Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!

With His voluntary entrance into the city of Jerusalem, Jesus, our God Incarnate, begins the greatest revelation of His entire life, namely the revelation that how a person accepts the challenges of life forms the true character of that person. During the final days of His life Jesus presented His greatest teaching. He showed us by His every action the way to be a true child of God. He did not allow the adulation of the people to seduce Him into forgetting that He is God’s Son. Perhaps one of the greatest lessons He taught us through the struggle of His final days was humble trust in God.

The Epistle reading for today’s celebration is taken from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (4:4-9). I truly believe that these words sum up what Jesus says to us as we again think about His final days and what He as revealed to us. Paul says this: your thoughts should be wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise. Live according to what you have learned and accepted….

Jesus lived in this exact manner. If we can learn how to live like He lived, we will discover the true meaning and purpose of life and we will find the joy of life itself. Think about it! In the midst of all of His suffering and pain, Jesus had the courage to unconditionally love and forgive others. This is how He was able to endure all of the things that He did without becoming embittered. He taught us that unconditional love and forgiveness have the power to transform us and to see the good in all things, even in the struggles that life presents. He revealed to us, I truly believe, that when we accept life as it is given to us and not allow our own desires to have live be as we want it to be, we grow as children of God. Spiritual growth doesn’t come without enduring challenges and sufferings. The only way people change, it seems, is by learning how to accept challenges and struggles without becoming embittered and fearful.

Paul, in this same letter, tells us also to Dismiss all anxiety from your minds. Present your needs to God in every form of prayer and in petitions full of gratitude, Then God’s own peace, which is beyond all understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.

As we observe and pray this Great and Holy Week, let us open our hearts and minds to the revelation that God has made to us through the Person of Jesus, the Christ.