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Welcome to Unpacking the Mass with Keith Nestor. On this podcast, we dig into the week's readings for the upcoming Sunday for the Catholic Church so that when you go to Mass, you are ready to hear what God has to say to you through the Scriptures. So grab your Bibles and let's get digging. Well, friends, welcome to Unpacking the Mass. Today we're looking at the readings for Palm Sunday. Holy Week begins. And as I've done in the past, I'm not going to read the entire Gospel passage this year. I don't normally do that. I did it one year. We're going to focus on the Gospel. That's the procession. And then you can read the other one before you go to Mass because it's super long and it would probably take us the whole time to walk through that. And I really want to focus on the reading for the processional anyway, because that's more geared toward what's happening on Palm Sunday versus the entire Passion narrative. So let's look at that today and understand this. Whether you've had a great Lent or a less than great Lent, this is the time when we start again. If your Lent has been awesome, this is not the time to let off the gas. But if it's been rough, which, full disclosure, mine's been pretty rough this year, we need to double down right now. We need to recognize that everything's been leading to this week and the preparation for it. And it's never too late for you to have a good Lent, especially as we approach Palm Sunday. And today, as we look at these readings, this. This is Christ's triumphant return or triumphant entry into Jerusalem. You could say the return. And he's coming in with boldness and with power for a purpose. Boldness and power for a purpose. I want you to keep that in mind. Let's pray together. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God, I pray for every single person watching or listening to this episode that in some cases, I know that our Lent needs to be rescued, and in some cases, it needs to be sustained, whichever it is, for each of us, Lord, to have your way in us. And may your will be accomplished as we step into this incredible week. May we see both the pain and the glory that you saw and experienced. We pray these things in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Okay, so what I'm going to do is read the Old Testament, the Epistle, and then the processional. So it's a little bit janky in terms of the order that I'm doing it this year, but I have a reason for it. So let's go ahead and look at our first reading from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 50, verses 4 through 7. The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught that I may know how to sustain with the word him that is weary morning. By morning he wakens. He wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious. I turned not backward. I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. I hid not my face from shame and spitting for the Lord God helps me. Therefore I have not been confounded. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. In our second reading from the book of Philippians, chapter 2, verses 6 through 11. This is about Jesus Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. These readings prepare us for what's about to happen this week. Now, what Jesus understands is, as he enters the city, these cries of hosanna. Hosanna. All the people fired up. He knew where this was going, and yet he allowed himself, I believe, to experience the fullness of that. I don't think he walked into Palm Sunday or rode into Palm Sunday and was like, oh, yeah, all right, I know what you guys are going to do. I know. I. I think that he allowed himself that moment to receive what the people were wanting to do. I think that in his mind, he let that happen. Why? Because he understood that these people didn't get what was about to happen. All they knew was that God had showed up to deliver them. They believed that. What does hosanna even mean? It means save us. And they wanted to be saved. Now, they didn't understand what this was all about. But I think that God looks at us oftentimes, and even though he knows so much more than we can possibly know about us and what's about to happen in our lives. And what is going to be experienced, both the pain and the glory. Friends, when we come to him just with that childlike faith and that childlike excitement and that childlike lord, save me, I think he honors that. And yet we look at these verses that led to this. Of course, Christ is the prophesied one of Isaiah 50, who would turn his back to the smiters, who would have his beard pulled out. This, of course, is a prophecy about what would happen to him in this coming week when he would be tortured, when he would be mocked and humiliated, and when he would suffer death. He knew that. He knew that from day one. And yet he still walked into it. My friends and I believe that he walked into it knowing that the hearts of the people in this moment were full of joy. We're full of joy. How does he do that? How does he embrace all of that at once? Friends, it's because he is completely and fully set on what's the glory that's also going to happen on what the glory is. He knows the resurrection is coming. He knows that he's coming to defeat his enemies. He's gonna go through a fight, but he knows that he's gonna win. That's powerful, my friends. Now with our second reading, of course, St. Paul is reflecting on the nature of Christ and how even though he had all power and authority, that he was part of the Godhead, he was part of the Trinity, that he emptied himself, subjected himself, and humbled himself in obedience. That's the pain. And then look at what happens. