Rev. Fr. C. Joseph, Counsellor
St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Jakhama
“Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel. Hosanna in the highest.” Mt 21:9.
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, which Christians recognize as the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. Today is the starting of the Holy Week, the most important time in the Christian Year of Worship. This Sunday has two names: Palm-Sunday and Passion Sunday. This sounds bit strange; it sounds like saying that it is a Sunday to rejoice and a Sunday to mourn. Palm Sunday is a day when Christians traditionally celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. On this day Jesus is declared to be King by his disciples and those who loved him and saw his miracles. He is declared to be one who comes in the Name of the Lord and the whole multitude is praising Him. They may not have fully recognized Him as the Messiah, but they certainly recognized Him as the miracle worker. The religious crowd didn’t like them praising Jesus like that. Jesus was told by the Pharisees to rebuke his disciples. Jesus responded that if they don’t praise me, the rocks and the stones will cry out!
Holy Week is the most sacred time in the Christian calendar, marking Jesus’ final days on earth and his ultimate sacrifice for humanity. It is a time of deep spiritual reflection, reminding believers of his journey of love, suffering and redemption. The week celebrates Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Last Supper where Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and shared a final meal with them. Good Friday is a day of reflection, remembering his crucifixion-a sacrifice made to redeem the world. Holy Week leads to Easter Sunday, a day of hope, celebrating Christ’s resurrection and victory over sin and death. After the Passover meal, Judas betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders, for the price of 30 pieces of silver. Jesus was then handed to the Roman authorities to be killed. Good Friday commemorates a sad and dark day, full of hardship and hopelessness. The events leading up to Jesus’ death on Good Friday were filled with darkness and sorrow. Jesus experienced fear and anxiety about what lay before him, but he knew that his mission was to suffer and experience all of God’s wrath as a substitute for what humankind deserves. God is loving, but also a God of justice. But in this moment of suffering and struggle, Jesus prayed to God, his Heavenly Father, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”Instead of stopping Jesus’ suffering, God gave Jesus the strength to endure the path to the cross. This was part of God’s greater plan of redemption for the people of the world who he loved so much. Happily, the Easter story doesn’t finish with Holy Week. The day after Holy Week, on Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate Jesus rising to life again. Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, Christians believe he brings light, hope and the chance for salvation and eternal life to the world. On this day, Christians in many cultures happily greet each other with phrases such as “Christ is risen”, with the response, “He is risen indeed”. It is a day of hope, thankfulness and joy - and a day that billions around the world celebrate. Jesus, who identified himself as the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep promises an abundant, meaningful life to those who surrender their lives to him and follow him.“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
The resurrection of Jesus, three days after his death on a cross, is the pinnacle of the Christian faith. That death is not final; that even though you may die you can yet live, is Jesus’ most powerful success secret. Many people don’t view their life in the context of eternity. They see their existence as limited to what is experienced through the physical body. Once their body dies, they believe, they die with it. Consequently, for these individuals, the primary mission and purpose in life is the preservation, protection and defence of their body. The length of life, not its height, is the measure of success.
Yet Jesus taught that you are more than your body. Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.” (Jn 3:6-7) You are born with a body but you are also born of the spirit. Once your body dies, your spirit, made in the image and likeness of God, can rise again.
Not only your body die, eventually returning to dust, but during your lifetime the roles you play and the self-images you create will die also. So will some of your hopes, dreams and desires. Anyone who has never experienced failure has never really tried to reach their full potential. Although you can learn much from failure, the question is not whether you succeed or fail, but whether you can rise again once you do fail. Some of the most successful people in the world have also been great failures at some point in their lives. The secret to their success is after every failure they rose again. Setbacks, defeats and even failure do not have to be final. You can ultimately achieve success if you rise again. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” - Romans 8:11
