Hosanna to the Son of David…

Hosanna to the Son of David…

This weekend we begin the holiest and most incredible week of the Church Year. We celebrate the memory of Christ triumphal entering into the holy city of Jerusalem. The people were praising him and rejoicing that he was coming. They were laying down their cloaks and putting palms over the road for him to ride in on. Just imagine what it was like, the joy and the revelry, the cheering and screaming like we would with our favorite sports team coming in to an area. Imagine the pure excitement at the new King, the Son of David coming into his city…but then it changes. Everything changes within the span of just a few days.

Change is nothing new and even having major shifts in our lives like what is happening right now, has happened in the past and is a part of change, some of it we can control, most of it we cannot. I remember a sporting event that I was at, and many of you may have watched an event like this, where the crowd is really loud at a play or other event, and then everyone goes silent. Someone was hurt and bad. Even if it is a player from the other team, we go quiet and are shocked. Just imagine this Holy Week that shock that the people felt. On Palm Sunday. it goes from the joy and excitement of Jesus entering into the city of Jerusalem like a king, mounted on a donkey, to the silence of an extreme low where he is betrayed by a friend, he is arrested, imprisoned, condemned, walks the Way of the Cross, to suffer his death in a most horrendous way. However, there is rejoicing again by Jesus’ followers when they hear of his resurrection. It is such a beautiful and solemn week; it is a week that we witness how far Jesus was willing to go for the redemption of our sins.

So…how are we planning to celebrate this greatest week of the year? In the early Church, we only celebrated Easter, because it was the day that Christ rose from the dead. This week, we will again celebrate that incredible sacrifice that Christ gave to us, his own life among us, his death, and resurrection. Are we planning on it being just another week of the year, or are we planning on doing something special? I would recommend being a part of the extra liturgies that we have this week with Holy Thursday and Good Friday being wonderful reminders of the sacrifice that Christ made for us.

Next Saturday evening at the Easter Vigil, we will be welcoming in our new members into the Church. As we prepare for our celebration of the passion, death, and resurrection of our Savior, let us be mindful of that great gift He has given us and celebrate it with the wonder, awe, and joy that it is. Our Lenten journey is quickly coming to a close, and next week we will rejoice that the Son of God has returned from death to overcome the power of death to lead us into the eternal joys of heaven. So have a blessed Triduum and Easter, and know that all of you are in my prayers, as we pray and hope for our own resurrection into the kingdom of heaven as we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ.

God bless,
Fr. Ken