Suy Niệm Chúa Nhật Lễ Lá 2024
Hôm nay, khi chúng ta bắt đầu cuộc rước Lá vào nhà thờ, chúng ta đã nghe bài
Tin Mừng kể lại việc Chúa Giêsu vào thành Giêrusalem và được các môn đệ cũng
như dân thường tung hô là Đấng Thiên Sai. Có một chi tiết thú vị được ghi lại gần
như giống nhau trong tất cả các Tin Mừng Nhất Lãm, đó là Mathew, Mark và Luke.
Là Chúa Giêsu sai các môn đệ đi vào một làng kia và tìm một con lừa đang buộc ở đó thì họ phải mượn và mang con lừa đến cho Chúa Giê-su, nhưng nếu khi người chủ phản đối, thì họ chỉ nói: ‘Chủ cần nó và sẽ trả lại ngay’. Rõ ràng Chúa Giê-su đã có thỏa thuận riêng với những người này?
Chúng ta không biết người chủ con Lừa là ai và trong các Tin Mừng cũng không được nhắc đến họ nữa. Chúng ta không biết liệu Chúa Giêsu có trả tiền cho họ khị mượn con lừa hay không. Tuy nhiên, chúng ta muốn nghĩ rằng người chủ con lừa đó có lòng cảm thông với Chúa Giê-su và họ đã sẵn lòng cho Chúa mượn con lừa của họ một cách hào phóng. Họ không thể là những người theo Chúa Giêsu một cách công khai nếu không thì chắc họ sẽ nhận ra các môn đệ. Nhưng có lẽ họ là những người có cảm tình thầm kín với những gì mà Chúa Giêsu đã giảng dạy và những gì mà Chúa đã làm trước đó.
Vào thời điểm đó, chắc chắn người chủ con Lừa không hề hay biết tại sao con lừa lại được mượn và chắc chắn họ cũng sẽ không nhận ra điều gì đang chờ đợi Chúa Giê-su trong tuần lễ định mệnh đó. Tuy nhiên, có lẽ sau đó, họ hiểu rằng con lừa của họ đã được sử dụng để giúp Đấng Mê-si, Đấng Cứu Thế vào thành thánh của Thiên Chúa một cách phù hợp nhất. Có lẽ sau khi Chúa Giêsu sống lại thì họ mới nhận thức được là họ đã hoán cải thành người thực sự tin vào Chúa chứ không phải chỉ là những người chỉ biết cảm thông với việc Chúa đã làm như trước. Đôi khi, chính vhif một vài hành động tầm thường nhưng lại làm cho chúng ta hoán cải, và sống thực sự trên con đường dẫn đến đức tin chân chính.
Chúng ta có thể nhớ lại câu chuyện truyền thuyết về cây thánh giá mà mỗi con lừa đều đeo trên lưng. Đó là câu chuyện giúp cho chúng ta biết rằng con lừa đã mà Chúa Giêsu đã cỡi trong Chúa Nhật Lễ Lá lại tình cờ có mặt ở đó khi Chúa Giêsu vác Thánh Giá lên Núi Sọ. Con lừa nhìn thấy hoàn cảnh khốn cùng của Chúa Giêsu và nó ước gì nó có thể vác Thập Giá cho Người trên đoạn đường gồ ghề dễ ngã này, vì Lừa là loài động vật dùng để chở đồ và rất thích hợp để vác những vật nặng.
Là Chúa Giêsu sai các môn đệ đi vào một làng kia và tìm một con lừa đang buộc ở đó thì họ phải mượn và mang con lừa đến cho Chúa Giê-su, nhưng nếu khi người chủ phản đối, thì họ chỉ nói: ‘Chủ cần nó và sẽ trả lại ngay’. Rõ ràng Chúa Giê-su đã có thỏa thuận riêng với những người này?
Chúng ta không biết người chủ con Lừa là ai và trong các Tin Mừng cũng không được nhắc đến họ nữa. Chúng ta không biết liệu Chúa Giêsu có trả tiền cho họ khị mượn con lừa hay không. Tuy nhiên, chúng ta muốn nghĩ rằng người chủ con lừa đó có lòng cảm thông với Chúa Giê-su và họ đã sẵn lòng cho Chúa mượn con lừa của họ một cách hào phóng. Họ không thể là những người theo Chúa Giêsu một cách công khai nếu không thì chắc họ sẽ nhận ra các môn đệ. Nhưng có lẽ họ là những người có cảm tình thầm kín với những gì mà Chúa Giêsu đã giảng dạy và những gì mà Chúa đã làm trước đó.
