• “Because of this, God greatly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

• My dear friends in Christ, in listening to the Gospel story of our Lord’s Passion and death, we have heard the most important story told in the history of man, for we have just heard the story of our redemption – and the price our Lord paid for it.

• And we read it today on Palm Sunday as a preparation for Holy Week, which we now enter, and during which we will see the mysteries of our faith writ large upon the canvas of our liturgies.

• Today we witnessed Jesus enter triumphantly into Jerusalem amidst a chorus of hosannas and the waving of palms. Today we see Him heralded as a king, but we also call to mind today all that Jesus will suffer for us.

• Jesus is our King, but He is a king who suffers for His people.

• While we herald Him today, over the course of this week, we will see the conspiracy that leads to our Lord’s betrayal.

• On Thursday evening we will sit with Jesus and His apostles at His last supper, at which He will institute the holy priesthood and give us the incomparable gift of the Eucharist.

• We will follow Him to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with Him as He suffers His most bitter agony.

• Through our liturgies we will watch as our Lord is arrested, imprisoned, unjustly judged and condemned. He will be mercilessly scourged and crowned with thorns amidst bitter mockery. Every imaginable ignominy will be heaped upon Him.

• Our Lord will be stripped of every human comfort, even His clothing, and ultimately Jesus will suffer the humiliation of crucifixion like a common criminal, hanging upon the cross for three agonizing hours until He can breathe no more and expires.

• And all this He does for our sake. All this He does so that we might be freed from our sins and made worthy to take the places with Him in Heaven that God the Father has prepared for us as His sons and daughters.

• In our second reading we hear St. Paul write to the Philippians that Jesus “emptied Himself.” Jesus literally poured forth His blood, His very self, out of His deep love for us. And we are called to have this same type of love for one another. His is a love that is completely selfgiving – as should be our love.

• My dear friends in Christ, as we once again enter into this most holy of weeks, let us bend our knees and confess with our tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord.

• And as we do so, let us pray for the grace to empty ourselves of all that is not of Christ so that we may love as Jesus loves.

• Let us take the time to meditate deeply on all the mysteries of our faith that are about to unfold for us this week, and let us pray that we may be able to give ourselves completely to Jesus, just as He gave Himself to us.

• And lastly, let us pray for the strength and courage to endure whatever suffering we must for the sake of our own salvation and for the salvation of others. Have a blessed Holy Week.

Copyright 2009 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC