Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, 4/10

Dear brothers and sisters,

The celebration of Palm Sunday each year is such a powerful experience. Not only because we get to take a palm home, but because we have a celebration with such intense contrast which sometimes mirrors in a way our own life. The contrast is between the green and the red. The palms and the blood. It is as extreme as it could be.

On the green side we have the joyful celebration of the redemption offered by God. We can see this in the people joyfully receiving Jesus with their palms into Jerusalem as their king as they sing: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” Jesus himself rebukes the Pharisees saying “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”All creation, even the most inert things would be singing. This manifests our desire for Jesus to be our King. To have him reign in our life! We cry in inaudible voices in our interior waiting for this moment in our lives.

On the other side we have the red, the blood. This is the Pharisees, that even though they have seen all the mesianic signs and miracles of Jesus, they choose not to believe. Even though the stones what to cry out giving glory to God, their stony hearts don't want to yield. It is also manifested in the terrible "crucify him!" and all the rest of the passion. This mirrors in a way the part within us that does not want to change. The part that is already accustomed to our own sin. We think "that is the way I am". We do not want to yield to Jesus.

Our life on this earth is the battle between these two extremes. As we celebrate this mass let us be moved to give glory to God! To have Him as our King! And with a lot of patience to continue to reduce the part that does not accept Jesus.

God bless you! ~Fr. Carlos