Vào thời điểm đó, chắc chắn người chủ con Lừa không hề hay biết tại sao con lừa lại được mượn và chắc chắn họ cũng sẽ không nhận ra điều gì đang chờ đợi Chúa Giê-su trong tuần lễ định mệnh đó. Tuy nhiên, có lẽ sau đó, họ hiểu rằng con lừa của họ đã được sử dụng để giúp Đấng Mê-si, Đấng Cứu Thế vào thành thánh của Thiên Chúa một cách phù hợp nhất. Có lẽ sau khi Chúa Giêsu sống lại thì họ mới nhận thức được là họ đã hoán cải thành người thực sự tin vào Chúa chứ không phải chỉ là những người chỉ biết cảm thông với việc Chúa đã làm như trước. Đôi khi, chính vhif một vài hành động tầm thường nhưng lại làm cho chúng ta hoán cải, và sống thực sự trên con đường dẫn đến đức tin chân chính.
Chúng ta có thể nhớ lại câu chuyện truyền thuyết về cây thánh giá mà mỗi con lừa đều đeo trên lưng. Đó là câu chuyện giúp cho chúng ta biết rằng con lừa đã mà Chúa Giêsu đã cỡi trong Chúa Nhật Lễ Lá lại tình cờ có mặt ở đó khi Chúa Giêsu vác Thánh Giá lên Núi Sọ. Con lừa nhìn thấy hoàn cảnh khốn cùng của Chúa Giêsu và nó ước gì nó có thể vác Thập Giá cho Người trên đoạn đường gồ ghề dễ ngã này, vì Lừa là loài động vật dùng để chở đồ và rất thích hợp để vác những vật nặng.
Để tưởng thưởng cho tình
yêu mà con lừa này đã thể hiện đối với Chúa Giêsu, Thiên Chúa đã khiến bóng
Thánh Giá phủ lên lưng con lừa đó. Khi đó nó sẽ trở thành dấu hiệu sống động của
tình yêu Thiên Chúa qua mọi thời đại. Tất nhiên, đây có thể chỉ là một câu chuyện
sùng đạo nhưng đó là một câu chuyện hay và chứa đựng sự thật rằng tình yêu và
lòng trung thành của chúng ta với Chúa Kitô chắc chắn sẽ được đền đáp.
Các thầy thượng tế và dân chúng trong thành Jerusalem chắc chắn đã không mong đợi Đấng Cứu Thế tiến vào thành thánh của họ mà cỡi trên một con lừa cùng với đám dân nghèo vẫy tay hoan hô. Đối với họ, Chúa Giêsu là kẻ gây rối và nếu Ngài vẫn tiếp tục chống đối họ thì chỉ có một giải pháp là loại trừ. Và giải pháp mà họ sẽ nhanh chóng đưa vào thực hiện.
Các thầy thượng tế và dân chúng trong thành Jerusalem chắc chắn đã không mong đợi Đấng Cứu Thế tiến vào thành thánh của họ mà cỡi trên một con lừa cùng với đám dân nghèo vẫy tay hoan hô. Đối với họ, Chúa Giêsu là kẻ gây rối và nếu Ngài vẫn tiếp tục chống đối họ thì chỉ có một giải pháp là loại trừ. Và giải pháp mà họ sẽ nhanh chóng đưa vào thực hiện.
Họ không nhận ra rằng việc
họ đóng đinh Chúa Giêsu vào Thập Giá sẽ khiến quyền cai trị của họ sụp đổ và mở
đầu cho việc Nước Thiên Chúa sắp đến. Họ không biết rằng Chúa Giêsu này lại chính
là Con Thiên Chúa và với cách vượt qua hàng rào cản của sự chếtChusa Giêsu sẽ mở
đường để dãn đến sự sống đời đời cho tất cả những ai tin vào ngài.
Hôm nay Chúng ta đã bắt đầu Tuần Thánh và giờ đây chúng ta cùng đồng hành với Chúa Giêsu trong những ngày cuối cùng của Người. Chúng ta sẽ thấy Chúa Giêsu cử hành Bữa Tiệc Ly với các Tông đồ, chúng ta sẽ chứng kiến sự hấp hối của Người trong Vườn Cây Dầu, chúng ta sẽ chứng kiến sự phản bội của một trong những môn đệ thân cận của Người, chúng ta sẽ chứng kiến cuộc xét xử và sự trừng phạt của Người, chúng ta sẽ đồng hành cùng Người trong cuộc hành trình đến với Ngài nơi Đồi Calvary. Chúng ta sẽ có mặt ở đó khi Người bị đóng đinh trên Thập Giá và chúng ta sẽ nhìn ngắm Người trong cơn hấp hối cuối cùng. Chúng ta sẽ tôn vinh Chúa vào lúc Chúa chịu tử nạn và chúng ta sẽ đưa than xác Ngài đến ngôi mộ trên sườn đồi. Và sau đó chúng ta sẽ chờ đợi. Chúng ta sẽ chờ đợi cho đến khi bà Mary Magdalene sẽ ra đi và đến ngôi mộ vào sáng sớm và thấy chỉ có Mộ trống rỗng, Khi ấy chúng ta nhận ra rằng Chúa Giêsu đã sống lại từ cõi chết. Và khi đó niềm vui của chúng ta sẽ được trọn vẹn.
