“Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.” (Luke
19:28)
We begin today’s liturgy with the blessing of the palms and
the reading of the gospel of Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Those first moments of today’s Mass are
sometimes forgotten after the long reading of the passion, but it merits our attention
as we begin Holy Week. When we hear that
Jesus is going to Jerusalem at the beginning of the liturgy it is because “the
Church anticipates her response to the Gospel saying: `Let us follow the Lord.’
This clearly expresses the theme of Palm Sunday…Being Christian means
considering the way of Jesus Christ as the right way for being human as that
way which leads to our destination, to a completely fulfilled and authentic
humanity…being Christian is a path or, better, a pilgrimage; it is to travel
with Jesus Christ, to journey in the direction he has pointed out and is
pointing out to us.” Pope Benedict XVI
preached those words on Palm Sunday six years ago, and they still resonate
today.
When we finish that gospel reading at the beginning of the
liturgy, the priest invites the people to follow the Lord as we wave our palms
during the procession. Today I invite
you to do the same as we begin this most holiest of weeks. Follow the Lord. Walk in his footsteps. Humility is required to walk in the footsteps
of another, but the second reading today reminds us that humility is a virtue
that our Lord embraced when he became human and obediently accepted death on a
cross. I finish with the words of Pope
Francis from this morning who echoed what his predecessor said five years ago:
“Let us walk this path, pausing in these days to gaze upon the crucifix; it is
`the royal seat of God.”
