What about one hour with prayer? What about crowds? What about our family?: Holy Week with the Passion of Jesus Christ

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

As we begin Holy Week, our readings are rich

Today, I would like to simply clarify about crowds

·     Many of us have probably experienced a crowd, or “a large number of people especially when collected together”

·      And they can be totally different

o  For instance, a Minnesota Vikings crowd versus a Green Packer crowd

o  Or a crowd who watches an orchestra event verses a crowd who watches (or goes in a mash pit) for ACDC

o  Peaceful crowds, rioting crowds

·      In our world, there is a whole spectrum of crowds

Listen to the crowds we heard today

·      Before Mass: 

o  “When the great crowdthat had come to the feast heard 
that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 
they took palm branches and went out to meet him, and cried out:
"Hosanna! "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
the king of Israel."

·      During the Passion of Jesus Christ, we heard the worst two crowds ever

o  “Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, 
accompanied by a crowdwith swords and clubs 
who had come from the chief priests,
the scribes, and the elders.
His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying, 
‘The man I shall kiss is the one; 
arrest him and lead him away securely.’"

o  “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd 
to have him release Barabbas for them instead…
Pilate again said to them in reply,
They shouted again, "Crucify him."
Pilate said to them, "Why? What evil has he done?"
They only shouted the louder, "Crucify him."
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd,
released Barabbas.”

As I offered Morning Prayer on Saturday my soul was pricked with an antiphon

·      “Jesus died to gather into one family all the scattered children of God.”

·      Our Catholic Church is something more than a crowd, but as a family

·      And as different crowds point to something together, like a football game, music, or other organizations, our family is different

·      After Jesus Christ is our King

·      As Jesus’ disciples scattered in fear, Jesus’ mission from his Father was to unite our family together again

How do you focus more for God’s family, than just crowds in our world?