Chúng ta nhận ra điều này được một cách rất cụ thể trong việc chúng ta cử hành Bí tích Thánh Thể, trong thời gian quá khứ, hiện tại và tương lai cùng hội tụ trên bàn thờ của chúng ta. Bữa Tiệc Ly, hai nghìn năm trước; Bí tích Thánh Thể chúng ta cử hành hôm nay; và Bữa tiệc Thiên đường, ở tương lai rất xa; trên bàn thờ của chúng ta, ba điều này kết hợp với nhau và, qua một trong những ân huệ lớn nhất của Thiên Chúa, chúng ta hiện diện ở cả ba điều đó.
Đối với những ai có mắt nhìn thấy được là hôm nay chúng ta chứng kiến Chúa Kitô tiến vào Thành Thánh của Người một cách khiêm tốn nhưng đầy vinh quang. Hôm nay chúng ta mang theo những lá cây cọ hay cành thiên tuế của mình và chúng ta sẽ giữ chúng trong nhà trong suốt năm cho tới năm tới. Nhiều người Công giáo có thói quen sẽ đặt những nhánh lá này đằng sau Cây thánh giá được treo ở một nơi trang trọng trong nhà. Bất cứ khi nào chúng ta nhìn vào những nhánh cây thiên tuế hay những lá cây dừa hay lá cây cọ đấy, chúng ta sẽ nhớ lại Chúa Kitô cưỡi trên con lừa đi vào thành Thánh Jerusalem, nơi sẽ khai sinh một Vương quốc mới của Thiên Chúa và cửa thiên đàng.
Palm
Sunday
Today as we began our procession, we heard the Gospel of how Jesus entered Jerusalem and was proclaimed as the Messiah by his disciples and the ordinary people.
There is one interesting detail which is recorded in virtually the same words in all of the Synoptic Gospels, that is Matthew, Mark and Luke. Jesus instructs his disciples to go into a village and find a donkey tethered there. They were to bring the donkey to Jesus, but if the owners objected, they were simply to say, ‘The Master needs it and will send it back directly.’ Clearly Jesus had made some private arrangement with these people.
We don’t know who they are and they are not mentioned again in the Gospel story. Whether Jesus paid them for the loan of their donkey we do not know. However, we like to think that they were sympathetic to Jesus and loaned their donkey willingly and freely. They can’t have been open followers of Jesus otherwise they would have recognised the disciples. But perhaps they were secret sympathisers with Jesus’ cause.
At the time they surely didn’t know why the donkey was being borrowed and they most certainly wouldn’t have realised what was in store for Jesus later in that fateful week. Maybe though, afterwards, they came to the understanding that their donkey had been used to enable the Messiah to enter his holy city in a most fitting manner. Perhaps this realisation helped them after the resurrection to move from being mere sympathisers to become true believers in Jesus. Sometimes it is an insignificant act that starts us on the path to true faith.
Y ou may recall the legend about the cross that every donkey has on its back. It tells us that the donkey that bore Jesus on Palm Sunday happened to be there when Christ was ascending Mount Calvary carrying his Cross. The donkey saw Jesus’ plight and wished that it could carry the Cross for him, since it was a beast of burden and well suited to carrying heavy weights.
In reward for the love this donkey demonstrated towards Jesus, God caused the shadow of the Cross to fall on the donkey’s back. It then would become a living sign of God’s love through all the ages. Of course, this may be just a pious story but it is a beautiful one and contains the truth that our love and loyalty to Christ will most certainly be rewarded.
The senior priests and citizens of Jerusalem certainly did not expect the Messiah to enter his city on a donkey accompanied by poor people waving palms. As far as they were concerned this Jesus was a troublemaker and if he persisted in opposing them then there was only one solution. And it was a solution they would swiftly put into action.
