Next Sunday we will arrive at Holy Week through our observation of Palm Sunday. Throughout this week we journey with our Lord through His Passion leading towards the joys of His Resurrection at Easter. These most sacred of days assist us in growing in our love for what the Lord has done for us and our desire to live our life oriented towards Him.
In the final words of today’s gospel we were told, “They took up stones therefore to cast at Him: but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple.” These words proclaim that it was not yet the time for His Passion, but very soon this event would come to its fulfillment. At His arrival in the holy city of Jerusalem the crowd will receive Him with joy, but so quickly demand that He be crucified.
When we look around the church we will see that the cross and other holy images have been veiled. Through there veiling they have been taken away from our sight. Hopefully there is currently a longing to be reunited with that which has been taken away from us. Through His cross and resurrection we come to be set free in order that we may see clearly again.
As the prophet Isaiah states, “as one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Through our decision to enter into a life of sin we choose to reject Him by failing to hold Him to the respect that He is owed.
We like the crowd at Palm Sunday exclaim “Hosanna”, but we are so quickly willing to shout out all the louder, “crucify Him.” Whenever we choose to enter into a life of sin we add to the suffering of Christ. Our faith is something more then saying all the right words when people are looking on because it is also living a life committed to Him when no-one is around.
As this is summed up in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “When we deny him by our deeds, we in some way seem to lay violent hands on him. Nor did demons crucify him; it is you who have crucified him and crucify him still, when you delight in your vices and sins.”
Hopefully, we will allow these coming days of Holy Week to transform our relationship with Christ. Being a Christian is something most serious as can be seen by these days which will soon unfold before our sight. Let us enter fully into these most sacred of days in order that we come to love Christ and reject the allure of evil.
As Saint Alphonsus Liguori concludes each of his Stations of the Cross, “I love You, O my Jesus, with all my heart; I am sorry that I have offended You. May I never offend You again. Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will."
