Traditional Catholic Teaching

PASSION SUNDAY

Introductory Note;

In most cases the sermon printed for each Sunday is based on the Gospel reading appointed for that day. On this occasion, as well as next Sunday, which is Palm Sunday (the start of Holy Week) Fr. Peppert offers two semons based on the sufferings (the passion) and death of our Lord. Each of these has been written from the point of view of our Lord's Mother.

In Luke 2: 33 – 40, Mary recieved a propephecy from the holy Simeon who was also in the Temple at the time, that her child (Jesus) is destined for the fall and raising of many in Israel and that a sword shall pierce her own heart. The Fathers of the Church interpreted this to mean that she would share fully in the sufferings of her son.

In John 19: 25 – 27, at a time very close to our Lord's death, he called out to his mother "Behold your son; and then to St John, "Behold your mother". St John took her to his home and looked after her for the rest of her life. Our forefathers have always interpreted this as Jesus giving his mother to all loyal disciples to be their mother, and for His mother to look upon His disciples as her own sons and daughters. That tradition remains strong and fervent in all Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

The Gospel reading for Palm Sunday is Matthew 26: 36 – 75 and 27: 1– 60. The two sermons following are in fact meditations on the events as experienced by the mother of Jesus so that we too can understand something of what she was suffering with her son. Catholic belief is that when we engage in this type of reflection with Mary, we enter more fully into the sufferings and death of Jesus.

"Thou hast set my tears in thy sight, as also in thy promise." – Psalm l: 9.

God has promised to set our tears in His sight, to come to our assistance when we are in trouble, and to comfort and strengthen us with His grace. We cannot go through life without meeting Jesus on His path of suffering, that is to say, without suffering with our Master, without being convinced of the truth of the words: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matth. 16: 24). Whenever anything unpleasant, annoying or unfortunate befalls us, we meet, as it were, Jesus carrying His Cross. In such cases we may learn much and derive much comfort from our Lady's sorrow, when she met her Divine Son laden with the Cross on the way to Calvary.

What a night of agony must she have passed after taking leave of Him! She spent the weary hours in weeping, not in sleep, for never for a moment could she forget that He whom she loved most on earth was in the hands of His enemies. It is most painful to witness the agony of those whom we love without being able to alleviate it; and it is almost unbearable suffering not to know what their cruel fate is. Fear and anxiety work upon our imagination, until we picture them enduring the most horrible tortures. How slowly does time pass, how long is every minute, and a night spent in such agonizing fears seems an eternity!

What must have been our Lady's sorrow when she learned that her Divine Son was in the hands of His most bitter enemies, from whose hearts the thirst for His Blood had driven out all human sympathy!

The night at last came to an end, and St. John, the beloved disciple entered, his face pale, his eyes dim with tears, and his voice trembling so that he could hardly utter the terrible words: "Jesus is condemned to death." How different was the message brought by the angelic disciple from that brought years before by the angel! Gabriel greeted our Lady as blessed among women, but St. John greeted her as the most sorrowful Mother. Yet the angel's message was inevitably followed by that of the Apostle, and if we reflect on this fact we shall perceive Mary's real greatness revealed in her answer: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word."

After receiving these tidings she rose up and went out, accompanied by St. John, Mary Magdalen and other holy women. She was determined to witness the fearful sacrifice that her dearly loved Son was about to offer for the sins of the world. Her motherly heart shrank from the awful sight to be seen in the streets of Jerusalem and before Pilate's tribunal, but her love of Jesus gave her strength and enabled her to endure unspeakable anguish of mind. Standing in the street leading to Calvary, she awaited with dread the coming of her Son. What a spectacle did she behold! As St. Bernard says, she saw Him, not in the glory of His majesty, but overwhelmed by shame, crowned with thorns, stained with blood, driven forward unmercifully by cruel ruffians, abused, ill treated and enfeebled. He cast upon His Mother: a look expressive at once of His agony and submission, as if He would say: "Thy loyalty gives me encouragement; stand by me in my sufferings unto the end!" St. Ambrose thinks that our Lord greeted her with the words: "Hail, Mother," and that she replied: "Hail to Thee, my Son." But even if no sound passed their lips, their eyes spoke clearly enough. Their meeting was indeed full of pain, and yet it was full also of consolation and encouragement. Think of it, whenever anything painful befalls you. Imagine that Jesus is looking at you with love and sorrow, as if He were saying: "Art thou alone in thy suffering? Did I not suffer still more?" Jesus meets you whenever a temptation occurs to lead you astray, and whenever any inclination or passion tends to deceive you and turn you from the right path. He looks at you and says: "I have no dearer wish than that thou shouldst be true to Me." May He meet you when you are in the midst of merriment and happiness; amusement turns so easily to sin, unless our Lord's gentle face, marked by suffering, warns us to use moderation and self-control. For the salvation of your souls I beg you to be always members of that faithful band accompanying our Lady, especially when Jesus is dragged away by His exasperated enemies and forced to bear His Cross. Stay with Mary and with her be true to Jesus, even if men speak against Him, ridicule His teaching and despise our religion and all faithful love of God. He, and he alone, is a true Christian who stands firm in the day of temptation when wrong principles do their best to confuse him, and when adherence to Jesus involves the loss of all earthly happiness.

Let us accustom ourselves to meet our Lord everywhere, i.e. always to remember His holy teaching, in all things to strive to please Him and do His will, and to regard everything as permitted and directed by Him for our welfare. If we do this, Jesus will meet us wherever we go, in all our troubles and anxieties.

Jesus meets us in two ways, as Thomas Kempis points out one is the way of promise, and the other the way of consolation. He meets us with consolation. If anyone keeps his eyes fixed upon Jesus in His suffering, if anyone in difficult, dangerous and unpleasant circumstances takes Jesus as his example, turning to Him in childlike, trustful prayer, he will often experience wonderful peace and happiness. Yet sometimes our Master, as He meets us, denies any sensible* consolation to our suffering souls, and our hearts remain dry, lonely and tormented by fear and anxiety; we return from prayer with apparently no more comfort than when we had recourse to it.

But when meeting Jesus affords us no consolation, His grace strengthens us through His promises. Prayer may have no perceptible effect upon us, but the thought of our Lord's promises will confirm our resolution to abide by what is right, to press forward without wavering, and not to let our inward dryness make us doubt God's grace, which will never abandon us in our efforts.

Sorrowful as our Lady was when she met Jesus, His glance reminded her of the blessing promised to those who endure unto the end. May she ever be your protectress, that both in joy and sadness you may seek comfort in Jesus only, and even if you feel neither consolation nor pleasure in prayer, doing your duty and striving to do right, the intercession of the holy Mother of Sorrows will obtain for you strength to persevere, reminding you of the grace promised us here, and of the everlasting life awaiting us. May we be guided by Mary's hand until we meet Jesus in eternal happiness. Amen.

* Sensible = able to be experienced through our senses.

End of Sermon

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