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on them the name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. That's the glory. This week coming up is about both, and I want you to step into both. Sometimes we have a tendency just to, like, try to compartmentalize Holy Week, and we think it's just, okay, I'm only going to think about the pain and Good Friday. And then, like, out of nowhere, all of a sudden, now we're going to just pretend like we didn't know that he was going to rise from the dead. Friends, we have this perspective on the other side of these events. They didn't have that, but we do. And Jesus had that perspective, too, because he understood that. Now, why is that important for us? Because the reality is Christ is coming to each of us. And in his coming to us in our lives. Guess what, brothers and sisters? There will be both pain and glory. And if we don't recognize the glory when we're in the midst of the pain, we could fall away. And if we don't recognize the need for the pain and we just want to focus on the glory, we could fall away. How does that happen? Well, think about it. Some people, when they enter into these moments in life where it's all about the pain, they can get so overwhelmed with sadness, they can get so overwhelmed with hopelessness that they can feel like God doesn't love them anymore, like all is lost and there's no hope and there's no future, or there's no God and they can turn away. Consequently, if all people want to do is focus on the glory and not acknowledge the pain, then what happens? When the pain comes? Then what do they do? God, how could you let this happen to me? What's going on? I don't understand this. I thought you were real. I was listening to a debate the other day with a famous. He doesn't want to call himself an atheist, but he's a famous agnostic who used to be a Christian. And then he sort of slid down this road from being a conservative fundamentalist Christian to a liberal Christian to now an agnostic. And he's a brilliant guy, supposedly. And he talks all the time about all the problems with the gospel, all these things which I wonder, did he not know about these supposed contradictions that he always, you know, argues about now when he was a Christian and. But what he says is interesting. When he talks about why did he lose his faith? It wasn't because there was some deep theological conundrum that confronted him, which is ironic to me, because when he argues with people, that's what he tries to come up with. He says the reason why he lost his faith was because of suffering. He couldn't make sense that God, who is all powerful, all knowing and all good, would allow suffering in this world. He wanted the glory, but he didn't want the suffering. Friends, you have to have both. And this week, as we step into Holy Week, don't let go of one to embrace the other, even when it. I know we're good Catholics. We just want to think about Good Friday and. And weep and wail and all that stuff, okay? But remember this. Christ viewed the events of Holy Week through the lens, not just of the cross, but through the resurrection and Sunday is coming. But at the same time, he didn't skip Friday. He walked right into it. He walked Right into it, my friends, as we read the Gospel, this processional gospel, which I know linearly speaking, in the Mass, you'll hear this part. First, I want you to be prepared and recognize that this is preparing you for what Jesus wants to do as he comes not just into Jerusalem, but into our hearts. My friends, let's look at this. This is Matthew 21, verses 1 through 11. And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, the Lord has need of them and he will send them immediately. This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet saying, tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you. Humble and mounted on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass. The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the ass and the colt and put their garments on them, and he sat thereon. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, who is this? And the crowd said, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. Now, think about this, my friends. How many times had Jesus healed people and done these things and told everybody, don't tell anybody. And most of the time, they didn't listen to him. Why did he do that? Because he wasn't ready to be publicly revealed yet. But now he is. Now he comes in and he is shouting out to everybody with what he's doing. I am the one who is to come. I'm coming into the city. He's. He fulfills Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9, by coming in to the city on that donkey. My friends, everyone saw this and was like, whoa, this is what we've been expecting. He shows up. Now's the time to be bold about his identity. He's coming, my friends. And what happens when he comes? They cry out the palm branches and they're shouting out with joy. They're rejoicing because in their minds they're saying, we need to be saved. Hey, if you want to be ready for Jesus to show up in your Life, and he wants to, then that's a pretty good place to start. Cry out to him in joy. Save me, Lord, not hey, God, I've got some plans that I want you to accomplish for me, or hey, God, I'm glad that you're here. Let me get back to you. I'm a little busy right now. Not hey, Jesus. You know, I have my own ideas and opinions and where we line up. I'll hang out with you, but the minute that you get into my business, then, no, I'm not going to be excited about that. No, we need to start like these guys. Save us, Lord. Save us, Lord. What do you want to be saved from? It's a good question, isn't it? Jesus comes to defeat his enemy of death and sin and to defend his people. I think that's so cool. It's like he's coming into Jerusalem and he's ready to defend the people. And what does he do? Like, the first thing, he goes to the temple and he clears it out. He's like, I'm here to defend this place and these people from those who would come after them. Everything that Jesus is doing in Holy Week is geared towards defeating his enemy and defending people from that enemy. Because the devil has come to destroy us. He's come to take us to hell with him. And Jesus steps in and says, not on my watch. And he offers himself. He's not hiding in the shadows. He's not telling people, don't let anybody know who I am. He's showing up in. In boldness and in power. And some people said, we've been waiting for this a long time. Well, guess what? It's not your timetable. It's his timetable, and now's the time, Friends, we have to understand this. God will show up to save and defeat and defend. He'll save you. He'll defeat the enemies, and he'll defend you from those