Palm Sunday 17.4.11
To some observers the crucifixion of Our Lord was just another routine execution. No special event.
To us it is God Himself taking on human nature and then further taking on Himself the sins of the world. Definitely not just another death, just another execution.
Jesus, God and Man, the most loved and hated member of the human race in history.
Why so loved? Because of the healing and salvation He brings to millions. Why so hated? Because He rouses the jealousy and rage of the devil himself who then spreads hatred to as many people as he can.
Why would anyone want to reject One who can do so much good? (Vested interests, keep the status quo, too lazy to change one’s ways, steeped in evil, thus unable to see good when it presents itself.)
Thus so much denial and calculated indifference towards Our Lord.
We see the fickleness of human nature even in this one liturgy: from Hosanna to Crucify him.
What a spectrum of response is possible in relation to Him. Our response to Him is more important than any other response to any person or thing we ever make.
We have to be with Him not against Him if we want to live forever.
How hard we have to apply ourselves to be loyal to this king; not just to acclaim Him on good days but to make it the study of our lives to be faithful to Him, to know Him as well as possible, to be conformed to His image, to be proud to be identified with Him.
And not to give in to temptations to resent Him when life is hard or to ignore Him when we want to go our own way.
The palms we have been holding are signs of welcome and acclamation. The original holders of those palms largely changed their welcome to rejection. We must hold the welcome, and make that habitual.
So that we are always glad to see Our Saviour coming, never ashamed to go out to meet Him, never wishing He were further away, never complaining about our sufferings in following Him.
If we are faithful to Him He will be more than faithful to us. Whatever we give Him He will repay a hundredfold.
Let us go with Him through this Holy Week, to Calvary and then to the glory of the Resurrection.
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