Little did they realise that their nailing Jesus to the Cross would bring their rule crashing down and inaugurate the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God. They had no clue that this Jesus was the Son of God and that by breaking through the barrier of death he would open up the way to eternal life for all who believe in him. We have begun Holy Week and we now accompany Jesus in his last days. We will see him celebrate the Last Supper with his Apostles, we will witness his Agony in the Garden, we will observe his betrayal by one of his close followers, we will view his trial and his scourging, we will accompany him on his journey to the Hill of Calvary. We will be there when he is nailed to the Cross and we will gaze on him in his last agony. We will honour him in the moment of his death and we will accompany his body to the tomb in the hillside. And then we will wait. We will wait and then with Mary Magdalene we will go to the tomb early in the morning to find it empty, coming to the realisation that Jesus is risen from the dead. And then our joy will be complete.
This is brought home to us in a very concrete way in our celebration of the Eucharist where time past, present and future come together on our altar. The Last Supper, two thousand years in the past; the Eucharist we celebrate today; and the Banquet of Heaven, which is far away in the future; on our altar these three things come together and, through one of God’s greatest gifts, we are present at all three of them.
Today we witness Christ enter his Holy City humbly, and yet triumphantly for those with eyes to see. Today we carry our palms and we will keep them in our homes during the coming year. Many Catholics will place then behind the Crucifix which is hung in a place of honour in the home. Whenever we look at those palms we will recall Christ riding on his donkey making his entry into the city which would be the place where he would inaugurate the Kingdom of God and the open the gates of heaven.
Palm Sunday
Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!” Mark 11:9–10
Throughout Jesus’ life, He traveled to Jerusalem many times. As a child, He was presented in the Temple. At age twelve, He was found teaching the teachers of the Law in the Temple. As He grew, He made regular pilgrimages to the Temple. During His temptation in the desert, the devil took Him to the pinnacle of the Temple. In the Gospels, we read of at least four different trips to the Temple during Jesus’ public ministry. However, the trip to Jerusalem that we commemorate today was unlike any other. As Jesus entered Jerusalem this time, His life was already being sought by the religious leaders. Despite that fact, Jesus entered Jerusalem with great solemnity and with much attention. “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” was the cry by the crowd as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey while palm branches and cloaks were strewn before Him.
Though this was the most fitting way for the people of faith to welcome their King, their warm welcome, their cries “Hosanna!” and their excitement were more beneficial to them than they were to Jesus. Jesus is God. He has no need of our praise and honor. But Jesus came to us to invite us to praise, honor and worship Him because it is good for us. We need to praise Him. This is what we are made for. This leads to the fulfillment of our lives.
As we begin Holy Week, try to spend time with this image of the people honoring our Lord with much enthusiasm. This is an image depicting who we must become. As we continue through this Holy Week, we must become increasingly aware of the God to Whom we offer our praise and worship. He is a God Who lowered Himself in the eyes of all, took on the form of a slave, permitted Himself to be labeled as a grave sinner, was rejected, beaten and killed. This week, especially, we worship the suffering Christ. We worship a Man Who was arrested and cruelly treated. We worship a Man who was hated and mistreated in the worst way possible.
Our wholehearted worship of the suffering Christ is an important act to fulfill. In many ways, it is easier to worship God as He is in Heaven on His glorious throne. When we ponder the myriads of angels gathered around Him, the saints of all time bowing to the ground and glory and splendor radiating from His face, worship seems right. To worship a Man accused of being a criminal and suffering capital punishment while enduring the hatred of many is more difficult to comprehend. But if we are able to see Jesus through the eyes of faith and peer through the hatred and lies that surrounded Him, then we will be in awe of the humility of our God Who came to us this way.
Our worship of the suffering Christ also invites us to share in His virtue as He endured all that was inflicted upon Him. When we worship the humiliated Christ, our humiliations take on new power and meaning. When we worship the suffering Christ, our sufferings are elevated to share in His redemption. When we worship the rejected, despised and persecuted Christ, any ways that we share in these hardships are transformed.
Reflect, today, upon the God Whom you worship this Holy Week. Do not shy away from all that Jesus endured. Gaze at His rejection and passion. Look at the hatred He endured. As you do, see not only your glorious God, see also the remedy for all your ills. God descended to us in this most humble form so that He could meet us where we are at and raise us to new life with Him.
My suffering Lord, I worship You and praise You with all my heart. As You entered Jerusalem for the Passover, You intended to give new power to that celebration by becoming the New and Eternal Paschal Lamb. May I always worship You Who suffered for me and give to You all that I endure in life to be transformed by Your saving act. Jesus, I trust in You.