who want to tear you down. Think about that. He comes in and he cleans house. There's so many things we could do with that, you know? Where do you need to welcome Jesus? What kind of welcome does he get in your life? When he shows up, in whatever way he shows up in your life, are you welcoming him, or are you, you know, putting him off and relegating him to a corner of your life? Especially this Holy Week, it's time to welcome him in in maybe the more. A more intense way than you've ever done before. What does that look like for you? What parts of your life do you need to say? To Jesus, you are welcome here. Come in and save me. Maybe there are relationship issues that you're having. Maybe there's sin issues that you're dealing with, some sort of idolatry in your life. Maybe you've been hanging on to a certain way of thinking, whatever it might be. Jesus is showing up, and you need to welcome him in and say, you're here for this part of my life. Not just the parts where I think we line up, even the parts where I'm scared. Hey, do that now. I love this part where he tells the disciples to go into this, to go and find the donkey. And he says, if anyone asks, tell him the Master has need of them. Now, we don't see that happening, but he tells them, I think that's so cool that we get that in Matthew's gospel here. And I think about some of these things sometimes. If anyone asks, I mean, can you imagine? These guys just show up and they're just, like, going to start taking your donkey, they're going to take your colt, they're going to say, we're out of here. Who would not question that? I have to believe that they were questioned. Otherwise, it looked like they were stealing. Tell them the Master has need of them. Now they show up with them. So that must mean whoever received that was like, okay, the Master has need of them. I think that's pretty interesting. Think about that guy. Think about how cool that must have been for him to see Jesus going into Jerusalem on his donkey. Pretty big deal. And I think about that from the standpoint of, what is it that we have that the Lord would say to us, you know, the Master has need of it. What does He. What does he have need of in your life? Are you willing to offer it to the Lord that he might come to save people? Think about that. Offer what you have to the Lord to bring him to the people. And the last thing I want to talk about, essentially, is really just a practical matter. What do you need to do this week to prepare to receive Him? You know? And again, I don't know what your Lent has been like. Mine's been rough. I'll be honest with you. It's been rough for a variety of reasons. And the reasons aren't important here. But what is important is what I'm going to do in Holy Week. And my plan is to dive more deeply into prayer, more deeply into sacrifice, more deeply into God's Word, and more deeply into both the pain and the glory. Now you have to ask yourself, which one of those things do you need to dig more deeply into. Do you need to embrace the pain, or do you need to look through the lens of glory? I know what I need to do. What about you now? How do you do that? How do you do that? Well, I think it can look different for different people, but I think for some of us, we have to just start with taking the time. We have to start with making Jesus welcome. And. And one of the best ways that we can welcome him is by taking the time to say to him, lord, I'm here for you. I'm here for you to enter into my life. And I'm going to cry out, now, save me, Lord. Recognizing that that's what we need. Not saying, okay, God, I'm good. I don't need you. But saying, lord, I need to be saved. Just that recognition is oftentimes enough for God to do something incredible. So where do you need to be saved? Offer that up to the Lord. Let him reveal that to you, and then call upon him, say, lord, save me. And then welcome him with joy. Even though pain is coming, remember the glory. Don't run from either one, my friends. If your Lent's been great, keep going. If your Lent's been tough, hey, let's make Holy Week like a new mini Lent right in the middle of this so we can fit. Finish strong, my friends, because God has an incredible plan. He wants to defend, he wants to defeat, and he wants to save. Let him do it in your life today, my friends. It's gonna be powerful. It's gonna be powerful this week, but you're gonna have to be super intentional letting that happen, because this is the time also when the world's gonna ramp up all of the distractions. I mean, we got Easter right around the corner. So what does that mean? Well, we've got people coming over. We're going somewhere. We gotta figure out what our plans are, what's all the things that are going to happen. We got to buy the Easter baskets, we got to take the kids out, whatever it is. The world loves to take this holiday, of course, and hijack it and turn it into something completely other than Christ so that we can be distracted and miss what God wants to do. Don't let the world steal that from you. Rather, dig in deeply into it. And always remember what Christ has done. Always remember that he went into this week fully aware of the pain and the glory, and he walked in boldly proclaiming who he is. He did that in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, and he wants to do it in your life. Here today. Friends, let him in. Welcome him with joy. Cry out to him. Hosanna. Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Friends, thanks so much for being here with me this week on unpacking the Mass. Make sure you check out the previous weeks right here. There'll be a card up above. Click on that. A playlist is already organized for you to get caught up on these previous weeks if you've missed them. And then let's get ready for what's coming up this week. Easter Sunday is going to be powerful, and I am so, so thankful for what God is doing in my own family and my own life this year with this. With this stuff. And I know that he's working in yours as well. So God bless you, my friends. I can't wait to be here next week to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and to be prepared to step into that glory. My friends, thank you so much. Take care, and God bless you.