Word & Wisdom Wednesday | Palm Sunday Reflection | Matthiew 21:1–11
St. Joseph’s Spirituality Centre, Manhattan Beach, California | March 25, 2026
Dear Friends,
On Palm Sunday, we use two gospel readings during the main celebration—one at the procession, and the other during the Mass.
For your information, the one proclaimed during the Mass is usually the Passion narrative of our Lord according to any one of the three synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, chosen according to the liturgical year, A, B, or C. And again, we read the passion narrative once again on Good Friday, which is always taken from the Gospel of St. John.
While each of these passion narratives is profound, full of details, and there is plenty to fathom and contemplate, my favorite Gospel text on Palm Sunday, true to the significance of the day, is the text we read at the beginning of the procession, remembering Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
So tonight, I invite you to focus your attention on that text, which we will now listen to.
(The text is read contemplatively…. Mat. 21:1–11)
The Colt
I said the triumphant entry. But imagine the paradox. Jesus enters Jerusalem not on a mighty horse, not with fanfare that screams “look at me”, not with knights, not like a magical unicorn from the clouds…
He comes on a colt and a donkey, a small, ordinary, seemingly insignificant animal… Not only insignificant, but it is also devalued to the extent that when somebody does something seemingly stupid, we say, “Look, what a donkey he is.”)
Pause there. Because that’s where your story begins, too.
We have heard of Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer and how other reindeer laughed and called him names…We have heard of Mary saying, “How could it be… I am a mere handmaid of God”. We have heard of Mary and Joseph having not found a place in the inn, “They laid him in a manger…” We have heard of Jesus telling his disciples, “The foxes have holes, and the birds in the air have their nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”. And now, this same Lord chooses a colt to carry him in his triumphant entry into the city.
What an irony. What a juxtaposition…What a paradox… It is what I love the most in today’s gospel, and there are so many of them in the synoptic gospels… Understanding them is essential, because it reveals who God really is, what he expects of us, what we really are, and what we are supposed to be and do…
So, let’s try to imagine ourselves in the place of that colt… You have no choice. You are tied up, overlooked, and probably thought of as unimportant. And yet, when Our Lord needs you, he sends his disciples to you… saying, “I need him/her.”
The Call
Need? Yes, He needs you. With all your strengths, gifts, skills, talents, hopes, and plans… with all your weaknesses, sorrows, ups and downs, limitations, and sinfulness, your past and your present, he needs you to become a vehicle for Him...
Sometimes, it feels like life ties us up too much. Like we’re carrying too much pressure from school, work, family, friendships, relationships, and commitments. Maybe pain from the past, anxiety about the future, questions about who we really are. Some of us feel unseen, unheard, like the colt in a world that only notices winners and influencers.
And in a world like today’s, it doesn’t make it any easier either, where there is a care crisis, be it hunger, wars, injustice, people struggling to survive, deportations, and environmental crises. It’s a world filled with negative narratives… of misunderstandings, condemnations, judgments, untruth, and pride…
And perhaps it is where we feel lost… There seems to be more whys than answers… more wounding than binding… more tears than miracles… and more crucifixions than resurrections in our lives, in our families, neighborhoods, and in the world…
And as Christians, that’s where our authentic call is: To be a positive narrative, to come up with positive narratives (as Pope Francis would say)… of compassion, healing, love, forgiveness…
And it’s where we might feel vulnerable, lost, and ask the question, How can I make a difference?
Jesuit story of being available and willing…(Fr. Pedro Arrupe – Apostolic availability…)
The Cross
Here’s the good news: you don’t have to be extraordinary. You don’t have to have it all figured out. All that we need is to be available, just like that insignificant colt in the gospel.
That’s the Ignatian way. God works not through the flashy, the powerful, or the perfect, or with wealth, power, and honor—but through the ordinary, the willing, the open-hearted, or the poverty, humility, and insult.
So, if you are insulted, rejected, or ill-treated because you are spiritually poor, because you forgive, because you are humble, be content because “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise… what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (I Cor. 1.27).
And the world? The care crisis around us? It doesn’t need perfection. It needs availability. It needs people willing to show up, to care, to speak, to act, to love. In other words, it needs you.
The colt didn’t become something else before being chosen. It didn’t pretend. It didn’t have to prove its worth. It was just available… It just allowed itself to be untied; it just gave Jesus a chance; and that did all the magic.
And that’s your first invitation this Holy Week: be untied, and give Jesus a chance. Untie yourself from fear, shame, comparison, the need to be perfect, and that which you are afraid of giving up. Let Jesus/God sit on your life.
And when you let yourself be untied, and when God sits on you, remember—the road the colt carries Jesus on leads straight to the Cross. Palm branches today, loud Hosanna today, yes. But Crucifixion, terrifying “Crucify Him” shouts in a few days. That’s the reality. And it’s the same for us: following Christ means joy, yes—but also suffering, rejection, betrayal, denial, and constantly struggling to overcome our moments of temptations, trials, addictions, and desolation—the moments of doubt, confusion, despair, sorrow.
But here’s the difference: when you carry Christ, your struggles are not in vain…they are not meaningless: where there is a question, there also lies the answer … Tears come before miracles… The gold is tested by fire…There is no resurrection without crucifixion… Good Friday comes before Easter…
Conclusion
So, hear this personally today: The Lord has need of you. He needs you… And in realizing that need and in giving Him a chance, believe me, and believe this mantra, “something beautiful is going to happen to me today…”
Not when you’re perfect. Not when your life is “together.” But now. With your questions, your struggles, your desire to make a difference. Let Him untie you. Let Him ride on your life. And carry Him into your world—into your campus, your relationships, especially the ones you find it hard to show mercy or forgive, your family, your community. Of course, with the promise that He transforms the road to the Cross into a road of resurrection, hope, and new life.
Reflection Prompts
1. The Colt: What is tying me down right now? What keeps me from freedom—fear, habits, shame, resentment, or expectation.
2. The Call: Where is Christ calling me to be available and carry Him in daily life? Hear Him saying, “I need you.” Could it be a relationship, a work situation, a conversation, a family moment, or a place of pain around you?
3. The Cross: How can I respond to the care crisis in the world, at least during this week? Pick one concrete action (a call, a visit, a simple act of kindness, or caring for creation) and offer it as your way of carrying Christ.
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