Our service began with the traditional blessing and distribution of palms to the faithful, followed by a procession in song in which "glad hosannas ring." This simple parish celebration is simply a kind of imitation of something Christians have done for more than 1700 years: pilgrimages, principally to the Holy City but also sometimes to other sites, like the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England.
The great pollster George Gallup once quipped that early Christians came to Jerusalem like Muslims come to Mecca and Baptists to Tulsa! Today's liturgy is based on those early pilgrimages to the city of Jerusalem. What our reading of the biblical text often misses is the fact that "Hosanna," besides being a religious profession, was also a revolutionary cry on the lips of an oppressed people; the one who accepted messianic accolades signed his own death warrant.
As we live into the story of salvation this week, we do well to reflect that Jesus stood against political oppression, religious opportunism, economic exploitation, and imperialism, without any regard to the consequences. As his followers, we are called to do the same.
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