Palm Sunday

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day when we get the new palms for the year (we put ours behind two of our crucifixes), the mark of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and the start of the most holy week of the liturgical year. Seemingly, it ends in tragedy, but with God all things are possible and the tragedy turns into the most extraordinarily joyful event man has ever encountered – Jesus rises from the dead, overcoming death and putting the end to Satan’s power. Oh, he’s still around and fighting harder than ever, but he knows he’s beaten. He just wants to take as many of us with him when he is thrust into hell for the last time.

The Mass for the day is a long, solemn one, including the blessing of the palms, a procession around the Church, either outside or inside depending on the weather, and a reading of the Passion according to St. Matthew. The celebration of Jesus coming into Jerusalem has a foreboding to it. While the crowds cheer, Jesus knows what is before Him: the betrayal, the scourging, the crucifixion. Yes, He’s divine, but He’s also a man and feels keenly every stripe on His back and every thorn on His head, as well as the pain of the nails being pounded into his flesh. And then there’s the psychic pain of the weight of all our sins that he must bear. How could any man stand it?

Any man couldn’t, but the Son of the living God, obeying the Father, could and did. Simon of Cyrene was conscripted to carry the cross for Jesus during the journey to Calvary. What can we do during this last week of Lent to lessen His load and ease His pain?