The Entry into Jerusalem (c. 1620), Pedro Orrente
A priest friend of mine is a great lover of books, as I am. A
couple years ago, when we were comparing the great works of literature that we
have read (and admitting to those that we have not), he told me, “You know,
whenever I start a new book, I always read the last page first. That way, if
Jesus comes back before I finish, I’ll know how the story ends.”
Now, I don’t know about you, but I just couldn’t comprehend
that line of thinking. To my mind, it robs one of the experience of seeing how
the story develops. Part of the enjoyment of encountering a story comes from
not knowing the ending!
I have to admit though that, at least for today, the Church
seems to agree with my friend’s line of thinking. On Palm Sunday, at the start
of Holy Week, we read the account of Jesus’s passion – the events, that is, of
Holy Thursday and Good Friday, which we will celebrate more solemnly later in
the week. Why do we do that? In our case, it’s not about skipping ahead to the
end – rather, it’s about reminding ourselves of what we are advancing toward.
There is a great contrast in the liturgy of Palm Sunday. At
the beginning, we commemorate Jesus’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, where
the people sang "Hosanna"'s and called Jesus their king. And then, just a few
moments later, we read the account of his passion, of how the crowd has now
turned against him, ready to ridicule him and hand him over for crucifixion.
Their fickleness and mob mentality is contrasted to Jesus’s quiet strength and
resolve in carrying the burden of our sins to the point of their final
annihilation.
Friends, as we enter into Holy Week, we take up again the story of our salvation, authored by Jesus himself. This work deserves our deeper, renewed reflection. I don’t suggest that we pretend as if we don’t know how the story ends. Indeed, it’s precisely by knowing of the Lord’s triumph, which we will celebrate next Sunday at Easer, that we can more deeply enter into the path that he takes to get there. Let’s allow our hearts to be moved to a deep compassion for the resolve that Jesus showed, despite all of the resistance and suffering that he encountered, to carry his cross until the end, to fulfill his divine mission. But let’s also allow the Lord to share that resolve with us, that despite our fickleness, at times, in following him, we might continue to accompany him through his passion and so share in the victory he has won.
Friends, as we enter into Holy Week, we take up again the story of our salvation, authored by Jesus himself. This work deserves our deeper, renewed reflection. I don’t suggest that we pretend as if we don’t know how the story ends. Indeed, it’s precisely by knowing of the Lord’s triumph, which we will celebrate next Sunday at Easer, that we can more deeply enter into the path that he takes to get there. Let’s allow our hearts to be moved to a deep compassion for the resolve that Jesus showed, despite all of the resistance and suffering that he encountered, to carry his cross until the end, to fulfill his divine mission. But let’s also allow the Lord to share that resolve with us, that despite our fickleness, at times, in following him, we might continue to accompany him through his passion and so share in the victory he has won.
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