On this day the church recalls the entrance of Christ the Lord into Jerusalem to accomplish his paschal mystery. We do this by the solemn entrance before the mass. Palm Sunday is the great doorway leading into Holy Week, the week when the Lord Jesus makes his way towards the culmination of his earthly existence. Upon entering the church, Isaiah in the first reading talks about the suffering servant of Yahweh and St. Paul in the second reading will tell on the humility of Jesus Christ that will lead to his glory. The Evangelist, will narrate the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ not to play on our emotions but to show us Christ who gave up his life for love of all people.
While Jesus was riding on a donkey, many people spread their garments on the road and others spread leafy branches. This invites us to think of what we can spread for Jesus to walk over. We may think of spreading ourselves under Jesus’ feet; offering not palm branches, but our hearts full of love and sacrifice, asking him to transform them into the likeness of his heart. We may think of spreading our worries and fears at this difficult time of the coronavirus, and let him transform them into calmness, peace and help.
We can as well ask ourselves this question: What was happening in the hearts of those people who followed Jesus spreading their garments and leafy branches? Certainly, the Joy of the expected Messiah was burning in their hearts and they began to shout “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”. This is a cry of blessing, a hymn of exultation: it expresses a conviction that in Jesus, God has visited his people and the Messiah they longed for has finally come. This year our hosanna is sung while in our homes due to the virus pandemic, and what might probably be happening in our hearts is confusion, doubts and despair. But even as we find ourselves isolated, confined, walking in sorrow with Jesus this Holy Week, we look forward to a day of joy, freed from the virus and living in victory.
Let us do this solemn entrance with the joy of meeting Christ spiritually who visits us to fulfill our hope, to bless us and our families, relationships and our church. We pray that we can imitate the humble Messiah and be filled with justice, solidarity and peace.
Peace and Health.
