Today is Palm Sunday, and we find ourselves already immersed in the Mystery of Our Lord’s Passion. Every day we are invited to take part in the Paschal festivities and participate actively in our liturgy this week for the greatness of what Jesus endured for our salvation. Today begins the Holy Week. It is called holy due to Jesus’ gift of Himself for our salvation. It starts today with Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, which is Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, being welcomed with people cheering, “Hosanna, Hosanna, Son of David.” Then comes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to recall the trial, betrayal and suffering of our Lord. Then we have the triduum celebration starting Thursday, with the commemoration of the Last Supper, His gift of the Eucharist, and His great “mandatus,” that means his command to love and to serve. Friday is the passion of Christ on the Cross which caused His death. Good Friday is the only day without the celebration of the mass. On Saturday, we are called to continue our reflection on the offering of Jesus’s life for us as we await the vigil celebration of the Resurrection. Easter Sunday culminates our Catholic observance of the Holy Week to realize that Jesus’ death on the cross is not the end but, through His resurrection, He is risen and alive.
Palm Sunday is an invitation to reflect on the whole Passion Story from St. Matthew. However, aside from hearing the gospel, we also need to reflect on the significance of the blessed branches and palms we carry today. This is the moment to capture into our consciousness that we have the courage to signify our sense of welcoming Jesus’ entrance into our community. Some may feel awkward doing it, probably because they hardly welcome Jesus into their hearts. When possessing the blessed palms, take them home and put them at your altar. Keep them until you return them next year to make the sacred ashes for Ash Wednesday. We are praying with great memories in our liturgy.
The gospel today reminds us of three important things which will be our reflection points.
First, people laid palms before Jesus as he entered into Jerusalem. The palm was their way to acclaim a man who roused their hopes with much accolade. I believe Jesus deserves a great welcome over and above any movie actor or politician because Jesus is Lord and the Messiah. Our celebration today is absolutely different from the first Palm Sunday. People were cheering. It was a very dramatic event, and yet we are here in the comfort of the church contemplating already the price of victory.
Second, this celebration as I have mentioned to you at the beginning of my homily is a combination of those two elements: the glory and the anguish or our sorrows. This might be a real challenge for us as we enter Holy Week. Glory in the sense that Jesus, the Son of God, triumphantly enters into Jerusalem giving of Himself just as God is giving His very Being unto our hands. Anguish and sorrow cannot be hidden, and the fact is we feel it by knowing that those people who welcomed Him succumbed to human injustice.
Third, people welcomed Him with much expectations to usher in God’s promise. They shout, “Hosanna!” – God, come to save us!” Later, many of the people are persuaded to turn against Jesus. “Crucify him, Crucify him!” People have never realized that their evil desire to let Jesus suffer is tantamount to taking away their Hope. However, the gentleness of Jesus is the complete opposite of their resistance to accept the Truth.
I hope that we have a spiritual program that can, I believe, make especially fruitful our observance of Holy Week and Easter. If we take His words to heart, we can be confident that our hearts and minds will grow to be more open to receive the abundance and richness of Christ’s Spirit, and by God’s grace, our Holy Week can be an acceptable offering, to the praise of God and for our own good and the good of the whole Church.
Because of what Jesus endured on the Cross; we must not keep ourselves at a distance from Him. Rather, as members of his Body, we must allow all that He went through to touch us at the very core of our being. Finally, this Holy Week observance means to us, not only His Passion and sufferings, but also His glorious Resurrection raising us with Him as new and redeemed creation.
God bless you.
Fr. Arlon, osa
