105. Palm Sunday
Meditations no. 151 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
The meaning of todayâs liturgy: the Passion as a path to glory.
Jesus was preparing to enter Jerusalem, where our Redemption was to be accomplished. When the people heard that he was about to arrive, they went to meet him. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, âHosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!â
And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred, saying, âWho is this?â And the crowds said, âThis is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.
Our Lord enters Jerusalem. He has always been opposed to any kind of public display of praise, and has hidden whenever people wanted to make him king. But today he allows himself to be led in triumph. Only now, when he is about to meet his death, does he accept being acclaimed as Messiah, conqueror and King. But he is a King who will reign from the Cross. The same people who are now acclaiming him jubilantly, will abandon him within a short while and lead him to Calvary. The palms will become whips, the olive branches, thorns; and the shouts of triumph will turn into jeers and curses.
With the ceremony of the blessing of the palms and the texts of the Mass, the liturgy once again shows us how happiness and suffering, joy and sorrow, are closely bound together in our Lordâs life. As St Bernard points out: The Church possesses the spirit of the Lord who is her spouse and her God. It is not without good reason that she presents the Passion and the procession united today in a new and marvellous way, so that the procession brings applause and the Passion tears.
The procession represents the glory of the royal fatherland, and the Passion shows the way to reach it. If the procession brings to mind the glory and joy, surpassing all measure, that awaits us, and that will be ours when we are taken up into the clouds to meet Christ in the heavens; if with all your heart you desire to see that day in which Jesus Christ our Lord will be received in the heavenly Jerusalem, bringing the triumph of victory, when the Head, accompanied by his members, will be applauded, not by popular crowds but by angelic hosts, and from all sides the people of both New and Old Testaments will acclaim, âBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lordâ; if during the procession you have considered the goal to which you should be directing your steps, then learn in the Passion the road which you must tread. The present tribulation is the road to life, the road to glory, the road to the city in which it is worth living, the road to the kingdom.
Suffering is the salt of our life on earth.
The glory of this world is worth so little! The fleeting triumph of Jesus upon entering Jerusalem is a lesson for his disciples. St Bernard asks: Who could have confidence in earthly glory, when they see how, in the life of the Lord himself - who knew no sin, and who is the very Creator of time and Maker of the universe - such great exaltation gives way to such great humiliation? In the same city, by the same nation, within the same short space of time, he is honoured with a triumphant reception and with divine praises, and then brought before the tribunals, treated with opprobrium, contempt and shame, and finally tortured and numbered among the evildoers. Such is the end of transitory joy; such is the fruit of earthly glory.
We should not forget that we cannot find complete happiness on earth. The joy of us poor men, even when it has supernatural motives, always leaves behind some taste of bitterness. What did you expect? Here on earth, suffering is the salt of life.
Holy Week invites us to go deeper into this fundamental aspect of our Faith. Our Father wrote: Christian teaching on pain is not a series of facile considerations. It is, in the first place, a call to accept the suffering inseparable from all human life⌠When I speak to you of suffering, I am not just talking theory. Nor do I limit myself to other peopleâs experience when I tell you that the remedy is to look at Christ, if when faced with suffering, you at some time feel that your soul is wavering. The scene of Calvary proclaims to everyone that afflictions have to be sanctified, that we are to live united to the Cross.
If we bear our difficulties as Christians, they are turned into reparation and atonement They give us a share in Jesusâ destiny and in his life. Out of love for men he volunteered to experience the whole gamut of pain and torment He was born, lived and died poor. He was attacked, insulted, defamed, slandered and unjustly condemned. He knew treachery and abandonment by his disciples. He experienced isolation and the bitterness of punishment and death. And now the same Christ is suffering in his members, in all of humanity spread throughout the earth, whose head and first-born and Redeemer he is.
Suffering is part of Godâs plans. This is the truth, however difficult it may be for us to understand it.
A donkey was the throne of Jesus in Jerusalem. We should let our Lord reign in our soul.
The scene we contemplate today is full of sharp contrasts. What a difference between the cries of âAway with him, crucify him,â and those of âBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest!â; between the shouts of âKing of Israelâ and those, just a few days later, of âWe have no king but Caesar!â What a difference between the green branches and the Cross, between the flowers and the thorns! Those who spread their garments as a carpet, says St Bernard, were shortly afterwards stripping him of his own garments and casting lots over them.
The triumphant procession offers another strong contrast. Amid the superficial, rowdy enthusiasm there shines out the silent and docile figure of a donkey, faithfully and obediently carrying the Lord on his back.
A donkey was the throne of Jesus in Jerusalem, our Father tells us. It certainly is beautiful to serve the Lord as a throne.
The poor donkey, with the most graceful trot he can muster, steps over the silk and purple linen and fine robes that have been laid down to honour the entry of the Lord. But while others offer things they have, the donkey gives himself: upon his rough back, he carries the gentle load of Jesus. People run beside him waving green olive branches, palms and laurels. But nobody, not even the Apostles, are as close to our Lord as the donkey.
Our Founder taught us to meditate on this scene often, encouraging us to spend our lives generously in the service of God, allowing him to reign in our hearts. If Jesusâ reign in my soul, in your soul, meant that he should find it a perfect dwelling place, then indeed would we have reason to despair. But fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on an assâs colt. Donât you see? Jesus makes do with a poor animal for his throne. I donât know about you; but I am not humiliated to acknowledge that in the Lordâs eyes I am a beast of burden: I am like a donkey in your presence, but I am continually with you. You hold me by your right hand, you take me by the bridle.
Try to remember what a donkey is like - now that so few of them are left Not an old, stubborn, vicious one that would give you a kick when you least expected it, but a young one with his ears up like antennae. He lives on a meagre diet, is hard-working and has a quick, cheerful trot. There are hundreds of animals more beautiful, more deft and strong. But it was a donkey Christ chose when he presented himself to the people as king in response to their acclamation. For Jesus has no time for calculations, for astuteness, for the cruelty of cold hearts, for attractive but empty beauty. What he likes is the cheerfulness of a young heart, a simple step, a natural voice, clean eyes, attention to his affectionate word of advice. That is how he reigns in the soul.
Let us end our prayer today with a resolution and, at the same time, a petition, which we entrust to the intercession of our Lady: Almighty, ever-living God, you have given the human race Jesus Christ our Saviour as a model of humility. He fulfilled your will by becoming man and giving his life on the Cross. Help us to bear witness to you by following his example of suffering and make us worthy to share in his Resurrection.