Palm Sunday: Setting Captives Free

Palm Sunday: Setting Captives Free
Below is a meditation and reflection to help you on your Lenten journey and to draw closer to Jesus.

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Prayer for this Week: Jesus, help me to trust that you will grant me true freedom.

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SCRIPTURE MEDITATION: Read slowly, 3-4 times. Allow the words of Scripture to wash over your mind and heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through this passage.

“The LORD God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.”  Isaiah 50:7

REFLECTION QUESTION: ​Allow yourself to sit with these questions for a while, being attentive to how the Lord is speaking in your heart.

How have you felt misunderstood and judged—even by those closest to you, your own family? How have you been imprisoned by the words and deeds of others–and even your own words and deeds? How has sin played a role in this unfreedom? Speak to Jesus about this sin, suffering, and pain. Be honest about your experience with him, especially feelings of anger, shame, resentment and abandonment.

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SCRIPTURE MEDITATION: Read slowly, 3-4 times. Again, allow the words of Scripture to wash over your mind and heart. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you through this passage.

“Pilate said to them, ‘Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?’ They all said, ‘Let him be crucified!’ But he said, ‘Why? What evil has he done?’ They only shouted the louder, ‘Let him be crucified!’”  Matthew 27:22-23

REFLECTION QUESTION: 
Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, takes on the burden of our sin. Imagine how he felt as he heard the crowds shout mercilessly, “Let him be crucified!” Gazing upon Allow yourself to enter into Jesus’ experience of rejection and sorrow that he bore for your sin. Ask Him to help you experience sorrow for your own sins and seek forgiveness, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Remain in silence with the Lord. Allow Him to speak in the silence, in your heart. Receive His presence. If it helps, write down what you sense the Lord communicating to you during this time of prayer.

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SUNDAY MASS CONNECTION
At every Mass, Jesus offers himself to the Father for us. We can always join our own offerings with Jesus at Mass. This Sunday, offer your desire for freedom from sin and shame.