God's love creates magic - true divine magic beyond expectations, beyond
limits
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on
the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into
Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four canonical Gospels...
Today we commemorate Christ's entry into Jerusalem for
the completion of the Paschal Mystery. In the old calendar before Vatican II,
the Church celebrated Passion Sunday two Sundays before Easter, and then Palm
Sunday was the beginning of Holy Week. The Church has combined the two to
reinforce the solemnity of Holy Week....
Today, this "Second Sunday of the Passion," is
the memorial of Christ's "triumphant," but misunderstood, entry into
Jerusalem, the day that begins Holy Week. This entry into Jerusalem is seen as
the prophetic fulfillment of Zacharias 9:9-10 :
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout for joy, O
daughter of Jerusalem: BEHOLD THY KING will come to thee, the just and saviour:
he is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I
will destroy the chariot out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and
the bow for war shall be broken: and he shall speak peace to the Gentiles, and
his power shall be from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the
earth.“
Palm Sunday summons us to accept both the rule and the
kingdom of God as the goal and content of our Christian life. We draw our
identity from Christ and His kingdom. The kingdom is Christ - His indescribable
power, boundless mercy and incomprehensible abundance given freely to man. The
kingdom does not lie at some point or place in the distant future. In the words
of the Scripture, the kingdom of God is not only at hand (Matthew 3:2; 4:17),
it is within us (Luke 17:21). The kingdom is a present reality as well as a
future realization (Matthew 6:10). Theophan the Recluse wrote the following
words about the inward rule of Christ the King:
“The Kingdom of God is within us when God reigns in us,
when the soul in its depths confesses God as its Master, and is obedient to Him
in all its powers. Then God acts within it as master ‘both to will and to do of
his good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:13). This reign begins as soon as we resolve
to serve God in our Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Then
the Christian hands over to God his consciousness and freedom, which comprises
the essential substance of our human life, and God accepts the sacrifice; and
in this way the alliance of man with God and God with man is achieved, and the
covenant with God, which was severed by the Fall and continues to be severed by
our willful sins, is re-established.”
Palm Sunday summons us to behold our king - the Suffering
Servant. We cannot understand Jesus' kingship apart from the Passion. Filled
with infinite love for the Father and the Holy Spirit, and for creation, in His
inexpressible humility Jesus accepted the infinite abasement of the Cross. He
bore our griefs and carried our sorrows; He was wounded for our transgressions
and made Himself an offering for sin (Isaiah 53). His glorification, which was
accomplished by the resurrection and the ascension, was achieved through the
Cross...
Verbų sekmadienis yra krikščioniška kilnojama šventė,
kuri yra sekmadienį prieš Velykas.. . Šventė pažymi Jėzaus triumfinį įėjimą į
Jeruzalę, - šis atvejis yra paminėtas visose keturiose kanoninėse Evangelijose...
Verbos – puokštės, kuriamos iš augalų šakelių, gėlių ir
kt., katalikų per Verbų sekmadienį (pažymint Kristaus įžengimo į Jeruzalę
dieną) šventinamos bažnyčioje. Jos esą saugančios nuo ligų, perkūnijos ir kitų
nelaimių. Lietuvių kalba verbos pirmą kartą minimos 1573 m. liuteronų postilėje
kaip pagonybės ir popiežystės paprotys. Lietuvoje verbos dažniausiai daromos iš
kadagio ar blindės šakelių...
