Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/040917.cfm

Today we start the most important week of the church year: Holy Week. During this week we journey with Jesus as he goes from the joy of being proclaimed “King of the Jews” on Palm Sunday to His suffering and death on His Holy Cross.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem just days before being betrayed, we hear the crowds cry out, "Hosanna to the Son of David;blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in thehighest” and "This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth inGalilee."

Then we see, within a few days to a week after this, the betrayal of Judas, the agony in the Garden, and the arrest of Jesus. This all came about due to the jealousy of the scribes and Pharisees, the greed of Judas, and sinfulness of those around Jesus that led him to his death on the Cross.

The gospel of St. Matthew, from the beginning, was told and retold because it contains the very heart of the Christian message: the saving activity of Jesus carried out through his suffering, death, and resurrection.

In this gospel we hear of Jesus sharing a final Passover meal with his disciples wherein he institutes the Eucharist; the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is betrayed and handed over to his enemies; the trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin; the trial before Pilate; crucifixion and death; the guarding of the tomb.

Jesus is rejected by the very people he came to save. He is betrayed and denied by two of his own handpicked apostles. He is killed as an insurrectionist, but he is really a king. His saving power is activated through his death.

Through our reading of the Passion, we can identify with Peter’s denial, with Judas’ betrayal, with the disciples’ flight, with Pilate’s cowardice, with the leaders’ cynicism or with the crowd’s mindless frenzy. We all have a place in the Passion story.

But throughout the reading of this gospel, with all this betrayal towards Christ, we are reminded that Christ loves us. Despite what all these people did to Him, Jesus died for all of them. His love, His truth, His forgiveness. His grace is the foundations on which we can rely. Despite our failures, in Him we can have a new strong life.

As you approach the Eucharist at Mass today, place your cares and love into the hands of Jesus. Thank Jesus for dying for you on that Good Friday 2,000 years ago, and for rising again on Easter Sunday morning.