On this Sunday, the Sunday of the Passion, we set out once again on a journey into the most sombre and Holy Week in the Christian calendar, and we do so this year as we face a sombre and difficult time in our world. This week, as we draw near to Jesus and share in his rejection, betrayal suffering and death, we do so as so many are facing their own mortality and as so many in our world, and in our country, are suffering.
Today, we see Jesus riding into Jerusalem and riding right into people’s expectations that he would fix their problems. They wanted to crown him as their King, as a leader who would drive out the Romans and return their nation to freedom, and yet these very expectations expressed by the crowd as ‘Hosanna’ sealed Jesus’ fate. Neither the Jewish leadership nor the Romans could tolerate an aspiring King of the Jews.
And yet, instead of meeting their expectations and their short-sighted hopes, Jesus enters right into the crisis. He rides into Jerusalem knowing exactly what would happen, and exactly what was awaiting him. Even in the garden, later in this critical week, he prays ‘Father, let this cup pass…but if not, your will be done.’
Throughout this Holy Week we are invited to be present in our own difficult circumstances, and to be present in this current crisis in our world and our nation with complete calm, because that is the essence of faith. We are to understand and to never forget that God is with us and that God never leaves us, not matter where we are, or what situation we find ourselves in.
May this Holy Week deepen your faith and love of Jesus the Christ as we together share his sufferings, and may we celebrate the joy of Easter Day, even as our community is scattered and apart.
In peace, Mother Lynda
Gospel Reading: Matthew 21:1-11