Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
We are celebrating Palm Sunday. It is important to notice what Jesus is doing. Jesus is entering Jerusalem to begin the greatest week in all of history.
How is he entering the Holy City? By riding on a donkey. He is riding on the animal of simple, common country people. And the donkey didn’t even belong to him. He had to borrow it for the occasion.
In the gospel, we hear at the beginning of today’s liturgy, St. John tells us that at first, the disciples did not understand Jesus’ action. Only after Easter did they realize that Jesus, by so acting, was fulfilling what the prophet Zechariah had foretold.
Zechariah had written: “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on the colt of an ass” (Jn 12: 15; cf. Zec 9: 9).
The late Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that Jesus comes to Jerusalem as a poor man. When the gospel speaks about “the poor,” this has a special meaning. It refers especially to those believing and trusting souls who welcome Jesus. In the Hebrew language, they are the “anawim” – people like Mary and Joseph and Elizabeth, Zechariah and John the Baptist. They are the humble people who will welcome and support Jesus. They are the ones he names first in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
Being poor isn’t necessarily about money and riches.
A person can be materially poor yet one’s heart can be full of greed for wealth and for the power that derives from it. The very fact that one lives with envy and jealousy shows that such a person is not poor “in spirit.”
The poverty that Jesus means presupposes above all inner freedom from the greed for possessions and the mania for power.
Through conversion of our hearts, we are called to recognize that possessions are a responsibility. Whatever we earn, own, or receive imposes upon us a duty towards others. If we have a good job, or an important position, or a wonderful spouse, and great children – that is a responsibility that calls us to accept Christ as our King, a King who calls us to serve others with humility and kindness.
Reflection: By not relying on wealth and power, we show that we are striving to be “poor in spirit.” How do I imitate Christ in his humility?
Reflection by Archbishop Jerome Hanus, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources