Palm Sunday
“Rather, He emptied himself”—Philippians 2:7
Years ago I started (but didn’t finish) writing a mostly instrumental song, but it was written around this only lyric:
Only a foolish lover planting desert gardens
When I know the risk, but still I choose
To love like this
In the first week of Lent, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and then led into the desert (Luke 4:1). Marked with ashes, we are sent to a time of repentance. This 40-day season prepares us for His resurrection through three Lenten pillars: prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. Much more than giving up coffee or sweets, Saint John Paul II describes fasting as a “deep and complex reality” (1979). He goes on to say that it “purifies the heart from so much dross of evil, beautifies the soul with virtues, trains the will to good, dilates the heart to receive the abundance of divine grace.” A desert time.
In a desert ecosystem, one thinks of aridity, low precipitation, little vegetation, and harsh temperatures. In the spiritual life, we might experience the same. Seasons of dryness in prayer when we don’t feel the consolations of God. The suffering of life and the doubts that may come with it. Feeling overcome with our sins or despondent from the sins of others. This recurring season on the Church calendar reminds us each year that “there is an appointed time for everything,” and “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 11). Saint Teresa of Avila speaks profoundly on these stages of prayer and encourages us to have hope and be courageous during these seasons. (For the full weight of her teaching as a Church Doctor, see The Interior Castle.)
In contrast, Easter is the highest of all Solemnities and feasts! We await the resurrection of our Lord all year. It is the summit of our faith, and the central feast from which every other liturgical season revolves. How many quotes from the popes and saints are there on this great Heavenly banquet? How many metaphors regard the beatific vision as a new Eden? A garden time. An evergreen environment of not only blooms, but superblooms. Restoration to the Trinity, and union with the saints.
…but not yet.
As Holy Week begins, we enter a desert garden. We revere Jesus’s last days on earth as we reflect on our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. Palm Sunday commemorates His entrance into Jerusalem when He is greeted with the fanfare of Hosanna, which we see in the first reading. We know that at the end of this week, the crowds will be shouting not “Hosanna,” but “Crucify Him!” The fullness of His Incarnation was made known in these “in-between” days, shrouded in mystery. Somewhere between desert and garden.
This week, let us reflect on Jesus’s full and complete gift of Himself as He emptied Himself. He was entirely spent like a candle on the altar. What a gift that this “foolish lover” chose the paradox of the cross to love you (and me) like this (1 Corinthians 1:25).
Krista Corbello is a speaker, activist, and artist from the two LAs—Louisiana and Los Angeles.
You can find out more about her here.