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Reading 1: Psalm 118:1-2;19-29
Reading 2: Matthew 21:1-11
Today we are celebrating Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The text describes how the gathered crowd waved palm branches to welcome him and shouted: Hosanna!
The crowd believed Jesus was the one who would free them from the oppression of their time, from the pressure of the political power of their day. They thought Jesus was the kind of liberator they knew—one who would come with a sword and revolts. Our lives today are not far from what those people felt: a longing for liberation, for restoration, for freedom—a freedom that would lead them to peace and well-being.
Many people today are living under oppression, experiencing and suffering from hunger, illness, displacement, injustice, violence, insecurity, and hopelessness. Perhaps many people in this wounded world do not even feel like waving palms and shouting “Hosanna!” on a day like today. Rather, many of them feel as though they are living constantly in darkness, in despair—as if they are living an endless Holy Week.
Just before Jesus made his entry, he wept. He wept as he looked over Jerusalem from above. He wept, feeling the pain of the people, their abandonment—showing them he is not a king of oppression, but a king who suffers with his people.
To commemorate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is to have the assurance he is entering our countries, our neighborhoods, our homes, our hearts—he is entering to tell us not only that he sees our suffering, but he weeps with our pain.
If today you are suffering pain or violence, if you have lost hope, if you no longer believe in a better tomorrow or a better future—he is not asking you to wave palms and shout “Hosanna!” Jesus is asking you to surrender, to let go, so he may fill your life with his love—his radical love—and his peace.
May this Palm Sunday not be just– a simple celebration, but a reassurance that Jesus will carry our crosses, weep our pain, and walk not only with us, but with all peoples who cry out today for freedom and security.
The King who entered on a donkey of peace and who was led to a violent death on the cross will overcome death in order to raise us up. May the Divine fill you with blessings and prepare you to live the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ in your lives.
Amen, Ashé, Namaste, Gassho, Shalom, and Salam.
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