Christ’s entry into Jerusalem
10 April 2023Christ’s magnificent entry into Jerusalem is familiar as being a prelude to the triumphant victory of his resurrection. It’s a portent of the triumph of life over death. At today’s feast, we’re invited to discover the deeper meaning of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice on the cross. The Gospels emphasize Christ’s messianic role. It was the first time that Christ had entered Jerusalem in this way. It was the first time he’d been greeted with enthusiasm and cheering by the populace, with public approval and recognition. This was because he knew well just how confused and shallow people’s feelings can often be. How unstable and capricious the psychology of the masses is. How easily, in the history of the world and also that of our personal life, ‘Hosanna, blessed is he who has come’, can become ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him’ (Jn. 19, 15). This is normal and typical behavior for most people and it should give us pause for thought.
The meaning of the kingdom of heaven
Six days before the Passover, Christ ‘in his love hastens to his sufferings’. As he makes his way, he shows us what the kingdom of heaven is and calls upon us to become its citizens. Christ speaks of fortitude and patience in sorrows and of peace and hope. He tells us of the struggle for sanctity with humility and sincerity, with effort and sacrifice. Of course, he disappointed people in his own time and today who saw and see him in utilitarian terms. He strips bare every religious faith which aims at dominance, secular power, success and the fulfilment of dreams of happiness. The kingdom of God has nothing to do with anything earthly or secular. Just as it was misunderstood in Jesus’ time, so today it’s distorted in the erroneous thought and practice of some Christians. The kingdom of God has been established sacramentally in the Church, concealed in the hearts of its faithful members, who await its manifestation.
‘Blessed is he who has come in the name of the Lord’
‘Therefore, like the children, we also carry the tokens of victory and cry to you: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who has come in the name of the Lord…’. As we sing the dismissal hymn, we confirm the confession of our faith that, united with Christ, we won’t be lost even if we die but will live in the light of his resurrection. We recognize that Christ the Savior is the Lord of life and death. Saint John Chrysostom writes: ‘This is why I call him king, since I see him crucified; for it is for the king to be the first of those about to die’.
My dear brothers and sisters, we live in a world that’s eroding the foundations of its civilization. It’s a time when Christian roots and principles are being betrayed. With their religious indifference and evasiveness, governments and socio-economic systems seek the de-Christianization of society and are abetted in this by the media. They strive to retain their power. They compete to increase their influence. They clash fiercely in order to promote their interests. Faith is doubted, mocked and marginalized. This isn’t a sign specific to our own times, which can frighten and depress us. It’s a profound understanding of the nature of things in the world in relation to the enduring struggle of faith. The powerful and those who wheel and deal in the ‘kingdoms of the world’, didn’t then and don’t now leave any room for the kingdom of God. Yet God has his own strange and mysterious way of acting in the souls of humankind. Today’s world is heedless of this and can’t understand the faithful who proclaim in all the various kingdoms of our age: ‘Hosanna. The kingdom of God lives in our hearts’. Amen.
