5 April 2009
Gospel: Marck 11: 1-10
(Procession)
Some days before the feast of Passover, Jesus and His disciples went up to Jerusalem ….
Some days before the feast of Passover ….
It is the last time that You go up to Jerusalem. Your “Hour” has come, the hour of Your Passover, of Your passage from this world to the Father (Jn. 13:11). You know that it is through suffering and death that this passage will be made, that for every son of man, for each one of us. And You know also how Your disciples will be disconcerted by Your unexpected, quick, and sad departure. So You will prepare them for this test, to help them to see the other side: Your victory over death.
Jesus and His disciples went up to Jerusalem ….
Jerusalem is the city of David, Your ancestor. You are at home! So, for once, You Who have always shunned royal honours, You will act like a King, and You yourself organise Your entry into Your city. Now Jerusalem is the “City of Peace” … and You are the “Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6). Your entry into the city will therefore be a peaceful “Demonstration”. You don’t enter there on horseback, in triumph, like the Roan occupiers. You enter Jerusalem seated on a donkey, a humble shepherd. you don’t come to rule; You come to serve, to guide, to save…. The simple folk understand and welcome You: Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!
But the leaders of the people do not understand, and their animosity towards You will only be reinforced by all this. Some days later, You will once again be in a procession, but to leave Jerusalem, carrying a cross, to go to Calvary. And it will be cries of hatred and death from the crowd…
In Your heart however, nothing has changed: it is always the same love; it is the shepherd Who gives His Life for His sheep.
But the “Glory” of Palm Sunday will return, more glorious still, on the morning of the first day of the week, on the morning of Your Resurrection….
