PALM –PASSION SUNDAY.

Today we are in the middle of a paradox. On the one hand, we are filled with joy. As Jesus enters Jerusalem, throngs of people rejoice. The promised Savior has finally come! The Messiah is here! Redemption is at hand! But then, on the other hand, we turn towards the sorrowful narrative of our Lord's rejection, suffering, and death - with his passion.

Palm Sunday is also Passion Sunday. It is a solemn, silent moment. How can a day of triumph be filled with both joy and sorrow?

In every one of our lives we find this swing from joy to sorrow. In one hand we may carry the palm leaves shouting in joy: Hosana to the Son of David. But the other,  fisted hand may be thrown up in the air shouting: Crucify him, crucify him. As Paul mentions: I sometimes don’t do the things I want to do; I end up doing the very thing I don’t want to do.  Are we not facing this dichotomy within us once in a while ?

The source of our sorrow is sin, our sins, the cause of Christ's suffering. But the source of our joy is Christ's love, the victory of everlasting love, love that   conquers our sins. And so Christians can always live inside the paradox of Palm Sunday, can always find joy, the joy of Christ's limitless love, even amidst the profoundest sorrows.  During these days, the Holy Spirit wants to teach how to live this paradox more deeply.

He will do so as we spend more time with Christ in personal prayer and come together for the special liturgies during the week. Our holy week service begins on Holy Thursday at 7.30 commemorating the last supper of the Lord, which includes washing the foot. Good Friday we have the Passion reflection at 1.00 pm followed by veneration of the cross and stations of the Cross on the hill. Holy Saturday vigil service is at 8.30 pm with receiving in to church some 25 people coming into the church. And on Sunday the Easter services at the usual times on Sunday.

If we live this week well, seven days from now we will know Christ's love for us better, and so we will be better able to experience true Christian joy, even in the midst of life's trials.

Jesus wants to come into our hearts this Holy Week in the same way he came into Jerusalem, humbly and peacefully, riding on a donkey colt. Then, it was a literal donkey colt. Now, the donkey that brings Christ into our hearts is the Church. The liturgical celebrations of this coming week, as beautiful as they are, will only be a dim shadow of the true glory of Christ that they represent, a humble vehicle, like the donkey. But the liturgy is also a dependable vehicle, like the donkey, and Jesus will be truly present in them.

Let’s take time to join this family of believers for this week's liturgies, praying, worshiping, contemplating, receiving the sacraments, discovering what God has to say to us this Holy Week, helping us to find joy in the sorrows of our lives.