Palm Sunday. The Triumphal Entry. Mark tells us that those who went before Jesus and those who went behind Jesus shouted “Hosanna!”
It’s a word I’ve only ever used in praise songs. But its original meaning is simply, “Save us!” or “Help us!” The crowd looks at their lives, looks at Jesus, and then cries out, “Hosanna!”
Consider the crowd. Many of them are poor. Some of them are marginalized. Out of economic and emotional poverty they plead with Jesus, “Hosanna! Save us! Help us!” All of them are oppressed in one form or another. Some are oppressed by harsh religious leaders. All are oppressed by harsh Roman leaders. Crushed under the weight of oppression they cry out to Jesus, “Hosanna! Save us! Help us!”
Place yourself in that crowd. What poverty pervades your life? What oppression weighs you down? Fix your eyes on Jesus and cry out “Hosanna! Save me! Help me!” What would you put in this blank? “Jesus, save me from ______!”
Now realize this-there are no limits to what Jesus will do to answer your cry. Remember where Passion Week ends. Timbers. Nails. Death. Jesus is more willing and more able to answer your cry than you can fathom. He will spare nothing to heed your plea. Not even his own life.
During this third week in the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, we remain by Jesus’ side through Passion Week. We stand by him from his entry into Jerusalem to his death on the cross. We kneel in amazement at how far he’s willing to go to answer our cry of “Hosanna!”
But we also strive to imitate what we see in Jesus. We endeavor to walk in his sacrificial steps.
And that’s crucial because we are not merely in the crowd on Palm Sunday crying out to Jesus about our pains. We are also on the colt listening to the cry of the crowd. Sitting on the colt with Jesus, we are surrounded by people experiencing poverty and oppression. Their voices come to us through the newspaper stories and television newscasts. Their pleas arrive through hallway conversations, emails and social media. We are surrounded by people crying out “Hosanna! Save me! Help me!” What do hear? What are people saying? “Jesus save me from _____!”
Now realize this-there are no limits to what the church must do to answer that cry. We must ride the colt with Jesus all the way to the cross. We must spare nothing to heed the plea of the world. Not even our own lives.
And so may we learn to cry “Hosanna!” not only for Jesus to save us from our own pains. But may we learn to cry “Hosanna!” for Jesus to save us from fear and selfishness so that we might join him in answering the cries of the world around us.
