Reflection for Sunday – March 29, 2026

Sr. Karen Dietz, SSJSunday Readings Homilies

Readings: Matthew 21: 1-11; Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2: 6-11; Matthew 26: 14-27: 66 
Preacher: Sr. Karen Deitz

Shortly after my father died Bishop Clark met me and offered his sympathy and prayers of support. The phrase he used was: “Karen, I join my prayers with yours.” I have never forgotten that moment or that phrase. It changed so much of how I was feeling. With that kind expression of sympathy, I understood that I was not alone on the journey of grief.

The second reading for today’s celebration of Passion Sunday is from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul tells us that Jesus truly was human. We read: “he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave … becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus joined not only his prayers, but his very body with ours, with all of humanity. Jesus experienced unimaginable pain and suffering. Each year we are reminded of this terrible time of persecution, suffering and death. We pray it and we reenact it twice during Holy Week. How do we understand it and pray with it?

There is such suffering in our world today. We are in the midst of a war; there are other wars raging around the world; there is suffering, persecution and death in our own country. The treatment of those deemed “strangers” in our midst are living in fear of arrest, deportation and more. For many of us, all we can do is pray. I certainly am doing that, but there are times when I still feel powerless in the face of so much pain and sorrow.

Jesus, by emptying himself of his divinity, enters fully into the human reality. He experiences love, joy and hope along with his disciples and the others around him. He also knows the pain of loss, grief, betrayal, and fear. Jesus is not simply praying for us from afar. Rather, Jesus is with us and with all those suffering worldwide.

In Matthew’s Gospel we read: “This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken.” I admit that as I hear of the hurting of people near and far, sometimes my faith in a loving and engaging God is shaken. I struggle to really sense the presence of God even from a distance.

Jesus, in journeying from the triumphant entry into Jerusalem to calvary and death on the cross is telling us that he is with us, right beside us. He lives the reality of suffering step by step. Think of all that you mourn at this time in our world. Jesus experienced all of it. He knew the dramatic change of heart of those who followed him, he was betrayed by one he loved deeply, and he was questioned by the authorities as they tried to use his own words and actions against him unjustly. Jesus’ heart was broken as he saw his beloved mother on the way of the cross and he felt all the pain of torture to the point of death.

Jesus was not a disembodied participant, but a man fully engaged in living and dying. Because of this, I can believe that he is right beside those being unjustly detained and deported, those in harm’s way in the wars being waged around the world, those being harassed and arrested simply because they look different. Jesus is not taking the suffering away, but rather he is with them.

Unfortunately, suffering is a part of the human experience. We can and we should protest and pray for the elimination of unnecessary actions. As Christians we must continue to be informed of local and world news. We are called to respond as we are able, whether through emails, phone calls, and even physical protests.

We may have our moments of denying Jesus or putting distance between us. We may feel that our prayers are empty and that they have gone unheard. Yet the scriptures today remind us that Jesus walks with us. Jesus truly has joined himself to our hearts and our lives. He desires to be with us and with all humanity no matter what is happening.

The scriptures today invite us into feelings of powerlessness and despair. As we pray the passion and participate in the liturgies of this Holy Week, I hope that we can truly join our prayers and the brokenness of our world with the pain and sorrow of Jesus, even as we feel ineffective. Let us not engage in this week in a distant or disembodied way. Rather, as we sense the heaviness of all that is around us, let us walk to the cross with Jesus. I believe that it is in the “journeying with” that we will fully understand and participate in the great Easter Feast.

Sr. Karen Dietz, SSJ
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