Palm Sunday - A Borrowed Donkey

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. Mark 11:1-11

The people who I admire the most and who have been consistent throughout my life, are often those who have little of their own and share gladly with others. These beloved find ways to welcome and celebrate others, constantly telling and showing their love in small ways. They never seek praise and honor for themselves. They are comfortable in their own skin and so do not try to impress others. They are real and not afraid of their faults or their brokenness. Nothing is for show, everything for love.

We are at the end of Lent as we celebrate Palm Sunday and move into Holy Week. We have this moment in time when we celebrate the King of Love, the incarnate one who brought the Divine into our very broken world. We have this moment where the God in flesh is celebrated, riding on a borrowed donkey, where the poor people of the city honored him by throwing down broken palm branches and their ragged coats as he moved through them. The people sang and shouted, moved by the closeness of eternity and love. For many of us this is a thin time, a time when the lines between eternal and corporal, between heaven and earth, and between the living and the dead are very thin and porous. We are invited by God to walk together through this week with an awareness of our fragile existence, while knowing we are bound to the heart of God throughout eternity.

Today I ask God to help me face the days ahead. This Holy Week, I ask for courage, honesty and humility. May we all walk together in these trying times, knowing the King of love walks with us, truly knowing our suffering and bearing all of our burdens.