Palm Sunday 2012

Hosanna to the Son of David.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Behold your king comes to you, O Zion,
meek and lowly, sitting upon an ass.
Ride on in the cause of truth
and for the sake of justice.
Your throne is the throne of God, it endures for ever;
and the sceptre of, your kingdom is a righteous sceptre.
You have loved righteousness and hated evil:
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
Hosanna to the Son of David.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Today is Palm Sunday. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on an ass. Now, the ass signifies the Jewish nation, while the colt, which has never been ridden, represents the Gentiles (Us). I know it says that Jesus rides in on the ass, but does He ride out again on the colt? The Jews disregard Jesus as the Saviour, while the Gentiles welcome Him as The One! The Magi were the first to acknowledge Him, when He was yet an infant. The first shepherds also saw Him as the Light. Anyway, the ass and the colt represent the Jews and the future of the Church in their own ways.

I like this passage from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians:

'For which cause God also hath exalted him and hath given him a name which is above all names; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.'

This is really why we genuflect and bow to Him in the Blessed Sacrament, and will continue to do so in the future.

I would like to end this blog with a selection from the hymn used by the Greek Church on Palm Sunday. It was written by the celebrated hymnographer, Cosmas of Jerusalem:

Lo! the God that sitteth, in the hightest heavens, upon the Cherubim, and looketh down on lowly things, cometh in glory and power, all creatures are full of his divine praise. Peace upon Israel, and salvation to the Gentiles!

The souls of the just cried out with joy: Now is prepared a new Covenant for the world, and mankind is renewed by the sprinkling of the divine Blood!

The people fell upon their knees, and, rejoicing with the disciples, sang, with palms in their hands: Hosanna to the Son of David! Praiseworthy and blessed art thou, O Lord God of our fathers!

The simple-hearted people, yea, and little children, (the fittest to adore God) praised him as King of Israel and of the angels: Praiseworthy and blessed art thou, O Lord God of our fathers!

O Sion! there came to thee Christ, thy King, seated on a young colt: for he came that he might loose mankind from the senseless error of idolatry, and tame the wild passions of all nations; that thus they might praise thee, singing: Bless the Lord, all ye His works, and extol Him above all forever!

Christ thy Lord hath reigned forever. He, as it is written, the meek one the Saviour, our just Redeemer, came riding on the ass's colt, that he might destroy the pride of his enemies, who would not sing these words: Bless the Lord, all ye his works, and extol Him above all forever!

The unjust and obstinate Sanhedrin, the usurpers of the holy temple, are put to flight; for they had made God's house of prayer a den of thieves, and shut their hearts against the Redeemer, to whom we cry: Bless the Lord, all ye his works, and extol him above all forever!

God is our Lord, He hath appeared unto us. Appoint a solemn feast, and come, let us rejoice and magnify the Christ, praising Him, with palms and branches in our hands: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord our Saviour!

Why, O ye Gentiles, have ye raged? Why, O ye scribes and priests, have ye devised vain things, saying: Who is this, unto whom children, with palms and branches in their hands, cry aloud this praise: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord our Saviour?

Why, O ye perverse of heart, have ye thrown stumbling-blocks in the way? Your feet are swift to shed the Blood of the Lord. But He will rise again, that He may save all that cry to Him: Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord our Saviour!