized at the foot of the cross by Mary Magdalene and the other women and by a pagan soldier!
-Sr. Cheryl Clemons, OSU
Sister Cheryl is an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph.
To learn more about the Diocese of Owensboro’s celebration of the National Eucharistic Revival, visit https://owensborodiocese.org/eucharistic-revival/.
