Palm Sunday traditionally sees large crowds coming to Church to get palms. Yet, the lessons of Palm Sunday focus not on celebration but on the sorrowful Passion of Christ.
Review the readings this Sunday. Contemplate the mental suffering of Jesus in the garden, the physical pain and humiliation He felt with the scourging and crowning with thorns, the weight of the cross on His shoulders and the sadness He realized as He passed His mother and the women who wept for Him.
He could have escaped this torture for He was the Lord, but without complaint fulfilled His father’s will to save mankind for heaven. In His darkest hour, He asked for forgiveness of His assailants, “they know not what they do.” In His unending mercy He promised the good thief a place with Him in paradise.
How do you thank someone who saved your life with His own? Do you forgive your enemies and embrace those who have done great wrongs? Do you have His resolve to live according to the Father’s will?