The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.”
Today’s Scriptures begin with celebrating Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The crowds shouted “Hosanna”, which means “Yahweh save us”. The Passion narrative describes for us how Jesus fulfilled their request for salvation, by His Passion, death and resurrection. We join Jesus this week on the Way of the Cross. We unite our sufferings to His, whether they be physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, financial or the sufferings caused by the spread of the Corona virus (COVID19) around the world. Jesus will help us bear these sufferings. Maybe in our sufferings, we feel that God has abandoned us. We must remember to place our trust in God, just as Jesus completely trusted His Father.
Jesus fully expresses His love for the Father in humble obedience. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found in human appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. We can only partially appreciate the immense power of God’s love. The same power of God’s love is at work in our lives. Throughout Lent, with prayer, fasting and almsgiving we have sought to open our hearts more and more to God. Jesus will touch our hearts this Holy Week as we journey with Him.
We pray this Holy Week and beyond, that God’s love guides us along the pathways of life, even when we are suffering. Only God sees how a particular suffering we are experiencing leads us closer to Him. We cooperate with God’s grace in all circumstances of life. We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who have been called according to His decree. (Rom8:28) The glory that God has in store for us far exceeds the sufferings of the present moment.
God bless us all always!
Deacon Mike