Why Red?

With palm branches and hosanna's in the air...a festive, triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we might be asking, then, why Red?  It is a happy, lively color, but why not gold which befits the king who comes, riding on a donkey:  "Behold your king shall come to you, the Just and Savior, meek and riding on an ass, the colt of an ass"  (Zeph 9:9))
The answer is that the color red anticipates the blood of Good Friday; we read the Passion Gospel today as the Gospel of the Mass, but the triumphant entry into Jerusalem Gospel is only read before Mass at the blessing of the palms.  So, quickly the focus turns to the passion and  death of Jesus, something to keep in mind when our secular society stresses Easter eggs, baskets and bonnets (not so much bonnets, these days, however).  This is really a serious week, a week of confrontation, pain, abandonment and death for Jesus.  It's a week when our Lenten fast should peak, and when we might guide our prayer more toward the meaning of the death and resurrection.  Reflecting on the sorrowful mysteries, more rigorous fasting, attending the Liturgy on Holy Thursday (spending time in adoration), Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, renewing our baptismal promises with even greater commitment after our Lenten observances, all of these could make this the holiest week of the year and make the color red our color.
Bro. Rene