PALM SUNDAY Reflection

Just this afternoon, the whole family went to church to attend the Palm Sunday mass, we brought fresh coconut leaves and designed them in different forms like crucifix and etc..-- its famously known here in the Philippines as Palaspas or Palmera. We do not have much palm trees here in our place so we substitute coconut leaves instead. This was already a tradition here as well as in all catholic churches all over the world. 

But for my family, its not just a tradition that we should do or comply with so as to avoid guilt. For us, its already part of our lives. Palm Sunday, is more than welcoming Christ to our lives just like the Jews welcome Jesus Christ in Jerusalem while happily waving palm leaves. Commemorating Palm Sunday means we always remember Christ that is already within our hearts. 

Let me share my reflections on the verses on today's gospel: Mark 15:1-39

Palm Sunday Celebration at  San Pedro Church, Davao City

^***29 The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads and said, 'Aha! So you would destroy theTemple and rebuild it in three days!

³⁰ Then save yourself; come down from the cross!'

³¹ The chief priests and the scribes mocked him among themselves in the same way with the words, 'He saved others, he cannot save himself.

.... Sometimes we underestimate the capacity of others. We question their qualifications and ability to do things and achieve success. There is more than what the eyes meet. We should not judge people because of their status in life, the way they dress, the things they own, the friends they have. Its true that first impression lasts. But on the contrary, first impression is not always lasting. We may judge people because of what they say and do but sometimes we fail to understand what lies behind that make them do or fail to do things in their lives. We can not give verdict on the totality of one's persona by just looking at them, but also by seeing them beyond their physical attributes.

"He saved others, he cannot save himself". Its a selfless act. A compassionate act! Do we still find these act of humility and selfishness nowadays? Well i guess, there is still. I believe man is kind by nature. God made us as basically good human beings, so simply we cannot just erase this within us. So lets just stay positive. Lets not believe that this world is being ruled by evils already. Evil things are always outsmarted by kindness. 

Giant poster that captures people, San Pedro Church Davao City

^***34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

....Its a prayer coming from the heart of Jesus Christ. In our prayer, we do tell everything to God. Our pains and happiness, our failure and success, our dreams and aspirations and everything else we want to tell Him. He listens. But do we listen to Him? We sometimes blame him with our disappointments and failures in life. We never thought that our failures shape us in the right way, like gold being tested on fire.  We sometimes blame others, situation and circumstances if problems hinder our ways. We forget that road barriers and roadblocks are motivations for us to use our initiative and intellect to straighten the road. I think, whatever come our ways, we should regard them positively. This is what we called being proactive. Being optimistic and judging things objectively.