Today begins a week of complex emotions. During Holy Week, we experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Often, the highs and the lows are held in tension as we simultaneously mourn, anticipate, and rejoice.
Today, Palm Sunday, we are implored to celebrate Jesus’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. He is finally recognized as Lord. Later in the week, we are given the gift of Eucharist at the Last Supper. That same day, humanity betrays Jesus. We turn him over to worldly powers. We participate in humanity at its worse. We then bear witness to his torture, trial, and death. Yet, we do this all the while knowing what is to come on Easter Sunday. We know that all of creation will be made new – redeemed and reconciled to God. We know that in the midst of death, there is Life. We will rejoice again. May this week grant us permission to feel without reservation; may we embrace our emotions, honoring them as gifts from God and opportunities to deepen our relationship with a loving Creator; and may we be comforted as we learn of a God who intimately understands human emotions. |