Lent continues as we travel with Jesus into Jerusalem where he faced his greatest challenge. The present day photo of the walled-city of Dubrovnik has a dramatic entrance very much like Jesus' Jerusalem. We can well imagine his triumphant entry into the city. People waved palm branches to welcome their potential King. Soon after, the tables turn and we hear his trials described appropriately as the Passion.
Popular with the crowds, Jesus equally posed a threat to the civil authorities. The crowds soon change. How easily people can be manipulated from being fans to becoming foes. So much injustice in the world! The disadvantaged and the weak are vulnerable. The royal way of the cross is offered to us as a way of living, as a way of love. Nonetheless we are tempted to resort to violence. It doesn't work. Do we dare believe?
In our world, suffering is denied and pushed aside. Indifference makes us suffer even more. Jesus sets the example of survival: "bloody but unbowed." Our sins, Christians believe, have crucified Jesus.
In the Triduum, the "Three Days" before Easter Sunday, we remember the heavy heart of Jesus. We remember those tears of the man born to save us from ourselves. We recall his ride on a donkey about to die for his convictions.
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