Palm Sunday: The Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem; Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary; Passing into Eternal Life (1944) of Blessed Omelian (Emil) Kovch, Priest of Peremyshliany and Martyr of Majdanek
Read
Hebrews 2:11-18; Philippians 4:4-9
Luke 1:24-38; John 12:1-18
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Today we celebrate one of the great feasts of the Church calendar — the feast of Entry into Jerusalem by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate Christ as the king who enters our own personal Jerusalem – our hearts. Today’s feast day is a momentary feast of joy and celebration, because tonight we begin the final leg of our journey towards Pascha. Our mood changes from one of joy this morning to one of solemnity, almost of sorrow this evening as we lead up to the great sacrifice that Christ performed for us on the cross.
With the expectation of the Messiah, and the events of Christ’s ministry on earth, word traveled quickly around Judea that Jesus was the one whom the prophets had spoken about and whom everyone was expecting. Yesterday Christ performed a miracle by raising Lazarus from the dead, the miracle that foreshadowed his glorious resurrection next Sunday. Now everyone is convinced that this is the Messiah-king who will save the Israelites. And Christ fulfills the prophecy of Zachariah, entering Jerusalem on a donkey. All of Israel is preparing to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, and Christ enters also as the salvific king who will save Israel not from the tyranny of the Roman Empire, but from the curse of death through His own death and resurrection.
Today, as we receive our pussy willows at the end of the Divine Liturgy, let us take them to our homes and place them somewhere where we can always see them and be reminded that Christ is the king of our families, that Christ is the king of our hearts, that Christ is the only true answer to happiness and meaning in our lives.