Palm Sunday Gospel: “Let us reflect on the Cross of Jesus”

Palm Sunday allows us the continuous reading of two chapters of the Gospel of Mark. Being objective, the joy of the disciples is put to the test by the story of the suffering, condemnation, and death of our Lord Jesus.

Remember that the Gospel of Mark addresses the communities that had suffered persecution under Nero and, as a logical consequence, many denied their faith and abandoned it. Others, despite the danger and their own insecurities, resisted the persecution and persevered without seeing immediate favorable results.

The Gospel portrays these characters and their decisions, their leaps of faith, and their frustrations. Thus we see a woman who, ignoring the comments against her, pours a bottle of perfume on Jesus, anointing him, that is, preparing him for his destiny. But not all the disciples understood the mission of Jesus as the woman. Judas Iscariot, sitting at the table, sells and betrays his Master. We have Peter, who despite promising that he would give his life for his Lord, at the moment when he had to, denies it and abandons him.

So varied are the reactions of the disciples that it would be useful to read carefully and slowly this Gospel to contemplate the scenes, identify with the sadness of the disciples, understand the fear and helplessness of some, the courage and faith of others. Our journey of faith, like the disciples, is likely to be plagued with fear and shame, or with hope and trust in the Lord despite adversity.

Palm Sunday invites us to react to the cross of Jesus because it, hides the greatest hope of all time.