Mark 11, 1 – 10:
Sunday, 28 March 2021 (Palm Sunday)
For the second year in a row we will not be able to attend the procession this Palm Sunday. But we can accompany Jesus in his entry into Jerusalem and in his passion, which we will hear in the Gospel.
I don’t think Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was like one of the “La Borriquita” processions of our day. Jesus was known and aroused a certain expectation and curiosity. On the occasion of Easter there would be a lot of people in the city, but they were not expecting him. I imagine, rather, groups of children playing and some older people, who, when they saw the procession of the apostles and Jesus on a donkey, would greet him and run after him, waving olive branches and shouting.
What would Jesus feel at that moment, knowing that his hour had come?
It would be a very difficult few days: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me”. He knows what awaits him and the difficulty of carrying it out, but he wants to remain faithful to the Father. Alone and misunderstood, but ready to die for us.
At the beginning of Holy Week, we too must accompany Jesus, but not only with the joy of the Palm branches, but with the desire to be in solidarity with him in his self-giving for us. Let us walk with Mary, his Mother, who throughout the Passion was at her Son’s side.
Juan Ramón Gómez Pascual, cmf
