SUNDAY, PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION
Procession: Lk 19: 28-40
Mass: Is 50: 4-7; Ps 22: 8 9, 17-20, 23-24; Phil 2 :6-11; Lk 22: 14 — 23: 56
THE PARADOX OF PRAISE AND PASSION
Today, we stand at the threshold of Holy Week, holding palms in our hands and paradox in our hearts. This liturgy begins with jubilant shouts of “Hosanna!” and ends with the solemn reading of Christ’s Passion. In one breath, we acclaim Jesus as King; in the next, we hear the crowd demand His crucifixion. Palm Sunday is a mirror, reflecting both our deepest longing for salvation and our tragic capacity to betray the very One who saves us. Today, we confront the tension between our faith and our frailty.
The Gospel recounts Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, a scene rich with prophetic symbolism. Unlike earthly kings who ride warhorses, Jesus chooses a donkey – a humble beast of burden, a sign of peace. This fulfils Zechariah’s prophecy (Zech 9:9). The crowds spread their cloaks and wave palm branches, symbols of victory and kingship in the ancient world. They cry, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” But what kind of king is this? Jesus’ does not come to seize power but to surrender it. He does not overthrow Rome but conquers sin. He does not demand tribute but offers mercy. The donkey, a creature of service, reveals His mission: to serve, not to be served (cf. Mk 10:45). In a world obsessed with dominance, Christ’s humility disarms us. Today, the palms we hold challenge us.
Yet the same crowd that shouts “Hosanna!” will soon cry “Crucify Him!” (Lk 23:21). The crowd mirrors our own divided hearts. How easily we praise God on Sunday and forget Him by Monday! How quickly we turn from devotion to doubt when faith demands sacrifice. The word “Hosanna” means “Save us, we pray!” The people longed for a political liberator, but Christ came to liberate them from something far deeper: the tyranny of sin and death. When He refused to meet their narrow expectations, their praise turned to rage. How often do we, too, grow angry with God when He fails to conform to our plans? When suffering interrupts our lives, when prayers seem unanswered, do we double down in faith or retreat into resentment? The Passion narrative lays bare humanity’s brokenness: Judas betrays, Peter denies, the disciples flee, Pilate capitulates, and the religious leaders conspire. Yet in this chaos, Christ’s love remains steadfast. He prays for His persecutors, promises paradise to a thief, and entrusts His spirit to the Father. The cross reveals both the depth of our sin and the greater depth of God’s mercy.
Palm Sunday invites us to move beyond superficial praise to costly discipleship. It is easy to wave palms and sing hymns, but will we follow Christ to Calvary? To carry palms is to accept the call to become His hands and feet in a wounded world. True discipleship means embracing the paradox of the cross: that life comes through death, strength through weakness, victory through surrender. The donkey reminds us that God’s power is perfected in humility. The palms, which will wither in days, remind us that earthly glory fades, but God’s kingdom endures. In the Passion, we see discipleship embodied by unlikely figures: Simon of Cyrene, forced to carry the Cross, teaches us that Christ’s burden becomes a gift when shouldered with love; the women of Jerusalem, who weep for Jesus, model compassion in the face of injustice; the centurion, a foreign soldier, recognizes Christ’s divinity at the foot of the cross. These figures challenge us: Where do we see ourselves in the story?
This Holy Week, we are invited to walk with Jesus not just in procession but in passion: to pray with Him in Gethsemane, trusting the Father’s will; to stand with Him at His trial, rejecting the world’s false verdicts; to weep with Him at the cross, refusing to turn away from suffering; to wait with Him in the tomb, believing light will dawn. Let us lay down our cloaks of pride, our palms of superficial piety, and meet Him in the messy, sacred truth of His Passion. For only by facing the cross will we reach the empty tomb.
Response: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Copyright ©2025 ©Springs of Living Water http://springs.carmelmedia.in