“Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” versus “Crucify Him, Crucify Him.” These proclamations are the most expressive contrast to this Palm Sunday’s liturgy, initiating the Holy Week. It has always been a great challenge for people to really comprehend the entire construction of this liturgical tradition of Palm Sunday, basically divided into two great parts. The first part offers the landscape of a great crowd filled with excitement, waving branches, chanting, and welcoming Jesus to their towns while he was on his way to Jerusalem. The second part is linked to a change of mood of a crowd who left themselves driven and haunted by an ideology and the false testimony of a desperate group of the establishment, accusing Jesus of being subversive and controversial. We are at the peak of the temptation, the ambivalence that has always been the case of human beings dealing with reality. This attitude gives us an idea about how human beings can switch positions just from a game of opinion and a game of manipulation.
In the middle of all this controversy, manipulation, abandonment, treason, insults, and condemnation, Jesus kept his calm, self-control, his total obedience to his Father, and remained single-hearted to the end. With love, compassion, and mercy, he offered himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our salvation. He became the Bread of Life for us. In considering Jesus as the Bread of Life, the USCCB norms remind us that Holy Communion is an Act of Faith. Christ’s presence in the Eucharist challenges human understanding, logic, and ultimately reason. His presence cannot be known by the senses, but only through faith—a faith that is continually deepened through the act of celebration. As the Church fathers warned, relying solely on senses would reveal only bread and wine; instead, we recall the word of Christ by whose power they are transformed into His own Body and Blood.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem taught as early as the 4th century that what seems to be bread and wine is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. This deep mystery is reflected even in the way we receive the Eucharist today. When receiving in the hand, we are guided by St. Cyril’s beautiful instruction: “When you approach, take care not to do so with your hand stretched out and your fingers open or apart, but rather place your left hand as a throne beneath your right, as befits one who is about to receive the King.” As we begin this Holy Week, we pray that Christ the Living Bread enlightens our hearts and helps us remain steadfast in a world of shifting opinions.
