Today is usually celebrated as Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but we should ask ourselves, what does the word “triumphal” mean? It’s clear from all four Gospels that on that day something unusual occurred. On that same day, Pontius Pilate entered the city from another gate on a horse with his soldiers holding up standards, symbols of the hated Roman Empire.
The question we must ask ourselves, if how do we address, how do we confront the power of empire? Empire in Pilate’s time meant military conquest, the power of Rome to subjugate a city, a country and its people. The foot soldiers there obeying orders were far removed from the corridors of power as they are now. Caught in the line of fire, they die and are wounded far from the halls where the decisions are made.
Now in another war, or as the White House calls it, a military operation,” – sounds like Putin on Ukraine – we look desperately for peace, an end to death and destruction. Jesus, faced with the might of imperial Rome, did not take a sword but as Monseñor Romero called it, used “the violence of love,” force stronger than imperialism. But claiming to be practical, we’re not sure how to do that. Learning how to do that is wha is important this Palm Sunday.
Prayer for the Day
Shouting and singing “Hosanna!” we struggle,
For we wonder how to face the reality of our time;
Knowing how the story ends this week,
We come to you, O God, for hope beyond Friday.
Embrace us, enable us to look beyond fear,
So we can live in the hope of a new day and time.
In the name of the One who is our hope,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The initial response the proclamation of the reign [of God] produces...is one of joy and happiness. Later, there will be a call to live up to the values of the coming reign.
Juan Ramón Moreno, Jesuit priest murdered in El Salvador in 1989.
Now to the gate of my Jerusalem, the seething holy city of my heart,
The saviour comes. But will I welcome him? Oh crowds of easy feelings make a start;
They raise their hands, get caught up in the singing, and think the battle won.
Too soon they’ll find The challenge, the reversal he is bringing changes their tune
Malcolm Guite, British poet and priest
Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and other spread leafy branches hey had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting:
Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Mark 11:7-9