Today begins the Week of Love, the week of surrender from God, who became man out of love for us. Some will say: Father, yes, and we celebrate the same thing every year. And yes, they are right, but we once again place the Salvation that God has accomplished for us before our eyes.

This is not a mere memory of something that happened in the past but an event that has transcended all of history. That is why we are invited this week, which we call Holy Week or is sometimes known as Great Week, to rediscover this Mystery of Salvation, which is the same as always but speaks to us in a new way each time.

The liturgy for this Palm Sunday includes two significant moments: the procession with the palms and the proclamation of the Passion.

The Palm Sunday procession is our joyful witness of Jesus Christ, in which the face of God has been made visible to us and through which the heart of God has been opened to all of us. In the Gospel of Saint Luke, the account we hear at the beginning of the procession reminds us of the coronation of Solomon, heir to King David. Thus, the Palm Sunday procession is also a procession of Christ the King. We profess the kingship of Jesus Christ; we recognize Jesus as the Son of David, the true Solomon, the King of peace and justice. With the same gesture of those men and women who welcomed Jesus with the cry of “Hosanna,” as a King, so we too sing with our palms.

Regarding the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I would like to highlight two things:

First: Contemplate the denials of Saint Peter. This fisherman, who had followed Jesus for three years and whose life had been completely changed, now claims not to know him. The text tells us that after the rooster crowed, “the Lord turned and looked at Peter.” Jesus, who had spoken of the need to forgive seventy times seven, does not turn to judge his disciple, but that gaze shows us his true mercy. Despite being betrayed, Jesus loves without limits and forgives Peter’s betrayal.

Second: The moment of the Cross. The cross is the throne of Christ the King. This is what the sign hanging from the cross says. This title reminds us that his throne has been one of love for us because Saint Paul tells us: Being equal with God “[Jesus]…humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” This throne, along with the Resurrection, opens the way to Heaven for us, just as he promised the good thief on the Cross: “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” “You will be with me.” As Saint Ambrose says, “Life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.”

Dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord help us open the doors of our hearts so that God, the living God, may transform our lives and be faithful witnesses of a living God, who became incarnate, died, but is alive, and is risen.

Fr. Lalo Jara, OFM Pastor,
Mission San Luis Rey Parish

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