Reflection: 2024
This day could be thought of as a day of contradiction. The Mass begins with the reading of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and His joyous reception by the crowds who strewed palm branches before Him, crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.” Today, this inspiring scene is commemorated by processions of the faithful carrying palm branches into their churches. The contradiction, however, is experienced as the full narrative of the Passion of Christ is read, culminating with Jesus’ death on the Cross.
But is it a contradiction? Is His glorious entrance into Jerusalem at the beginning of the week in any way opposed to His crucifixion? Certainly not. From a worldly perspective, for someone who lacks the ability to penetrate this mystery with the eyes of faith, the week ends in tragedy. But from the perspective of the Eternal Father, the welcome Jesus receives as He enters Jerusalem is the welcome given to the Savior of the World. His Cross would become the culmination of that act of salvation. For that reason, His entrance into that holy city was rightly celebrated with great joy, even though the people did not yet understand that the throne their new King would mount was the Cross.
As early as the fourth century, the diary of one traveler to Jerusalem records how the faithful reenacted Jesus’ triumphal entry: And as the eleventh hour approaches, the passage from the Gospel is read, where the children, carrying branches and palms, met the Lord, saying; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, and the bishop immediately rises, and all the people with him, and they all go on foot from the top of the Mount of Olives, all the people going before him with hymns and antiphons, answering one to another: Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. And all the children in the neighborhood, even those who are too young to walk, are carried by their parents on their shoulders, all of them bearing branches, some of palms and some of olives, and thus the bishop is escorted in the same manner as the Lord was of old (The Pilgrimage of Etherea).
Though very few Christians are able to celebrate Passion Sunday in Jerusalem, walking from the Mount of Olives to the city gate, we are all invited to do so spiritually, meditatively, and interiorly. Our participation is not just the recalling of a historic event; it’s a real participation in that event. Our hearts must begin outside of Jerusalem’s gate today, and we must courageously and joyfully accompany our Lord into that holy city. During that first Holy Week, the people’s joy arose from their belief that Jesus would be an earthly ruler Who would free them from Roman oppression. Today, we are privileged to express our joyous acclamations as we spiritually accompany our Lord to the city of His crucifixion, because we know that Jesus’ Kingship is so much more than an earthly triumph. His triumph is an eternal one that invites us to share in His Eternity. His triumph is a sacrificial one that invites us to share in His Sacrificial Love. His triumph is a glorious one that invites us to share in the Glory of His Resurrection.
Walk with our Lord today into that holy city of Jerusalem. As you do, know that the earthly city of Jerusalem is also now a spiritual one. The events that took place there two millennia ago transcend and permeate all time. As a result, the events of Holy Week today are just as significant as they were long ago. Through the Mass, we are there. We walk with our Lord, witness all He accomplished, receive His Body and Blood sacrificed on the Cross and memorialized in the Eucharist, and are resurrected with Him on the third day. Commit yourself to this journey today, an eternal pilgrimage with our Lord to the Eternal City of Heaven.
Prayer: Most glorious King, blessed are You Who continuously comes to us, leading the way to Heaven. Hosanna in the highest! As I begin this most Holy Week, commemorating Your gift of salvation, I pray that this commemoration will also be a real and transforming participation in Your life, death, and resurrection. Thank You for redeeming us, dear Lord. Please open my heart to receive Your grace fully. Jesus, I trust in You.
The Pasion of The Lord
2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I mediate today on the Passion of your Son. I am moved to tears as I contemplate his suffering for my sins. Many of Jesus’ disciples abandoned him in his passion. I do not want to imitate them. Help me be like Mary of Magdala and John the Apostle and accompany Jesus in his moments of agony.
1. The Entry of the King into Jerusalem: When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a colt, this action fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9: “Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, Humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah’s prophecy looks back to the entry of Solomon, the royal son of David, into Jerusalem for his coronation (1 Kings 1:38-40). Solomon, the son of David, rode into Jerusalem on a mule. Like Solomon, Jesus mounts a donkey and rides into the city to the sound of cheering crowds who hail him as the heir to David’s kingdom (see Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The First and Second Book of the Kings, 18). When Jesus enters Jerusalem he will be crowned, but not in the way that Solomon was. Jesus will be crowned with thorns and reign from the Cross. Solomon reigned over David’s Kingdom for a time; Jesus reigns eternally over all creation.
