Sunday, April 13th, 2025 - Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

+ Commentary on St. Luke 22: 14 – 23: 56Today is Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday; they are two sides of the same coin, two realities that the same person lived, that you and I also live. Acclaimed by many, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey to gradually climb up the cross which will be His throne, the throne He'll climb to reign in our hearts. But this throne will not be the definitive, it'll be just a temporary stage to finally resurrect. Today, we celebrate two mysteries that can't be separated from each other; they are united. They're the messianic and triumphant entry into Jerusalem (that we evoke with the blessing of the palm branches) and the culmination on Calvary (that's why we read the Passion narrative). By reading the Passion, we understand Jesus is the Messiah; yes, He is. But He's the different Messiah, the Messiah who doesn't fit in with the human logic of power and fame. “Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness,” as St. Paul says. Jesus is the Messiah who triumphs where nobody wants to triumph.We begin the holiest week of the year; it's a week meant to relive what Jesus lived. We don't enter Holy Week to see “a movie;” we want to relive what actually happened and to relive it together with Jesus, because Jesus did it for you and me. Now, He wants us to go through it again with Him and for Him. We have to accept that the cross – suffering – is and will always be part of our life and that we'll overcome it only with humility and love. Overcoming it will bring joy and light to our lives and our neighbors', that's the path of the Christian who wants to live Easter and who lives a new life. Remember that “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” There's a moment in Jesus's Passion when Pilate says: “I have not found this man guilty of the charges you have brought against him, nor did Herod, for he sent him back to us. So no capital crime has been committed by him. Therefore, I shall have him flogged and then release him." As we can see, Pilate admitted Jesus's goodness, but at the same time, he didn't think it was worth the risk. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that deemed Jesus guilty; He didn’t deserve to go through everything He went through. Yet, He didn't die by chance; He surrendered being fully aware. He didn’t elude death; He sought it, and He did it to save you, me and everybody. We also get to know what one of the thieves told the other: “We have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal” Why does the good, those people who don’t do anything wrong, have to die? Why does injustice end up ruling the world? Today's celebration reveals man’s ultimate wickedness and God’s ultimate love. We know that God's love ended up triumphing; and it was a convincing victory, although it may not seem so nowadays because we feel evil always triumphs. Jesus triumphed by caressing our wickedness with tender hugs, silence, patience and forgiveness. The multitude yelled and persisted in calling for Jesus’s crucifixion; and Jesus ended up commending His Spirit into God’s hands and saying: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." That’s our God; He doesn’t like trampling all over people boasting in His power. Jesus, carry me on your humble little donkey and keep me close to your heart on the way to the Calvary of my life, so that I may rise with you forever and learn to bear my sufferings which help me love.May we have a good day, and may the blessings of our merciful God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, descend upon our hearts and remain with us always. Father Rodrigo AguilarGlimpses of the Gospel@glimpsesofthegospelwww.glimpsesofthegospel.orgglimpsesofthegospel@gmail.com