Palm Sunday
March 24, 2013

“Von Herzen - mögen es weider - zu Herzen gehn!”  These are the words Beethoven wrote in 1820 when dedicating his monumental Missa Solemnis to Archbishop Rudolph.

Beethoven’s words translate into English as: “From the heart - may it return to the heart!”  Many people believe it was a dedication that Beethoven made to all of humanity.

Beethoven’s Mass contains a wide range of emotions deeply felt by the composer and powerfully communicated to his hearers.  From “Gloria in excelsis Deo” to “Miserere nobis,” the words contain exultation, joy, sorrow for sins, and hope for salvation. 

It is very easy to hear these same words sung or spoken at Mass today and say, “Isn’t that nice.”  We have heard them hundreds, maybe thousands of times before.  No need to listen very carefully, and no need to expend any emotional or intellectual energy when we hear them again.

It can be like that with Scripture reading.  When Isaiah says in Chapter Six, “Woe is me, I am doomed!” or when Elijah in 1 Kings says, “This is enough, O Lord! Take my life,” it is easy to dismiss these highly charged words as just the way prophets talk.

If lectors dismiss the wide variety of human emotions contained in the Scriptures, so also will their hearers.  Without emotion, a great deal of the meaning will be lost. The importance of “heart to heart” is no less significant today when we proclaim the Scriptures at Mass than when Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis was first performed.

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First Reading  -  Isaiah 50:4-7
Transformation

What a remarkable transformation.  In Chapter Six of Isaiah, the prophet begins his journey as a God’s messenger by saying, “Woe is me, I am doomed!” He is worried about his unclean lips.   Later, in Chapter 50, with a great deal of conviction, he proclaims, “The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue.”

A lot is written and said about the fears and apprehensions lectors have when proclaiming the Scriptures at Mass.  Am I worthy?  Will I make a mistake?  Will the assembly pay attention?  Who am I anyway?

These questions never completely go away no matter how many times a lector stands in front of the assembly.  Perhaps, a spirit of humility is essential for being a good lector.  Perhaps a recognition of a lector’s responsibility to his or her fellow worshipers should always be present, as long as it is not accompanied by inappropriate pride.

Maybe the people in the assembly can also relate to the fears and responsibilities that result from proclaiming their Christian beliefs.  All Christians need to connect their beliefs with the living out of those beliefs.  Maybe this weekend the words: “The Lord God is my help” can be one of the high points of the Liturgy of the Word for both the lector and the assembly.

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Second Reading  -  Philippians 2:6-11
Appearances

If we ever needed proof that Jesus in his human form was like us, today’s second reading from Philippians demonstrates how completely he committed himself to walking among us.

Most scholars believe that today’s passage comes from an early Christological hymn quoted by Paul to give the Philippians a model of humility.  The implied contrast is between Adam who was created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and Christ who came in “the form of God,” but “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.”

When Adam sought to be equal to God, he became a slave.  By comparison, when Christ humbled himself to “the point of death,” there was a cosmic confession that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

This reading offers Christ as a model for all time.  Not as a suggestion that we should try to be just like God  -  Adam tried that and sinned.  But rather that we should live as “blameless and guileless children of God” (Philippians 2:25).  Perhaps it was necessary for Jesus to become “human in appearance” for us to fully understand what that means.

© 2013, George Fournier