Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

St. Mark mentions different individuals in his account of the passion, all of whom invite us to ponder what we might learn from them.  Certainly one of the most touching is the woman who anointed Jesus with perfumed oil in Simon’s house in Bethany.  As Jesus said at the time, she is still remembered for what she did for Jesus.  Simon of Cyrene is another who is remembered for his carrying the cross for Jesus.

One individual, among the many others, has intrigued me ever since I first listened to the passion being read in church over 50 years ago.  His identity is a mystery, although one theory among others is very appealing.  This is the young man who runs away naked from Gethsemane.  Some Scripture scholars believe that the young man is John Mark, St. Mark himself.  It is known that John Mark’s mother was the one who offered Jesus and His disciples a place to celebrate the Passover.  The theory is that once everyone had departed, Mark went to sleep, but was awakened when the Roman soldiers led by Judas came looking for Jesus.  When they didn’t find Jesus there, they moved on since Judas would have known where they went.  Mark decided to follow them without getting dressed, which would explain the one piece of linen cloth that he left behind when he ran from Gethsemane.

When the soldiers arrested Jesus, everything must have been threatening and dangerous, causing everyone to flee.  The soldiers tried to grab the others as they were rushing away, and the young man was so desperate to escape that he runs off naked as a soldier grabs at him.  When life becomes difficult or dangerous, don’t we want to run, feeling naked and vulnerable?  Instead of staying still and trusting that God is with us, we run away or hide within ourselves.  But if the young man was St. Mark, we know that he later became a part of the Christian community, and filled with the Holy Spirit, became a missionary and evangelist.  Even in the middle of the passion, the naked young man reminds that there is always a second chance with Jesus, no matter what we’ve done in the past.

At the end of today’s gospel, Mark tells us that there were many women who were with Jesus through His Passion.  They had followed Him in Galilee and ministered to Him.  Some we know; others were known only to each other and to Jesus. Their courage, faithfulness, and perseverance are beautiful, especially in contrast to the men who fled in fear.  Don’t we know some of their sisters today who are as faithful and fearless as they were? Seeing their example, we might ask God for the grace to be like them as we seek to be faithful to Jesus in our lives.

We now begin the week we call holy, as we recall again the Last Supper, the Passion and Death, and the Resurrection.  Much of it is mystery; all of it is love.  Trusting in that love, we watch Jesus and learn from Him, hoping to be given a share in His glory.