Hôm nay Chúng ta đã bắt đầu Tuần Thánh và giờ đây chúng ta cùng đồng hành với Chúa Giêsu trong những ngày cuối cùng của Người. Chúng ta sẽ thấy Chúa Giêsu cử hành Bữa Tiệc Ly với các Tông đồ, chúng ta sẽ chứng kiến sự hấp hối của Người trong Vườn Cây Dầu, chúng ta sẽ chứng kiến sự phản bội của một trong những môn đệ thân cận của Người, chúng ta sẽ chứng kiến cuộc xét xử và sự trừng phạt của Người, chúng ta sẽ đồng hành cùng Người trong cuộc hành trình đến với Ngài nơi Đồi Calvary. Chúng ta sẽ có mặt ở đó khi Người bị đóng đinh trên Thập Giá và chúng ta sẽ nhìn ngắm Người trong cơn hấp hối cuối cùng. Chúng ta sẽ tôn vinh Chúa vào lúc Chúa chịu tử nạn và chúng ta sẽ đưa than xác Ngài đến ngôi mộ trên sườn đồi. Và sau đó chúng ta sẽ chờ đợi. Chúng ta sẽ chờ đợi cho đến khi bà Mary Magdalene sẽ ra đi và đến ngôi mộ vào sáng sớm và thấy chỉ có Mộ trống rỗng, Khi ấy chúng ta nhận ra rằng Chúa Giêsu đã sống lại từ cõi chết. Và khi đó niềm vui của chúng ta sẽ được trọn vẹn.
Chúng ta nhận ra điều này được một cách rất cụ thể trong việc chúng ta cử hành Bí tích Thánh Thể, trong thời gian quá khứ, hiện tại và tương lai cùng hội tụ trên bàn thờ của chúng ta. Bữa Tiệc Ly, hai nghìn năm trước; Bí tích Thánh Thể chúng ta cử hành hôm nay; và Bữa tiệc Thiên đường, ở tương lai rất xa; trên bàn thờ của chúng ta, ba điều này kết hợp với nhau và, qua một trong những ân huệ lớn nhất của Thiên Chúa, chúng ta hiện diện ở cả ba điều đó.
Đối với những ai có mắt nhìn thấy được là hôm nay chúng ta chứng kiến Chúa Kitô tiến vào Thành Thánh của Người một cách khiêm tốn nhưng đầy vinh quang. Hôm nay chúng ta mang theo những lá cây cọ hay cành thiên tuế của mình và chúng ta sẽ giữ chúng trong nhà trong suốt năm cho tới năm tới. Nhiều người Công giáo có thói quen sẽ đặt những nhánh lá này đằng sau Cây thánh giá được treo ở một nơi trang trọng trong nhà. Bất cứ khi nào chúng ta nhìn vào những nhánh cây thiên tuế hay những lá cây dừa hay lá cây cọ đấy, chúng ta sẽ nhớ lại Chúa Kitô cưỡi trên con lừa đi vào thành Thánh Jerusalem, nơi sẽ khai sinh một Vương quốc mới của Thiên Chúa và cửa thiên đàng.
Today as we began our procession, we heard the Gospel of how Jesus entered Jerusalem and was proclaimed as the Messiah by his disciples and the ordinary people.
There is one interesting detail which is recorded in virtually the same words in all of the Synoptic Gospels, that is Matthew, Mark and Luke. Jesus instructs his disciples to go into a village and find a donkey tethered there. They were to bring the donkey to Jesus, but if the owners objected, they were simply to say, ‘The Master needs it and will send it back directly.’ Clearly Jesus had made some private arrangement with these people.
We don’t know who they are and they are not mentioned again in the Gospel story. Whether Jesus paid them for the loan of their donkey we do not know. However, we like to think that they were sympathetic to Jesus and loaned their donkey willingly and freely. They can’t have been open followers of Jesus otherwise they would have recognised the disciples. But perhaps they were secret sympathisers with Jesus’ cause.
At the time they surely didn’t know why the donkey was being borrowed and they most certainly wouldn’t have realised what was in store for Jesus later in that fateful week. Maybe though, afterwards, they came to the understanding that their donkey had been used to enable the Messiah to enter his holy city in a most fitting manner. Perhaps this realisation helped them after the resurrection to move from being mere sympathisers to become true believers in Jesus. Sometimes it is an insignificant act that starts us on the path to true faith.
Y ou may recall the legend about the cross that every donkey has on its back. It tells us that the donkey that bore Jesus on Palm Sunday happened to be there when Christ was ascending Mount Calvary carrying his Cross. The donkey saw Jesus’ plight and wished that it could carry the Cross for him, since it was a beast of burden and well suited to carrying heavy weights.
In reward for the love this donkey demonstrated towards Jesus, God caused the shadow of the Cross to fall on the donkey’s back. It then would become a living sign of God’s love through all the ages. Of course, this may be just a pious story but it is a beautiful one and contains the truth that our love and loyalty to Christ will most certainly be rewarded.
