Gospel Reflection on Matthew 26:14-27:66
- 4 days ago
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March 29, 2026
Passion of the Lord
Today, we remember how Jesus entered Jerusalem for the events of His passion.
Our procession today is lively, even full of laughter, because the star of this procession is the donkey. Emperors and kings entered their capitals riding powerful horses, and we prefer to make our entrances on credentials designed to impress. Our career, our accomplishments, our heritage.
But Jesus is always born by a vessel that is poor. Christ always arrives like this, born by a humble beast of burden. This is how He arrives in our lives.
We always encounter Christ through others, almost never in a direct way. And this other believers who introduce Christ to us. And the Lord is brought to us best by means of a humble donkey, a poor, cheerful person, who takes the things of his life, the palms, the cloaks, and praises God with them. These people know their relationship with God is more important than what other people think of them.
Each of us gets to know Christ through these poor, joyful, humble people in our lives, who bring Christ to us. Who know that their blessings come from God alone?
Jesus is carried by believers who weighed palm branches, symbols of creation. They throw their mantle, symbol of everything they own, on the ground before.
Like them, we too are poor. We have severe limitations, but the Lord comes into the world through us. We might be fragile, but the Lord comes when we open ourselves to Him.
On this Palm Sunday, we reflect on the sufferings of Jesus. But these sufferings need to be sung and announced. They need to be proclaimed by us with whatever means we can muster, whether that's waving palms, throwing down our mantles, our smiles, our joy.
And doing so, we confess: 'I've met someone who loves me much, who visits me, who does not leave me alone, who does not abandon me to myself.'
We are like these simple donkeys, these cheerful souls, the crowd that cries how beautiful that the Lord has come into our lives, how wonderful that He has entered into our existence. And the world needs to see this joy. It doesn't need to see pomp or fashionable parade. Christ isn't brought to us by pomp or fashion. He's not imposed on us by rules, reproaches or scolding.
This Sunday we make our faith visible, but it's not a public visibility that imposes itself. We aren't interested in overwhelming or defeating others, but simply joyfully announcing what we believe. We can bring this joy in life to others if we too can become humble donkeys and carry the Lord in our lives. And today we invite those to join us who share in this joy.
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