A Palm Sunday Reflection

By Simon Appolloni, Editorial Director

Palm Sunday inaugurates yet another Holy Week for approximately 2 billion Christians. Within this short span of time, we see Jesus’ life transform from a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to betrayal, his death and, ultimately, his resurrection.

I don’t know about you, but the readings in this period hold a special significance for me: through Jesus’s example, I discover how to live and how to die. I learn to remain humble when others bestow praise upon me, to persevere even when scared-to-death, to love and forgive when persecuted, and I learn to follow God’s will right to the end.

The lessons seem pretty straightforward; you’d think that anyone, after numerous decades (OK, I am not that old) of hearing this, would have the lessons all mastered. Alas, I haven’t. Though I’d like to think I am getting a little closer, even if painfully slowly. Why such mediocrity? I am human. And this is why I am glad Holy Week is cyclical. I need to witness it all again and again and again….