I woke up at around 3am thins Morning and began at once to think of Palm Sunday. Luke 19:28-44 Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King 28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”a]">[a] “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” 41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
I tho9ugh about how hard it must have been on Jesus and Mary knowing that this apparent Triumph would soon be turned to ashes by His Passion and Death. Did this not sour it for them both and turn all the joy into ashes? But no. I believe they took it for what it was, a joyous Feast. It reminded me not to be sour old crank with lemons in my moth seeing only the bad all around. But to enjoy and savour the good and the good people all around me. I heard an interesting thing about Mother Angelica the other day. Apparently she named her Eternal Truth Network after a passage in the Book of the Apocalypse. mother Angelica was very ,very good at reading the Signs of the Times as Jesus told us to do. She would, on the one hand be very good at enjoying Palm Sunday but also off seeing beyond it to the Cross that was coming. We must be the same , while enjoying the now, looking beyond the now to the upcoming Cross and Passion of the Church. It's Great Purification which she has begun to undergo.
Apparently there are 39 types of Palm. I can't spot that one? https://outforia.com/types-of-palm-trees/
Well I've been influenced by the texts of Maria Valtorta. In those texts, we read that Jesus warned His apostles not to be fooled by the acclamations He would receive in Jerusalem and to remember that Son of Man had to go to His death and Resurrection. I love that portrait that you posted of Him on the donkey, but I see Him solemnly fulfilling prophecy and obeying His Father by coming in on the donkey and receiving the acclamations. But as for seeing the good around Him, He knew many of those acclaiming Him would be screaming for the release of Barabbas within a week. The priest at mass this morning had a very good homily about how we celebrate both the triumph of Palm Sunday and the Passion - showing the parallels with our relationship with Jesus, how we invite Him in to a certain point and then can push Him away. Like the people did too. On a related note, could someone help me find an explanation for the acclamations given to Jesus on Palm Sunday? Why did people welcome Him like this after three years? Is there anything in Church tradition or in the Old Testament that explains what prompted the people to organize this movement of proclamation on this day? I know that it fulfills prophecy in the Old Testament, but why did the people do all of this, especially since He was wanted man by the Sanhedrin at this point. The people must have known that acclaiming Him this way would draw more anger from the leaders. Jesus obviously had a donkey setup for Himself and knew what awaited Him, but I wanted to find texts with a bit more insights.
It’s a wonderful question, I suppose there are a number of OT prophecies and verses which would apply. But I think the one most direct that the Jews of the time would perhaps most think of is from Zechariah chapter 9, verses 9-10. Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold: your king* is coming to you, a just savior is he, Humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.b 10He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim,c and the horse from Jerusalem; The warrior’s bow will be banished, and he will proclaim peace to the nations.d His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River* to the ends of the earth.e
There is also Psalm 117 (Douay-Rheims bible) AKA Psalm 118 in other bibles [26] Blessed be he that cometh in the name Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. [27] The Lord is God, and he hath shone upon us. Appoint a solemn day, with shady boughs, even to the horn of the altar. [28] Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, and I will exalt thee. I will praise thee, because thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. [29] O praise ye the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
MMary, Yes, it is from Son of God produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. I have never watched it but I have watched the miniseries the Bible which they also produced and features the same actor playing Jesus. The miniseries has been on television at no cost but I have never come across the film being aired for no cost. If I do I will post it here. Edited to add: Upon a quick search I discovered that the film Son of God can be viewed on Tubi, Pluto TV and the Roku Channel for free. I hope to watch is this Holy Week. Thank you for your question.
I am very iffy about Maria Valtorta's Writings, Andree: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Valtorta Holy See's reaction to publication Regarding unauthorized publication On 16 December 1959, the Congregation of the Holy Office ordered the 4-volume work entitled "The Poem of the Man-God" placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. Pope John XXIII approved the decree and directed that the condemnation be published. The decree was then promulgated by the Holy Office on 5 January 1960.[14] The decree was published also in L'Osservatore Romano of 6 January 1960, accompanied by a front-page article under the heading "A Badly Fictionalized Life of Jesus".[15] After publication of a second edition by the same publisher, the Vatican newspaper republished the content of the decree on 1 December 1961, together with an explanatory note. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in his letter 144/58 of 31 January 1985, entrusted to Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, Archbishop of Genoa, the decision whether to inform a priest of his archdiocese that the Valtorta work had indeed been placed on the Index, which keeps its moral force, and that "a decision against distributing and recommending a work, which has not been condemned lightly, may be reversed, but only after profound changes that neutralize the harm which such a publication could bring forth among the ordinary faithful". Cardinal Siri not only informed the priest, but also published (with the name of the priest removed) the text of Cardinal Ratzinger's letter. Again in 1983, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote to Bishop Raymond James Boland of Birmingham, Alabama, in response to a letter a member of Bishop Boland's diocese had sent to him. He recalled the notes that the Congregation had already issued for the guidance of the faithful and that had been published on various numbers of L'Osservatore Romano, and he stated that his Congregation had requested the Italian episcopal conference to ask the publisher to have a disclaimer printed in the volumes that "clearly indicated from the very first page that the 'visions' and 'dictations' referred to in it are simply the literary forms used by the author to narrate in her own way the life of Jesus. They cannot be considered supernatural in origin." By then, the Italian Bishops Conference had already carried out the Congregation's request: in letter 324/92 of 6 January 1992, it recalled the notes about the matter that had appeared on L'Osservatore Romano of 6 January 1960 and 15 June 1966 and it requested that "in any future reprint of the volumes, each should, right from its first page, clearly state that the 'visions' and 'dictations' referred to in it cannot be held to be of supernatural origin but must be considered simply as literary forms used by the author to narrate in her own way the life of Jesus".[16]
in brazil there is an ancient tradition of burning the blessed palms when a storm is approaching, i was wondering if this happens in other parts of the world.
Thank you Carol! Does anyone know of a new release about Jesus? I saw it advertised on YouTube but neglected to write it down …nor do I remember the venue. I’d like to watch it tonight if possible. It looked very good. If not, I’ll find something….
Yes! It’s a custom of the USA too! I think I’ll burn it soon as I believe we are currently in a storm….
A quick search turned up these movies, however, the one I’m searching for is not among them. Perhaps it is on a pay streaming platform. https://religionunplugged.com/news/...-movies-about-jesus-to-watch-during-holy-week
Beth, Might it be this one that I found on a search? I also know that Taylor Marshall recently spoke about Mel Gibson's new movie The Resurrection but that is not available yet. https://taylormarshall.com/2022/03/...el-resurrection-really-happening-podcast.html
Thank you Carol! I don’t think this was it, but it sure looks good! I’m going to try to see if I can stream it!
