Hosanna to the Son of David!

Hosanna to the Son of David,

the King of Israel.

Blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

(Mt. 21:9)

The reception Jesus received on his entry into Jerusalem must have been one of exaltation on one hand, and yet on the other, a cause for anguish as He knew that the hosannas would only a few short days later turn into, "Crucify him!  Crucify him!" 

Pope Benedict XVI, writing in Jesus of Nazareth (Part II),

For the infant Church, "Palm Sunday" was not a thing of the past.  Just as the Lord entered the Holy City that day on a donkey, so too the Church saw him coming again and again in the humble form of bread and wine.

The Church greets the Lord in the Holy Eucharist as the one who is coming now, the one who has entered into her midst.  At the same time, she greets him as the one who continues to come, the one who leads us toward his coming.  As pilgrims, we go up to him; as a pilgrim, he comes to us and takes us up with him in his "ascent" to the Cross and Resurrection, to the definitive Jerusalem that is already growing in the midst of this world in the communion that unites us to his body.

Today, as we take time to contemplate Christ's entry into Jerusalem, let's also take a moment to realize the many ways He comes into our lives.  And let us thank Him for the tremendous gift of his precious Body and Blood.