Palm Sunday reminds us of Jesus's entry into Jerusalem. Bible scholars see this event as a symbol of hope and joy. Like the biblical days, the Christians celebrate the event with a holy mass complete with the blessing of palms in commemoration of the jubilant reception that took place when Jesus entered Jerusalem.
On the other hand, today, Good Friday is a day of mourning that reminds us of Jesus's crucifixion and death on the cross, a supreme sacrifice for the redemption of mankind from the quagmire of sin.
In the intervening period of just four days, we see the reversal of faith and fate. Jesus was arrested, betrayed, and tried by the Jewish leaders who feared His growing popularity and His followers. The Bible tells us that Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, ultimately sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion, after the calls to crucify Him and the crowd’s demand to release Barabbas, a convicted murderer.
We cannot avoid comparing what took place in the Holy Land thousands of years ago to the behavior of some political and religious leaders today.
In the 2022 electoral campaign, we heard the deafening call of “Unity! Unity!” as BongBong Marcos, Sara Duterte and Martin Romualdez moved around the country and were animatedly received by the crowds.
In less than four days after their triumph, now Speaker Martin Romualdez removed all the congressmen identified with VP Sara Duterte from the Lower House and started the overt and covert moves to remove her from her position of influence.
Comfortably seated in Malacañang, in the apogee of power, the now President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. did not seem to hear or merely ignored what was going on in the House of Romualdez, his cousin.
Today, as it was in the biblical era, the same political leaders who benefitted and later profited from the cries of “Unity” are the very same characters who are shouting: “Impeach her!!!, Impeach her!!!”