Palm Sunday, 2023

Palm Sunday Reflection, 2023

We begin today’s Liturgy with the procession with the palms, calling out “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  But within the hour we are calling out (though reluctantly), “Crucify him,” as we read the Passion Gospel. How could such a thing happen, that people who praised Jesus on Sunday called for His death on Friday? How quickly the human heart turns from compliment to criticism, from adoration to antagonism. What would make a person do that?  Had we been there two thousand years ago, might we have been among that fickle crowd…?

Perhaps we have found ourselves at one time or another contradicting what we thought we believed in, or questioning what we once saw as the truth, or turning away from the good toward what is less than good. It’s safe to say that we all have the seeds of contention deep within us, and how watchful we must be to avoid letting those seeds rear their ugly heads.

This Holy Week we are called by God to reconsider just what it is we do believe in. We are invited to rekindle our faith so that the fire that sometimes burns within us becomes the constant flame of love. This week we decide, consciously, who we are and Whose we are. As we come to the end of Lent and stand at the empty tomb on Easter Sunday, we turn once again in conversion and renew the promises we have made over and over to be faithful men and women of the Gospel. It sounds easy, but it never is, really. It comes with a heavy price tag: it cost Jesus His Life to proclaim the truth. It will cost us daily as well, as we seek to see ourselves through the prism of the death—and resurrection— of Jesus.  But oh, what a reward.  From Hosanna to Crucify to Alleluia. We journey together, and we pray for one another.

Have a meaningful and beautiful Holy Week.