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19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. 29 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 118:19-29 NRSV)
Happy Tuesday, dear Reader. I pray the blessings of Christ the King be with you and yours. I pray calm and peace be traits reigning in your life. This being hunkered down and hanging in can bring stress to family in certain situations. A friend who pastors a church in Montgomery County posted an article about domestic violence going up 35%. We know that sometimes it is easy for tempers to flare, or for a word to be taken wrong, and the results are not ideal. Please pray for patience, peace, and the pace for all that we all are facing.
The Lectionary, which is the Church's recommendation to cover most of the Bible in three years, sometimes limits the texts for Palm Sunday to two; and delegates the rest to Sunday being the Passion of Jesus, which is mainly for those churches that do not traditionally have Maundy Thursday or Good Friday services. Those churches are few and far between in this area. We thank God for the faithful in the area who celebrate those days. Yet we are aware this will be a year that goes down in the history books and the memory banks of our hearts as a very different year. We will still have worship via online, and we will remember the power of God at work in the acts that we know God shared on our behalf.
Palm Sunday is the start of Holy Week. It was Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, where he would experience this welcome, and other events that set up what happened on Friday that we call Good Friday. Its impact and lasting power is that God had foretold the coming of this day through the prophets and psalmist. The first verse of this psalm states, "Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord." Interesting that years before this event even took place, the Son of God is asking for entrance into His beloved city of Jerusalem. It makes me think of the stories we have heard through the years of Jesus asking to be invited into some churches. We may think that funny, but in some cases it may be very true. And the city of Jerusalem was not known for always inviting God into it; and at this very time of Jesus, God was not being openly shared even in His own church. It was, in the fullness of time, that God acted in this way. Such was the need of the day and the people who were hungry and thirsting for God. Think about what the world would be like had God not acted on our behalf. The only church that bears the seed of our faith would be the Jewish Church. The other parts of the world would have Isalm, Buddhism, Hinduism, and several Asian faiths. None of which offer the hope of salvation like ours, or the personal relationship we enjoy with God through Christ Jesus. The world would be a dismal place. Jerusalem would be a different city with its gates still closed to God. Once the gates opened, into them walked the Cornerstone of Faith, Who is Jesus. And this was because of God's action, a "marvelous" work in "our eyes." That day becomes the one to which we say, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Interesting how the psalmist knows to ask, years and years before, for God to save them. And he knows that the one who comes in the name of the Lord is the one they were expecting, and his written words became part of the chant the crowds lifted to Jesus. The words had come true, and through Jesus the world took a turn for the better in a radical way. You and I are the better for it.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, again we are thankful for all You have done on our behalf. The world is a better place because of Your Son Jesus and we pray that it become even better. Use us to share the good news of Your love with others. As we await news of our deliverance from this current crisis, grant us peace and patience. Again we pray for healing for those sick; comfort for those who have lost loved ones. We pray for those hurting from unemployment and hunger; use us to help. And this we pray in He who is our King, King Jesus our God, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share the joy of your voice with a telephone call to someone who's homebound today.
Receive my blessings of peace and love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
