Holy Week/Palm Sunday Reflection… “Capturing Our Hearts”

 Jn. 12; 12-18, Mt. 21; 1-11, Mk. 11; 1-11, Lk. 19; 28-40

All four Gospels testify to Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
 
While the Synoptic Gospels give the time and place of Palm Sunday, John explains more completely why Jesus gets such a welcome: He had captured the peoples’ hearts! The great crowd who had come to the festival had also heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, The King of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion, Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
 
The disciples did not understand these things at first; when Jesus was glorified, they remembered what had been written about him… This crowd had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, and they continued to testify. Because Christ had performed this sign, and so many other miracles, all of Jerusalem went out to greet him. (Jn. 12; 12-19) Christ had captured their hearts, by what he did and what he said: Changing water into the best of wine for newlyweds; stilling a raging sea; giving sight to the blind; eating with friends and foes, always teaching about God’s view, the love of his Father; curing the sick, expelling demons; forgiving, believing in those who decided wrongly, even before they walked away; healing lepers and those paralyzed, whether or not they were grateful; teaching through parables and beatitudes; multiplying bread for the hungry; identifying with the least, calling them the greatest in the Kingdom of God; passing on his power to heal and his Spirit of Love, empowering all who followed. This pilgrimage up to Jerusalem had all the markings of a great Spiritual awakening! The Promised Messiah has come! So, what went wrong? How could so triumphant an entrance turn into such a catastrophe? Christ had captured the hearts of many with what he said and did.
 
But face to face with the power of evil, fear sets in; a pandemic of jealously, hatred surge through the crowds. And panic erodes confidence. The faithful turned fickle. Betrayal and abandonment followed. Christ, the Savior, became the scapegoat. Few followers will stand with him, come Friday. The mob will shout out a prophesy on themselves: “His blood be upon us and our children.” Yes, his life-giving blood and mercy has been poured upon them and us, especially in desperate times! Jesus said the greatest way to love is to give one’s life. And then, he does it! We see again the depth and the breath of his love for the world. The gift of himself on the cross restores our relationship, even as we falter and choose sin. Christ has found a way to recapture our hearts, if we allow him. Paul says, (Rom. 5) “It is precisely in this that God proves his love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for (love of) us.” He reclaims and recaptures all hearts with his love in the toughest of times. And then, is raised from the dead, ensuring our salvation! Perhaps we need to ask, in this time of a world-wide health crisis, how can we allow Christ to “reclaim and recapture” our hearts?
 
DISCUSS:
 
It’s no small irony to realize it has taken a pandemic to bring so many of us together for family prayer, celebrating the Eucharist on-line, and as we’re “Sheltered in Place”, to begin talking together about God! Could this be a part of a “home-grown” New Evangelization?!