Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week with its rich liturgies that allow us to travel with Jesus during those last days of his earthly life. We hear two Gospels today, the first Jesus’ triumphant entry into
Jerusalem and then listen to Matthew’s account of our Lord’s Passion. We will revisit episodes from the Passion when we move through the three services beginning with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper (when Jesus gave the disciples, and gives us, the bread which becomes his Body and the wine his Blood); the Good Friday Service (when we hearof the Passion, pray for the world and venerate the Cross upon which Jesus died), through to the Easter Vigil where we listen to stories of God’s saving plan ending with the resurrection of Jesus. A week of emotions and decisions, for Jesus, his disciples and the crowds in Jerusalem. A time for us to reflect and imagine how we might have felt and what we might have done had we been there.
The first of our crowds wave palms, they are joyful, some go ahead, some crowd around and others follow singing, and shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the
Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” The second crowd, those who watched Jesus as he makes his way through Jerusalem carrying his cross. Through the Stations of the Cross we see the diversity of this crowd. The soldiers doing their job, Mary his grieving mother, Simon of Cyrene helping to carry his cross, Veronica wiping his face, the weeping women of Jerusalem, the Chief priests who taunted him to put God to the test and come down from the cross and those who wondered if he was Elijah. Each member of the crowd watched and played their part.
In this Holy Week, we will listen and reflect on this man, God’s only son whose passion and love for each of us allowed himself to be crucified, Christ our King.
