Hosanna to the Son of David, the King
of Israel! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
The season of Lent comes to an end with Holy Week.
The liturgy is not afraid of tragedy. It makes us live the hour of Jesus, that
Hour
at once dark and glorious for which he had said he had come.
We follow Jesus' every footstep - from the moment of his triumphal
entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, acclaimed by
the crowd of his followers, to the desolation and lonliness
of Golgotha where he is abandoned - even by those he had chosen
and for whom he offers his life-blood.
Everything happens quickly and seems to collapse.
Yet, even in what seems to be complete dereliction: Father, why have you deserted me? Jesus stretches out his arms, welcomes, gathers and attracts
to himself the whole of mankind and the universe.
All seems lost; all is about to begin.