The senior priests and citizens of Jerusalem certainly did not expect the Messiah to enter his city on a donkey accompanied by poor people waving palms. As far as they were concerned this Jesus was a troublemaker and if he persisted in opposing them then there was only one solution. And it was a solution they would swiftly put into action.
Little did they realise that their nailing Jesus to the Cross would bring their rule crashing down and inaugurate the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God. They had no clue that this Jesus was the Son of God and that by breaking through the barrier of death he would open up the way to eternal life for all who believe in him. We have begun Holy Week and we now accompany Jesus in his last days. We will see him celebrate the Last Supper with his Apostles, we will witness his Agony in the Garden, we will observe his betrayal by one of his close followers, we will view his trial and his scourging, we will accompany him on his journey to the Hill of Calvary. We will be there when he is nailed to the Cross and we will gaze on him in his last agony. We will honour him in the moment of his death and we will accompany his body to the tomb in the hillside. And then we will wait. We will wait and then with Mary Magdalene we will go to the tomb early in the morning to find it empty, coming to the realisation that Jesus is risen from the dead. And then our joy will be complete.
This is brought home to us in a very concrete way in our celebration of the Eucharist where time past, present and future come together on our altar. The Last Supper, two thousand years in the past; the Eucharist we celebrate today; and the Banquet of Heaven, which is far away in the future; on our altar these three things come together and, through one of God’s greatest gifts, we are present at all three of them.
Today we witness Christ enter his Holy City humbly, and yet triumphantly for those with eyes to see. Today we carry our palms and we will keep them in our homes during the coming year. Many Catholics will place then behind the Crucifix which is hung in a place of honour in the home. Whenever we look at those palms we will recall Christ riding on his donkey making his entry into the city which would be the place where he would inaugurate the Kingdom of God and the open the gates of heaven.
Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!” Mark 11:9–10
Throughout Jesus’ life, He traveled to Jerusalem many times. As a child, He was presented in the Temple. At age twelve, He was found teaching the teachers of the Law in the Temple. As He grew, He made regular pilgrimages to the Temple. During His temptation in the desert, the devil took Him to the pinnacle of the Temple. In the Gospels, we read of at least four different trips to the Temple during Jesus’ public ministry. However, the trip to Jerusalem that we commemorate today was unlike any other. As Jesus entered Jerusalem this time, His life was already being sought by the religious leaders. Despite that fact, Jesus entered Jerusalem with great solemnity and with much attention. “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” was the cry by the crowd as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey while palm branches and cloaks were strewn before Him.
Though this was the most fitting way for the people of faith to welcome their King, their warm welcome, their cries “Hosanna!” and their excitement were more beneficial to them than they were to Jesus. Jesus is God. He has no need of our praise and honor. But Jesus came to us to invite us to praise, honor and worship Him because it is good for us. We need to praise Him. This is what we are made for. This leads to the fulfillment of our lives.
As we begin Holy Week, try to spend time with this image of the people honoring our Lord with much enthusiasm. This is an image depicting who we must become. As we continue through this Holy Week, we must become increasingly aware of the God to Whom we offer our praise and worship. He is a God Who lowered Himself in the eyes of all, took on the form of a slave, permitted Himself to be labeled as a grave sinner, was rejected, beaten and killed. This week, especially, we worship the suffering Christ. We worship a Man Who was arrested and cruelly treated. We worship a Man who was hated and mistreated in the worst way possible.
Our wholehearted worship of the suffering Christ is an important act to fulfill. In many ways, it is easier to worship God as He is in Heaven on His glorious throne. When we ponder the myriads of angels gathered around Him, the saints of all time bowing to the ground and glory and splendor radiating from His face, worship seems right. To worship a Man accused of being a criminal and suffering capital punishment while enduring the hatred of many is more difficult to comprehend. But if we are able to see Jesus through the eyes of faith and peer through the hatred and lies that surrounded Him, then we will be in awe of the humility of our God Who came to us this way.
Our worship of the suffering Christ also invites us to share in His virtue as He endured all that was inflicted upon Him. When we worship the humiliated Christ, our humiliations take on new power and meaning. When we worship the suffering Christ, our sufferings are elevated to share in His redemption. When we worship the rejected, despised and persecuted Christ, any ways that we share in these hardships are transformed.
Reflect, today, upon the God Whom you worship this Holy Week. Do not shy away from all that Jesus endured. Gaze at His rejection and passion. Look at the hatred He endured. As you do, see not only your glorious God, see also the remedy for all your ills. God descended to us in this most humble form so that He could meet us where we are at and raise us to new life with Him.
