Hosanna in the Highest

The streets rang with the refrain, Hosanna in the Highest, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Palm branches waved, and cloaks covered the dirt road.  Jesus the King, riding on a donkey, made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the first time in his public ministry that he was so warmly welcomed and felt that Jerusalem wanted him.  Short-lived, however, was that feeling. In just a few days, the cries, "crucify him" would fill the streets, and he would be carrying his cross to the place of his death. How quickly the climate changed.  Yet this is why he became on of us.  This ultimate sacrifice has brought us eternal life, if we but believe him and adhere to his teachings.  As we follow the events of this Holy Week, participating as much as we can in the Liturgies of the week, especially today, Palm Sunday, then Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, may we make a special effort not to be simply shouting Hosanna, but by our actions be living out "crucify him".  No, we would not betray Jesus, but how about the neighbors in need, physical, or spiritual?  Can we turn our backs on them? Remembering that Jesus can for ALL, as our final Lenten push, may we be willing to sacrifice our time, or risk ridicule to help those on the fringe, the outcasts, the neglected.  So doing may not have been in our Lenten plan, but the best offerings are the ones that arise unexpectedly.  Lord, keep me from hollow hosannas and help me to be a Simon of Cyrene for someone bearing a weighty cross.
Bro. Rene