JERUSALEM - For four decades, Mousa Kamar has taken his place at the head of the heavy wooden cross used during the Franciscan Good Friday procession on the Via Dolorosa.

JERUSALEM - Several pilgrim groups gathered in a sunny courtyard in Jerusalem’s Old City. They were preparing to follow a tradition reaching back at least to the fifth century: walking along the Via Dolorosa, through the cobbled streets of Jerusalem’s Old City.

This year on Palm Sunday, we listen attentively to Mark’s Passion story of Jesus’ final days and hours on Earth — a story of striking contrasts. In Mark’s jarring story, we witness the anguish of Jesus who has been totally abandoned by friends and disciples. He is resigned to His fate. He makes no response to Judas when he betrays Him, nor to Pilate during His interrogation. In Mark, Pilate makes no effort to save Him, as the Roman procurator does in the other three Gospels.