Passion Sunday (Year B)

We began the Holy Week this Sunday. Jesus was heading Jerusalem, to his final destiny on earth. He entered Jerusalem, riding on a colt to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass (Zechariah 9:9).
The scene was politically explosive because the people were shouting very dangerous and defiant slogans.
And those who went before and those who followed cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!" (Mark 11:9-10)
The Roman garrison stationed there could not have ignored such a political rally. They must have been closely watching the mob. Even if they did not understand "Hosanna", which means S.O.S., they could not have missed "the kingdom of our father David". The time was ripe for Jesus to publicly admit his Messiahship.
As a tradition, our parishioners marched outside the church, circled it once and chanted a procession hymn. It is an annual public declaration of our belief in Jesus to the residents of Tuen Mun. Fr. Patrick Sun celebrated the 11 a.m. mass with us. This year, we read the Passion narrative according to Mark. The reading was long and was broken up into many sections. While reading the narrative, he paused at each section to help us reflect. Fr. Patrick invited us to meditate on the various roles people played in the death of Jesus and tried to identify ourselves within the narrative. Scholars in general agree that Mark was the first gospel. Mark created the gospel genre. His gospel was filled with actions and contrasts. This is particularly true in the Passion narrative.
The disciples could not stay awake for a moment when they accompanied Jesus to Gethsemane to pray.
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mark 14:38).
Most of the time, we overestimate our own strength, only end up falling into disgrace. How many times are we so confident of ourselves that we overlook the merits of the others?
Judas betrayed Jesus. Whatever his motive, nobody has come to his defence until the last century when people speculated various reasons for his notoriety. Are we ready to betray Jesus and his good news when we seek greater advantages for ourselves?
Peter drew a sword to put up a futile resistance. He was desperate. He could not afford to give up his investment in Jesus. His sacrifices would be totally in vain if Jesus died. Are we willing to lose everything we have done so that God's will prevails?
Inside the house of the High Priest, Jesus did not answer any false accusations. To break the deadlock, the High Priest put a damning question to Jesus: are you the Son of God? Jesus admitted his true identity. Jesus was condemned. As an administrator in charge of an institution, shall we simply eliminate any inconvenience rather than improving it and incorporating it into the institution? Is our institution so low in fault tolerance that the house will disintegrate beyond repair?
Peter was brave, or stupid enough to follow Jesus until he reached the courtyard of the High Priest house. Once more, he overestimated his own strength and yet unwittingly, he exposed himself to a life-threatening situation. He had to deny his Master three times in order to get himself off the hook. He regretted. Unlike Judas, whose regret and guilt made him commit suicide, Peter survived and became the leader of the early Church. Perhaps this was predestination. To be sure, such failures will enable us to understand more the limits of our own resources.
Now, it was Pilate's turn. He knew the situation and hated being forced to kill an innocent person. Instead of exercising justice as the Roman Procurator, he evaded his responsibility by allowing the people to choose between Jesus and Barabbas. His resentment was shown by the charge he inscribed on the Titulus Crucis: the King of the Jews (Mark 15:26). How often do we fail to perform our duties? How often do we put the blame on others? Our Lord quietly and patiently bear us all.
Blessed is Simon of Cyrene who had the privilege to be forced to carry the cross for Jesus for a while. Perhaps he was reluctant throughout the whole journey. Perhaps he even was among the first Christians to be persecuted because once he had carried the cross of Jesus. Very often, we protest against responsibilities imposed upon us. We curse, disobey, even sabotage the whole enterprise. How often do we see this as a privilege to serve Christ?
Of course, we may continue until the end, but it is more than enough for now. The end is yet to unfold.

Dear Lord, wish that we were there to give You a helping hand. But then we would NOT be doing the will of our Father. Grant that we may accompany You through the whole journey. In the end, may we wait patiently for the dawn of Your Resurrection. Amen.