Fifth Sunday of Lent

 

Fifth Sunday of Lent

The Fifth Sunday of Lent is also called Passion Sunday or Judica Sunday, from the first word in the Introit – which in English is "Judge me…" (again, from the Extraordinary Rite of the Mass).

The Epistle: Hebrews 9:11-15

This passage speaks of the Old Testament Law and sacrifice and how those sacrifices did bring on the cleansing of the flesh. However imperfectly, the Sacrifice of Christ brings this cleansing perfectly. It is through our participation in the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass that we cooperate with His Grace and receive His Body and Blood under the appearance of bread and wine.

The Gospel: John 8:46-59

Jesus reveals Himself to the Jews (especially in the verses which immediately proceed this Gospel), and He tells them that they do not hear Him because they do not belong to God (v. 47). They do not hear Him and look to kill Him – because they are not of God. Jesus reaffirms that their father, Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing Him – and he (Abraham) saw that day and was glad (v. 56). Jesus closes with, "Verily I say to you before Abraham was born, I Am!" (v. 58). The Jews then began to pick up stones to kill Him, but He hid Himself and slipped away (v. 59).

Passion Sunday is also the start of Passiontide, the last 2 weeks before Easter - many churches and homes cover all crucifixes and other religious art with purple veils.

Scripture of the Week

 From my professor:

"Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." -Deuteronomy 31:6

These are the words of Moses to Israel as he was passing his authority on to Joshua to lead them across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. Those whom they should not fear are the current occupants of the land. A similar story to what we have in the Gospel on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, as the Jews – the current occupants of the Holy Land were not following God, if they had been, they would have seen that the Messiah had indeed come – and instead of accepting and following Him, they looked to kill Him.

Passion Sunday - Purple Veils

Today is Passion Sunday (in the Extraordinary Rite) - only two weeks remain of Lent. So why do we veil images and statues starting on Passion Sunday? You can find a few explanations, but the one I like is that Jesus hid Himself from the Jews who sought to stone Him, and left the Temple. This is the beginning of Passiontide - a season (sadly) no longer observed in the Ordinary Rite, but in the Extraordinary Rite, it still is. Pictures of Jesus, the Saints, etc. are hidden from us for these last two weeks which increases in us the hunger for Christ and holiness. The veils are a reminder of the fact that Jesus had to hide Himself and so His image is hidden from us too and remain hidden until during the Gloria, which has also been omitted during Lent, of the First Mass of Easter. During the Gloria, the veils are removed the bells ring (which were silenced after Holy Thursday) and we again can look upon Him and His holiness, as also revealed through the Saints (which again, were also veiled for Passiontide).

This excellent tradition of veiling holy items is not just for the Church, but also in the homes of the laity. What a wonderful visual and lesson for our children! If you have not participated in this before, I urge you to do so - now! If you do not have purple cloths, plan to get some - but go ahead and cover with whatever you do have now, change it to purple when you have it. When your children ask about it, you can share the reasoning. As the two weeks progress, they too may begin to miss seeing these images and statues and given another reason to be joyful on Easter Sunday - another reminder that He IS risen!

In the Ordinary Rite, Passion Sunday was moved to and combined with Palm Sunday, liturgically speaking. Again I urge you to keep the tradition of Passion Sunday (there is no rule against doing so!) and not detract from Palm Sunday - when Jesus was honored upon His entrance to Jerusalem which ultimately begins Holy Week, the holiest week in the liturgical year.

Passion Sunday

OK, I am a bit late in posting this one since Passion Sunday was traditionally LAST Sunday, but according to the new lectionary, Passion and Palm Sunday are now together on the Sunday before Easter.  That being said, as one who prefers the Extraordinary Rite, which still uses the traditional lectionary, I will post this separately from my Palm Sunday entry.

What IS Passion Sunday?

Traditionally, on this Sunday we transfer our thoughts from our own penances to the Passion of Jesus Christ. One of the things we do on this Sunday is cover all our sacred images with purple cloth. The veiling of sacred images removes from our sight the stimuli these bring to mind - and again, allows us to focus on the Passion of the Christ. In our homes and in our churches, these images bring to mind different Saints and their lives as well as various parts of the life of Christ. So seeing them veiled from Passion Sunday through the Easter Vigil (in the church, the veils are removed just as the vigil ends and as the First Mass of Easter begins).

Another way of looking at the veiling of statues, crucifixes and pictures is a sense of mourning, as we mourn the price of our salvation.

An exception to those things veiled... the Stations of the Cross.  These remain unveiled for they are a chief part of the devotions during all of Lent, but especially from Passion Sunday forward to the Easter Vigil.

The fact that in the new lectionary Passion and Palm Sunday are together on Palm Sunday saddens me. Why combine the two? There is a ton of devotional differences between the two Sundays, and well, where Passion Sunday is not observed in its place - the Fifth Sunday of Lent, and the Sunday before Palm Sunday - a rich piece of our heritage is lost.

I also noticed in some churches, they began veiling sacred images on Ash Wednesday. That has a similar meaning - but again, it takes away from Passion Sunday.  Our family still practices covering the sacred images (statues and pictures) around our house on Passion Sunday and they stay there until we return from Easter Vigil, or until just before we leave for Easter Sunday Mass.  Also, another irony I noticed at a church for Palm Sunday - where the only thing sacred which was veiled (throughout Lent) was the tabernacle - and for Palm Sunday the veil was removed!

Let us pray for a return of and to our heritage!  Even if the churches do not do it, we can do it in our homes.