By: Fr Christopher Maseko
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The Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion marks the start and the holiest time of the liturgical year of the Catholic Church; the Holy Week. Today’s liturgy combines two contrasting moments, one of glory, the other of suffering – the welcome of Jesus and His entry into Jerusalem through the Last Supper to his crucifixion, death, and resurrection.
We are told that Christ came into this world to announce the Good News. What was the good news he came to announce? It was the proclamation of the kingdom. You have often heard the expressions ‘Kingdom of God’ and ‘Kingdom of Heaven.’ The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven mean one and the same thing. If someone we to ask you as to what it was that you understood by the expression ‘Kingdom of God’ I wonder what you would have to say. The Kingdom of God is not a territory like the kingdom of Eswatini. The Kingdom of God means the reign of God in our lives. It is the central petition of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ – Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. In fact, God’s Kingdom comes when His will is done in our lives. To belong to the Kingdom one must make a clear-cut decision. “no one,” said Jesus, “ who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.” There must be total commitment.