Palm Sunday Reflection: April 2nd, 2023

Holy Week is the high point of the liturgical year. This Sunday, we begin this great week with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Among the crowds of those waving palm branches, we find those who still doubt Jesus’ identity and the call to which God is asking of us.

It must have been an amazing sight to see all those people shouting "Hosanna!" In a few days, these would be the people who would be saying "Crucify Him." Carrying the weight of the Cross for us, Jesus kept his eyes fixed on Jerusalem.

During this week, Jesus was betrayed by his disciple. One of his disciples even said he did not know him. Jesus shared a meal with his disciples and even washed their feet. The sorrow-filled procession that Jesus made on Good Friday was so different from the joyful entry that he made on Palm (Passion) Sunday.

In the celebrations of Holy Week, Jesus meets us on the road to Calvary. We encounter God’s thirst for us. In the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we also discover God’s great love for us and are called to affirm our own identity with God.
 
Created in the image and likeness of God, we strive to live by Jesus’ words and examples. However, as human beings, we struggle with injustice, betrayal, greed, and pain. God knows the things we carry that do not bring us peace. This Holy Week and each day of our lives, we are reminded to invite Jesus into our journeys. Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Let us continue to pray for one another!