Palm Sunday of the Lord\u2019s Passion<\/p>\n\n\n\n
April 5, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew 21:1-11 and Matthew 26:14\u201427:66<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, we are celebrating the Palm Sunday of the Lord\u2019s Passion. In many\ncountries, today is a big celebration where people excitedly throng the Church.\nI remember when I was still studying in the Philippines, the faithful would\npack almost all the 11 masses in our Church, Santo Domingo Church. It was a\nfestive celebration as many people were carrying palm branches of a coconut\ntree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, something bizarre takes place this year. The churches in many\ncountries are temporarily closed, the faithful are asked to avoid gathering,\nincluding the Holy Eucharist, and people are confused about what to do with the\nCelebration of the Holy Week. A parishioner once painfully asked me, \u201cFather,\nsince the Church is closed, what shall I do with the palm branches I have?\u201d\nSurely, there is always a pastoral solution to any problem that the faithful\nhave. Yet, the real issue is not so much about how to clear up the confusion,\nbut how to deal with the deep pain of losing what makes us Catholics. No palm\nin our hands, no kissing of the crucifix, and no Body of Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reflecting on our Gospels\u2019 today, we are somehow like the people of\nJerusalem who welcomed Jesus and shouted, \u201cHosanna!\u201d The Hebrew word \u201cHosanna\u201d\nliterally means \u201csave us!\u201d or \u201cgive us salvation!\u201d It is a cry of hope and\nexpectation. We need to remember that the people of Israel during this time was\nwere under the Roman Empire\u2019s occupations. Commonly, lives were hard and many\npeople endured heavy taxation under severe punishment. Many faithful Jews were\nanticipating the promised Messiah, who like David, would restore the lost\ntwelve tribes of Israel, deliver them from the grip of the Romans and bring them\ninto a glorious kingdom. They saw Jesus as a charismatic preacher, miraculous\nhealer, and nature conqueror, and surely, Jesus could be the king that would\nturn the Roman legions upside down. We need to remember also the context of the\nGospel that in few days, the Jewish people would celebrate the great feast of\nPassover, and thousands of people were gathered in Jerusalem. With so much\nenergy and euphoria, a small incident could ignite a full-scale rebellion. And\nJesus was at the center of this whirlpool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus is indeed a king and savior, but He is not the kind of king that\nmany people would expect. He is a peaceful king, rather than a warmonger, that\nis why He chose a gentle ass rather than a strong horse. His crown is not\nshining gold and diamond, but piercing thorns. His robe is not purple and\nfine-linen, but skin full of scars. His throne is neither majestic nor\ndesirable, but a cross. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We may be like people of Jerusalem, and we shout \u201cHosanna!\u201d to Jesus,\nexpecting Him to save us from this terrible pandemic, to bring our liturgical\ncelebrations back, and to solve all our problems. However, like people of\nJerusalem, we may get it wrong. Jesus is our Savior, but He may save us in the\nway that we do not even like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The challenge is whether we lose patience and dismiss Jesus as a\npreacher of fake news, rather than good news, or endure the humiliation with\nHim; whether we get discouraged and begin to shout, \u201cCrucify Him!\u201d or we stand\nby His cross. The challenge is whether we get bitter and start mocking the church\nauthorities for their incompetence handling the crisis or we continue to\nsupport them in time of trial; whether we are cursing the grim situations or we\nbegin to spread the light however small it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why does God allow us to endure this terrible experience, or to be more\nprecise, why does God allow Himself to endure this terrible experience? Let us\nwait at the Good Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Palm Sunday of the Lord\u2019s Passion
\nApril 5, 2020
\nMatthew 21:1-11 and Matthew 26:14\u201427:66<\/p>\n
Today, we are celebrating the Palm Sunday of the Lord\u2019s Passion. In many countries, today is a big celebration where people excitedly throng the Church. I remember when I was still studying in the Philippines, the faithful would pack almost all the 11 masses in our Church, Santo Domingo Church. It was a festive celebration as many people were carrying palm branches of a coconut tree.
\nHowever, something bizarre takes place this year. The churches in many countries are temporarily closed, the faithful are asked to avoid gathering, including the Holy Eucharist, and people are confused about what to do with the Celebration of the Holy Week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[57,58],"class_list":["post-9397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan","tag-english","tag-sunday-reflection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9398,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9397\/revisions\/9398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}