My suffering Lord, I worship You and praise You with all my heart. As You entered Jerusalem for the Passover, You intended to give new power to that celebration by becoming the New and Eternal Paschal Lamb. May I always worship You Who suffered for me and give to You all that I endure in life to be transformed by Your saving act. Jesus, I trust in You.
This day could be thought of as a day of contradiction. The Mass begins with the reading of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and His joyous reception by the crowds who strewed palm branches before Him, crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.” Today, this inspiring scene is commemorated by processions of the faithful carrying palm branches into their churches. The contradiction, however, is experienced as the full narrative of the Passion of Christ is read, culminating with Jesus’ death on the Cross.
But is it a contradiction? Is His glorious entrance into Jerusalem at the beginning of the week in any way opposed to His crucifixion? Certainly not. From a worldly perspective, for someone who lacks the ability to penetrate this mystery with the eyes of faith, the week ends in tragedy. But from the perspective of the Eternal Father, the welcome Jesus receives as He enters Jerusalem is the welcome given to the Savior of the World. His Cross would become the culmination of that act of salvation. For that reason, His entrance into that holy city was rightly celebrated with great joy, even though the people did not yet understand that the throne their new King would mount was the Cross.
As early as the fourth century, the diary of one traveler to Jerusalem records how the faithful reenacted Jesus’ triumphal entry: And as the eleventh hour approaches, the passage from the Gospel is read, where the children, carrying branches and palms, met the Lord, saying; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, and the bishop immediately rises, and all the people with him, and they all go on foot from the top of the Mount of Olives, all the people going before him with hymns and antiphons, answering one to another: Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. And all the children in the neighborhood, even those who are too young to walk, are carried by their parents on their shoulders, all of them bearing branches, some of palms and some of olives, and thus the bishop is escorted in the same manner as the Lord was of old (The Pilgrimage of Etherea).
Though very few Christians are able to celebrate Passion Sunday in Jerusalem, walking from the Mount of Olives to the city gate, we are all invited to do so spiritually, meditatively, and interiorly. Our participation is not just the recalling of a historic event; it’s a real participation in that event. Our hearts must begin outside of Jerusalem’s gate today, and we must courageously and joyfully accompany our Lord into that holy city. During that first Holy Week, the people’s joy arose from their belief that Jesus would be an earthly ruler Who would free them from Roman oppression. Today, we are privileged to express our joyous acclamations as we spiritually accompany our Lord to the city of His crucifixion, because we know that Jesus’ Kingship is so much more than an earthly triumph. His triumph is an eternal one that invites us to share in His Eternity. His triumph is a sacrificial one that invites us to share in His Sacrificial Love. His triumph is a glorious one that invites us to share in the Glory of His Resurrection.
Walk with our Lord today into that holy city of Jerusalem. As you do, know that the earthly city of Jerusalem is also now a spiritual one. The events that took place there two millennia ago transcend and permeate all time. As a result, the events of Holy Week today are just as significant as they were long ago. Through the Mass, we are there. We walk with our Lord, witness all He accomplished, receive His Body and Blood sacrificed on the Cross and memorialized in the Eucharist, and are resurrected with Him on the third day. Commit yourself to this journey today, an eternal pilgrimage with our Lord to the Eternal City of Heaven.
Prayer: Most glorious King, blessed are You Who continuously comes to us, leading the way to Heaven. Hosanna in the highest! As I begin this most Holy Week, commemorating Your gift of salvation, I pray that this commemoration will also be a real and transforming participation in Your life, death, and resurrection. Thank You for redeeming us, dear Lord. Please open my heart to receive Your grace fully. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I mediate today on the Passion of your Son. I am moved to tears as I contemplate his suffering for my sins. Many of Jesus’ disciples abandoned him in his passion. I do not want to imitate them. Help me be like Mary of Magdala and John the Apostle and accompany Jesus in his moments of agony.
1. The Entry of the King into Jerusalem: When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a colt, this action fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9: “Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, Humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah’s prophecy looks back to the entry of Solomon, the royal son of David, into Jerusalem for his coronation (1 Kings 1:38-40). Solomon, the son of David, rode into Jerusalem on a mule. Like Solomon, Jesus mounts a donkey and rides into the city to the sound of cheering crowds who hail him as the heir to David’s kingdom (see Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The First and Second Book of the Kings, 18). When Jesus enters Jerusalem he will be crowned, but not in the way that Solomon was. Jesus will be crowned with thorns and reign from the Cross. Solomon reigned over David’s Kingdom for a time; Jesus reigns eternally over all creation.
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