By Rev. Marya DeCarlen

The liturgy for Palm Sunday was created for those who worship, so that we feel a range of emotions, all found in two separate processions.

The first procession to Jerusalem is filled with joy and exultation as we wave our palms and shout joyously, “Hosanna (save us) to the King of Kings!”

We step into the shoes, for a moment, of those who await the promise of hope as Jesus reveals all that is possible with God: peace, love, redemption.

The next procession to Golgotha is brimming with fear and anger as the joy-filled followers
drastically change their tune and lead with shouts of threats rebellion and hostility.

Jesus had a history of summoning his followers to live beyond their routines and live deeper offering forgiveness, mercy, and generosity.

This time, engulfed by fear for their own safety and expectations for his “kingship” that he did not meet, they refused bitterly and raged against him.

In this procession even his close friends would not stand up to defend him and joined in the march to his tortuous death.

Millennia later, we want to follow Jesus and not be complicit but often we are. Palm Sunday uncovers this tender truth and invites us once again to follow Christ.

I am reminded of one of my favorite Desmond Tutu quotes:

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."

May we pledge to stand firm in Jesus’ way of love and peace while not falling into the temptation of silence when we hear or see small or large injustices. 

Peace with palms and passion,



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
By Leslie Blake “Father forgive them……..” Powerful words spoken by our dearest Lord Jesus as he was dying while upon the cross. How…? How could He in the midst of pain & anguish, feeling the sting of mockery & abandonment, struggling to breathe & remain conscious……..how could He still request forgiveness for the very ones who did this to him? The word forgive by definition is a “verb,” something that requires an action to complete; for something that does not require actual physical labor, it is oftentimes one of the hardest tasks to accomplish. How often do we think about the word forgive? Really, truly think about it? We say it every time we recite the Lord’s Prayer:  “And forgive us our trespasses…..” We are asking God to forgive us on a daily basis. In fact, we probably expect it. But do we follow through on the next line? “…As we forgive those who trespass against us.”  That’s much more difficult. It’s easy to use the word loosely as we accidenta
Read more

Does God have a Direct Hand in our Temptation?

Image
From the Rev. Marya DeCarlen: In December, Pope Francis made news by suggesting that the words of the Lord’s Prayer should be changed from “lead us not into temptation” to “do not let us fall into temptation.” With a wee bit of research I learned that he actually commended the French translation for making it clear that God doesn’t push us into temptation, but rather picks us up when we fall. He suggested that Italian and other translations may consider similar changes, to be more theologically correct. Christian doctrine does not include God tempting us to do evil, but helps us be freed from it. We all fall into temptation at various points in our lives, but God does not push us into it. After sharing this news with our worship team at All Saints North Shore, and suggesting that we might want to be on a different diet of the Lord’s Prayer during Lent, I learned firsthand that many people still have the traditional Lord’s Prayer memorized.  It surely is the best known r
Read more

Save Us From the Time of Trial

Image
By Elizabeth Losa The Book of Common Prayer’s contemporary Lord’s Prayer seemed such an improvement to me that I began using it in my private devotions even while my church continues to use the traditional form. The newer translation calls a sin a sin, rather than a stroll across the grass. It speaks person to person rather than using "Thy" which is artificial to my speech, and it allows us to contemplate the kingdom, the power and the glory before ascribing them.  And saying “Save us in the time of trial…” answers my childhood objection that a good God would not even think of leading us into temptation.  Indeed when older persons explained to me that God tries us and it makes us stronger, I never bought it. But I realized this week that I was reading the phrase incorrectly, it is actually rendered, “Save us  from  the time of trial.”  At first I thought that perhaps the preposition was just the choice the translators made for some difficult word.  So I wen
Read more