Reflection on the 5th Sunday of Lent: Entering Jerusalem

As we approach Palm Sunday, let us enter the Lord’s journey   into Jerusalem, which means city of Peace. However, now it   soon will be a place remembered for the Lord’s passion. As we celebrate but now remember next Sunday as “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion,” let us recall:
 
The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while    others cut branches from the trees and strew them on the road. The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David: blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the   highest.”   ~~Matthew 21: 8-9
 
 Let us reflect on our joys and our sorrows and how they attach us to the life of Jesus. Imagine taking the journey with Our Lord into Jerusalem about two thousand years ago. Watch as we   celebrate his entrance into the city under showers of praise with cries of “Hosanna,” then within days, look on as we are horrified when we see him led away under clouds of torment with cries of  “Crucify him!”
 
Lord Jesus, as we prepare to walk with You to recall Your  passion, death and resurrection, help us to accept our disappointments as well as our joys, our feelings of rejection as well as our feelings of acceptance, and our struggles as well as our times of ease.
 
Lord Jesus, as we prepare to walk with You, give us the strength to live Your Gospel with Your love and compassion in our  relationships, with Your mercy and forgiveness in situations or with individuals that afflict pain, with Your justice when we see others wronged, and with Your comfort when we or others  suffer loss.