“From Hosanna to Crucify Him”

Today, we begin the holiest week of our liturgical year — Holy Week. The Mass of Palm Sunday  usually starts  with the joyful procession of palms, echoing the cries of the people in Jerusalem: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

We raise our palm branches in celebration, just as the crowds did over 2,000 years ago. They welcomed Jesus like a king, hoping He would free them from Roman rule. But what a difference a few days make. The same crowd that shouted “Hosanna” would later cry “Crucify Him!”

Why this change? Because Jesus was not the kind of king they expected. They wanted power — He came in humility. They wanted a throne — He embraced the cross. They wanted vengeance — He offered mercy. Christ doesn’t just die for us. He enters into our suffering. He knows what it means to be abandoned, misunderstood, betrayed, and wounded. When we feel like no one understands our pain, we remember: He does.

So as we hold our palms today — let them not just be souvenirs. Let them remind us of the choice we face: Will we follow Jesus only when He gives us what we want?
Or will we follow Him all the way to the cross — trusting that resurrection lies beyond it?

This week, let us walk with Jesus. Not just as spectators of His Passion, but as disciples who take up our own cross with Him — in our families, in our struggles, in our daily sacrifices. May this Holy Week be a time of deep conversion — so that when Easter comes, we can rise with Him, renewed in heart and soul.