by Fr. Michael Kolarcik, SJ
In our Lenten journey this Sunday we see Our Lord in his glorious entrance into Jerusalem. We call it Passion/Palm Sunday. Passion Sunday because we read the Passion narrative of St. Matthew this year. Palm Sunday because we celebrate with palm branches as the Son of David enters Jerusalem. We pray together for the glory and the passion of our Lord.
I appreciated Fr. Gilles Mongeau, SJ’s opening reflection of Lent as a pilgrimage toward freedom through “dust, mercy and mission.” We carry throughout this Lent all three aspects together. In mission we are called to pray for others and to do whatever little we can to help. This mission is a sign of the forgiveness He extends to us. By calling us to pray for others in need, he forgives us for any resistance we have to his call. We know we are forgiven because the Lord missions us to pray and serve.
This summer I returned from Rome where I worked for 12 years at the Biblical Institute. There I was especially moved to pray for and serve those suffering from the war in Ukraine. I followed the pain of Ukraine and Russia closely through Ukrainians and Russians in our community. I am still constantly moved to pray for Ukraine and for Russia because of the people I lived with.
Here in Toronto in the Regis Jesuit Community, I have been again called to pray, especially in this Lenten season, for the people who suffer in various places in the world. With my Jordanian brother soon to be ordained in the Eastern Rite, I pray for all the pain in the Middle East. With my Jesuit brother from Sudan, I pray for the violence and injustice there to end. With my Jesuit brothers from Nigeria and Congo, I pray for the struggles for peace. With my brothers from Haiti, I pray also for peace and justice and the mercy of God. In all of this, I cannot help but pray because it is the Spirit who prays within me “with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8-26-27).
We know we are forgiven by the Lord when the Spirit prays for others within us. Remember Peter who told Jesus he would never abandon him. And the Lord responded, “Before the rooster crows this night, you will deny me three times” (Matt 26:34). Then during the Passion when Peter denied knowing Jesus for the third time, the rooster crowed, the Lord looked at him, and Peter remembered his sin and went out and wept bitterly (Luke 22:61-62). But then after the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, he took Peter aside and asked him three times, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” And the third time Peter responded, “Yes Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.” And Jesus finally said, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17). In this mission to feed the sheep, Peter knew he was forgiven because he had a mission from the Lord. We too know the forgiveness of the Lord when we pray for others in need.
