Palm Sunday – April 1
Mark 11:1-11
When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and
Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to
them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you
will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.
If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs
it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt
tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the
bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them
what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the
colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people
spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had
cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were
shouting,
“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the
Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and
when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to
Bethany with the twelve.
Buen Camino! That is the
greeting offered to the pilgrims journeying on the way to the Cathedral of St
James in northern Spain, beautifully portray in the movie, “The Way.” “Buen
camino” means good way. We have been following signposts on way through Lent.
Liturgically and seasonally, the journey through Lent leads us to Jerusalem.
Palm Sunday marks the culmination of Jesus’ pilgrimage to the holy city, as he
enters the gates with shouts of praise and hope. And, one way or another, on
Palm Sunday we have come to Jerusalem, too.
The story of “The Way” is spun
around the journey a father takes as he finishes the pilgrimage his could not
complete because of his death. This father (Martin Sheen) is asks as he sets
out why he is doing the pilgrimage. Why are you on the camino? When he really
cannot answer, he is told that it is only for oneself that the pilgrimage is
undertaken. Only for yourself. The
camino of the main character is one of discovery of his son, himself, and oddly
enough of community. (It would have been a great movie for last week, but I
only watched it on Sunday afternoon!)
The questions that Martin Sheen
faces in the movie can be our questions as well. Why are we on this way? Why,
other than blind tradition, are we in Jerusalem with Jesus on Palm Sunday? How
do we make our spiritual pilgrimage a buen camino?
Maybe we can even plan an impromptu movie night during
Holy Week at the church to watch the movie.
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