“Hosanna to the Son of David! This is the King of Israel! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Is what everyone was shouting and praising when Christ entered into Jerusalem with a donkey. Yet, only a few days later, they were instead shouting, “Crucify Him!” You people of Jerusalem! You did not know who He was when He entered your city. You looked at what everyone else was doing, and simply copied them.
Today marks the start of passion week. After all the celebrations for Palm Sunday, the curtains and decorations of the Church are all changed to black, signifying, not Christ’s passion, but rather, our sins, as we hear in the fraction to the Son in the divine liturgy: “Be sorrowful, oh my soul, for the sins that have caused the suffering of your compassionate redeemer.” Let us ask Christ to bless us, to open our eyes to see and know Him, and complete for us this Holy week of Pascha so we can experience the Joy of His resurrection.
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