Sunday, 13 April, Alay Kapwa Sunday and World Youth Day

Readings — Is. 50:4-7; Ps. 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24; Phil. 2:6-11; Lk. 23:1-49.

1. Holy Week is the week immediately before Easter. The earliest allusion to this week as a whole is in the "Apostolic Constitutions" (vv. 18, 19), which dates back to the latter half of the 3rd and 4th century. The text speaks about abstinence for all the days of the week before Easter and fasting for Friday and Saturday. 

2. The earliest to emerge into prominence was Good Friday, then Holy Saturday with its vigil. The final three days of Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum, celebrate our Redemption through Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection — the Paschal Mystery.  Lent ends as the evening rite of Holy Thursday begins.

3. Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week, celebrates the "triumphal" entry of Jesus to Jerusalem. The event is described in all 4 Gospels: Mt. 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-11; Lk. 13:28-44; and Jn. 12:12-19. As thousands swarm Jerusalem in preparation for the Passover, they ask one another if Jesus would come to the festival. They were eager to see Jesus who had raised Lazarus from the dead.

4. A week before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus goes from Jericho to Bethphage and Bethany. He sends two disciples to get a colt from the village, telling the owner "that the Lord needs it." Jesus sits on the colt, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah — "Say to Daughter Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey'" (Zech. 9:9). 

5. Jesus demonstrates that he is the promised king of Israel and Messiah. To sit on the donkey is a public declaration of his identity and mission. A donkey is an animal of peace, a horse, a war horse, an animal of war. Jesus rides as the Prince of Peace, acting against the Jewish hopes for a political King-Messiah to overthrow Rome. 

6. The disciples and the crowds place their cloaks or branches of trees on the road to welcome Jesus as king. They cry out their praise of God, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming of the kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" (Mk. 11:8-11).

7. "Hosanna" has a double meaning. It is a cry of praise and it also mesns "save now." Hosanna is the people's plea for salvation. It draws upon Ps. 118: 25-26 — "Save now, I pray, O Lord.... Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." 

8. Jerusalem was shaken: "Who is this?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee" (Mt. 21:10-11). The shouts of praise infuriate the Pharisees. They command Jesus to rebuke the crowd. But Jesus informs them that "even the stones would cry out," if he silenced the crowd (Lk. 19:39-40). Only in Luke do we find the title "King" inserted in Ps. 118 and applied to Jesus. Only in Luke do we find the rebuke by the Pharisees, probably for fear that Roman authorities might interpret the acclamation of Jesus as king as an uprising against them. 

9. Later Jesus would weep over Jerusalem, an episode found only in Luke. A two-fold implication here. By not accepting Jesus, the prince of peace, Jerusalem will not find peace but devastation (see Lk. 19:43-44). Jesus also knew that in less than a week, some of the people who had hailed him, "King of Israel," would cry out, "We have no king, but Caesar!" And they would call for his execution, "Crucify him!" 

10. Jesus is a king like no other king. He rides a donkey as the common people do, not a horse as a king would. But he is, indeed, a king, and more than just the son of David, as Gabriel had tol Mary at the Annunciation. Jesus is the King of heaven and earth, yet crucified as our Savior. The triumphal entry is the final act in the drama of redemption, where Jesus would lay down his life as a ransom for many (Mt. 20:28), a God-King, who sacrifices his very life for his people. We need God's grace to follow Jesus' example of humility, service and loving sacrifice for others.

11. A Lenten Prayer — Hail, Altar of the Cross, hail Victim of the Cross, our only hope! In this sacred time of Holy Week, give an increase of holiness to the good and forgiveness to us, sinners. Let us praise you, 

O God, mighty Trinity. Through all the ages, be King to us whom you saved through the mystery of the Cross. Amen. (Adapted from, "Vexilla Regis," Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, 6th century).

Prayers, best wishes, God bless!