大象传媒

Good morning.

For Christians the journey through the forty days of Lent is reaching its climax. This last week our attention has turned towards the cross and the Passion of Christ. This weekend sees the beginning of Holy Week and tomorrow is Palm Sunday. 听All over the country church communities will be gathering with processions in which people carry 听leaves from palm branches folded into the shape of a cross, often with a donkey leading the way, re-enacting Jesus鈥檚 entry into Jerusalem. The crowds cut down palm branches and threw their cloaks on the road and cried out,听 鈥淗osanna, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord鈥�.

Crowds can be fickle.听 By the end of the week even Jesus鈥檚 friends and disciples had run away and he died on a cross.

The new Pope, Francis, and the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin, have been greeted warmly by crowds this week. We鈥檙e feeling hopeful and are looking forward to their leadership, until they do something we don鈥檛 like. It鈥檚 surprising how quickly crowds can turn.

Jesus when he drew near to the city wept over it saying, 鈥淚f you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace.鈥� 听And the Gospel adds chillingly, 鈥淏ut now they are hidden from your eyes.... because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God鈥�

(Luke 19.41-44)

听

It doesn鈥檛 get more real than that and today, in the early morning, as we look forward to all that lies ahead, let us pray that we may live with our eyes wide open, alert to the presence of God among us; and that in our homes and families, in our local communities and in the wider world, we may recognize the thing s that lead to peace, and in recognizing them, do them. Amen