Author Archives: Friar Musings

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About Friar Musings

Franciscan friar and Catholic priest at St. Francis of Assisi in Triangle, VA

Entering Jerusalem: the king

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Entry_Into_Jerusalem136 As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; 37 and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen.

As Stoffregen notes, Luke’s account is one that challenges our memory with his own telling of the events. “It is quite ironic to read this as the processional gospel on ‘Palm’ Sunday. There are no ‘branches of palms’ mentioned in Luke’s account as in John (12:13). There are no ‘leaves from the field’ as in Mark (11:8). There are no ‘branches from the trees’ as in Matthew (21:8). There are no leaves or branches of any type mentioned in Luke. (Note that only John talks about ‘palms’!)” Continue reading →

Entering Jerusalem: arriving

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Entry_Into_Jerusalem1Luke portrays Jesus’ entry into the holy city in four scenes (vv. 28–48), the first two concerned with the acquisition of a colt for the short trip from the Mount of Olives to the city and the entry itself (vv. 28–40). These two serve a common theme—namely, Jesus’ royal personage. As will become evident, the whole process from obtaining a colt to the crowds’ proclaiming Jesus king is wrapped in the eschatological expectation and scriptural allusion (esp. Psalm 118 and Zech 9:9). As mentioned in the introduction (Context), this is a royal person entering a city – not to claim kingship, but as the follow-on to an already achieved victory. This is important because it suggests that Jesus is not about to assert his royal status. This accords well with his acclamation as king even before his birth (1:32–35), and with an interpretation of the preceding chapters of the Lukan narrative as developing the nature of Jesus’ kingship and, therefore, of his kingdom. What Luke is about to narrate, then, assumes the portrait of Jesus already established, with its salvific emphasis on good news to those living on the margins of society (4:18–19). Continue reading →

Entering Jerusalem: context

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Entry_Into_Jerusalem128 After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. 29 As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. 30 He said, “Go into the village opposite you, and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 And if anyone should ask you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you will answer, ‘The Master has need of it.’” 32 So those who had been sent went off and found everything just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying this colt?” 34 They answered, “The Master has need of it.” 35 So they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and helped Jesus to mount. 36 As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; 37 and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. 38 They proclaimed: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”  Continue reading →

Holy Week

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When I was a child, I used to walk five miles to school in the snow, just to let them know that I was too sick to come to school that day.” So my father used to tell me. Hmmm…? Really – but hey, dad was really old, right? He probably grew up in the ice age and maybe the weather was very different back then. Such are the stories of our youth as parents try to teach us the lessons of life, sometimes wrapped in yarns, tall-tales, and memories of a different time and place. I still wonder how the to-and-from the store was uphill both ways. Continue reading →

Judas

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I find that Luke’s treatment of Judas offers an important message. There are some major differences between Luke’s account of Judas and what the other Gospels say about him — and in our day and age, it might be good to hear about Judas — at least Luke’s presentation of Judas.

First of all, there is some significant agreement about Judas in all the Gospels. All indicate that he was one of the select 12 of Jesus’ followers. All indicate that Judas betrayed Jesus. That’s about where the similarities end. Three gospels say that he received money for betraying Jesus. John says nothing about money. But John says that Judas was the disciples’ treasurer and a thief. None of the other gospels describe him in this way. Continue reading →

A letter to my older brother

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A week or so ago, at our Men’s Prayer Group meeting, at the very end of the meeting, I offered a spiritual exercise in the light of that weekend’s Sunday gospel – the Prodigal Son. The exercise was to write a letter to one of the characters in the parable. Here is one of the letters that was sent to me. It is an interesting Lenten reflection for all of us. My homily of that weekend was essentially my letter and reflection.There was a previous letter one of the men in the group wrote that I posted.  And here is another. If other’s share their thoughts, I will post them. Continue reading →

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion – DYK?

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Every year on the Sunday before Easter – the sixth Sunday of Lent – the church celebrates “Palm Sunday.”  Most general calendars list the day as “Palm Sunday,” but if you look closely at a liturgical calendar you will see that it is actually called “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.” The name is appropriate as it celebrates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem but also commemorates the beginning of Holy Week and Jesus’ final journey to the cross.

But that wasn’t always the name of the sixth Sunday of Lent. Continue reading →

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

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This coming Sunday marks Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (Year C). You can read a complete commentary on this gospel here.

Jesus has been traveling toward Jerusalem since Luke 9:51 (the conclusion of the Lucan narrative of the Transfiguration). The final approach to the holy city is marked with a third passion prediction (18:31-34), two scenes in the nearby city of Jericho (18:35-43; 19:1-10) and the parable of the talents (19:11-27) – the latter of which highlights a kingly figure coming to claim what was rightfully his. With this preceding, Jesus makes his entrance procession into Jerusalem. Continue reading →