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of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It's my great

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joy to greet you on this wonderful feast day.

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We've gathered together. What a wonderful assembly

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this is. And we hold our palm branches as a sign

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of our fidelity to Christ. And not like Judas,

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second -guessing the Lord. Well, Lord, you shouldn't

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allow her to do that. We need that money. No,

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we follow the Lord wherever he goes. Sometimes

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it doesn't make sense to us. But we're his joyful

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disciples. That's really what I want to speak

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about today. But let's look at what the Gospel

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said. The first part of the Gospel. We see this

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plot that's developing and Judas' own hesitation

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and planning to be part of that plot. And then

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we hear about the procession and the people gathering

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and the children gathering up in the trees. There

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you can see that fresco. And we have that tradition

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here too as our procession goes around. But kids,

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as you get older, remember that's just an olive

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tree. If you're big... that branch might come

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off, so be careful. Sacred history of the Old

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Testament tells us that the last time someone

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of significance rode an ass into Jerusalem, it

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was the coronation day of King Solomon, David's

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son. The people of Jerusalem, at the time of

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Jesus, knew this history. They knew their scripture,

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and they were eager and pleased to see Jesus

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fulfilling this prophecy that the Savior, the

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Messiah, would come seated on the foal of an

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ass. He would be humble and meek. Obviously,

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when he had raised the dead man Lazarus from

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the dead after four days in the tomb, the Lord

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demonstrated that he is the resurrection and

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the life. He who believes in me, he said, though

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he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives

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and believes in me shall never die. What an interesting

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saying. But we know it's true from our own baptism.

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We're alive in Christ and we shall not die. We

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shall never be separated from God. Word had quickly

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spread about Lazarus' raising and Jesus the miracle

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worker. There had been no king in Israel. Anybody

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know how long it had been since King Zedekiah?

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In 598 BC. the time of the Babylonian exile and

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destruction. So this was a momentous day, and

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it was just before the Feast of Passover, as

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we know, a week before people were gathering.

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By this time, there were not just hundreds of

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thousands of people that had come to Jerusalem.

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There were perhaps over a million that were coming

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for the feast. St. John's Gospel also tells us,

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we heard this, that the chief priest said that

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if they let Jesus receive all this adulation,

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this gathering of people shouting, Hosanna, the

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King of Israel, everyone will believe in him.

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And the Romans, quote from one of the priests,

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will come and take away our place and our nation.

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We're afraid of that sometimes with Jesus, aren't

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we? That he's going to take away something from

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us. But the Lord doesn't need to enslave anyone.

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He wants friends. He wants love. Christ weeps,

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just like yesterday. He weeps once more. Now

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as he drew near, says St. Luke, he saw the city.

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and wept over it, saying, If you had known, even

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you, especially in this your day, the things

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that make for your peace, but now they are hidden

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from your eyes, and you will be destroyed. The

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Romans would do that. So the crowds on Palm Sunday

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could not know what we know now about Jesus.

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Their expectations were very far off about what

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they expected him to do. Bread and circuses,

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no, not really, but certainly worldly power and

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religious dominance. But our king is humble.

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He doesn't need to acquire power from anyone.

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He's riding on an ass. And he knows he's riding

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on the way to the death of a criminal. He's riding,

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may appear that way, he's riding actually on

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his way to conquer death and to conquer sin.

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So let's ask ourselves, brothers and sisters,

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what are the expectations of a citizen of the

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kingdom of heaven, this kind of king, this humble

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king? What do we expect of this king? Isn't it

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true? Yes, we struggle. We struggle to live our

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Christian life. And we want Christ to fulfill

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our needs, yes. And, in fact, Jesus Christ does

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tell us in the Sermon on the Mount, why are you

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anxious for all of these things? Your Heavenly

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Father knows you need them. Seek first the kingdom

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of God and all things you need will be given.

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We're to be his ambassadors. We're to be his

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witnesses. That's our task. Works of mercy. We're

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asking God all the time to do things to help

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us, to help this world. But it's our task to

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do some of those things. It's our task to be

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witnesses of his love. When we're confronted

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by life's sorrow, says the elder Emilianos from

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this book I was reading the other night after

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the pre -sanctified, when we're confronted by

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pain, by obstacles, by failures and all the tempests

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of life, how do we deal with God? Or do we bow

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our head and praise him? Life is filled with

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pain and sorrow. There has never been a place,

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there is not now, and there will never be on

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the planet Earth a time without pain, without

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sorrow, without suffering, without sin. It is

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our task, brothers and sisters, to become like

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Christ by being joined to him. If this is just

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a religious assembly, then let's go home now.

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If this is just joyful singing for the sake of

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aesthetics, then let's just forget it. Our task

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is to be united to our Savior. Elder Milenos

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goes on to say this. All of us face difficult

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moments when we're tempted to say that God is

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to blame or that he's forgotten me. And who knows?

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We say, maybe there is no God, but if God does

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exist, he's cruel. Why does he torment me like

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this? While unbelievers rejoice, and so on and

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so on. But in these difficult moments, let us

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say, glory to thee, O God. With these words,

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you show that you are a witness for Christ, and

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that you accept with joy. the struggle and the

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pain that you encounter. The witness in the struggle

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against doubts, against hesitation, against imagining,

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against sin. And we become not examples, but

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reflections of our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ.

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And then we can say with St. Paul, as he sat

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in a prison, awaiting for an eventual execution,

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you heard this this morning, have no anxiety

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about anything. He had no illusions about the

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suffering and the pain that he would face. But

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he said that Christ's grace was more powerful

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than his weakness. And the foundation of the

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peace that St. Paul describes was not in hopes

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of a nation defeating its opponents with power

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of the world, but simply in the confession, did

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you hear it today? Be not anxious about anything.

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The Lord is at hand. Christ is coming. Be anxious

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for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication

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with thanksgiving. Let your petitions be known

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to God. And the peace of God which surpasses

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all understanding will guard your hearts and

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your minds in Christ Jesus. We have desire, and

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it's right, for goodness, for justice, for the

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end of pain and sorrow and wickedness. We have

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that desire, and that is right that we have that.

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And we should work towards... ending those terrible

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things and those sinful things, first in ourself,

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knowing that the Lord himself will come in glory

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and wipe every tear from every eye, and sin and

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death and the devil will be cast into the lake

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of fire, which means they won't exist anymore.

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Let me end with this short... This short excerpt

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from a sermon of St. Photius the Great, a 9th

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century saint. He gave this sermon on the Feast

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of Palms. Hosanna, he says. Blessed is he that

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comes to reach out his arms on the cross and

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to gather all peoples to himself. Blessed is

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he that comes to make Hades a prisoner. to release

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Adam from his bonds, to raise him from his fall.

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Blessed is he that comes to destroy the power

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of tyranny and to bestow liberty on them that

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are sore distressed. Blessed is he that comes

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to empty out the storehouses of Hades and to

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fill the heavenly mansions with the throng of

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the saved. Blessed is he that comes to offer

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himself as a sacrifice for our sake. to expiate

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all our sins, to reconcile us with the Father.

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Blessed is he, Hosanna, that comes to suppress

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death, to inaugurate our resurrection, to free

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us from servitude, to bestow on us adoption as

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his children. For it is thine own will, O Creator,

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to have given us existence and fashioned us out

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of nothing. And after we had fallen and been

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crushed, to have raised us up again, and restored

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us. And to thee do we send up praise and thanksgiving

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together with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

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one in essence, life -giving, all -powerful Trinity,

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now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. And

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we all say, Hosanna!