The Very Stones Would Cry Out!

"Jesus makes his entry into Jerusalem as the Messiah on a donkey...
Our Lord has entered triumphantly into Jerusalem.  A few days later, in this same city, he will be nailed to a cross...

"...What accounts for such a turn around, and such inconsistent behavior?  If we are to understand at all, perhaps we only need to look into our own hearts.

"The triumphal entry...asks for loyalty and perseverance from each one of us, it calls us to deepen our faithfulness, and for our resolutions to be more than just bright lights that sparkle for a moment and then fade away.  There are some striking contrasts in the depth of our hearts, for we are capable of the very greatest things and also the very worst, ... we need to be constant and through penance deaden within us anything that separates us from God and prevents our following Our Lord unto the Cross.  Anyone who barricades himself in the citadel of his own selfishness will never come down onto the battlefield.  But if he raises the gates of his fortress and lets in the king of peace, then he will go out with the king to fight against all that misery which blurs the eyes and numbs the conscience."  --from In Conversation With God , pp.248-252