Hosanna Heysanna Sanna Sanna Ho
Sanna Hey Sanna Ho Sanna
Hey JC, JC won't you smile at me?
Sanna Ho Sanna Hey Superstar
Christ you know I love you
Did you see I waved?
I believe in you and God
So tell me that I'm saved
Jesus I am with you
Touch me touch me Jesus
Jesus I am on your side
Kiss me kiss me Jesus
Today is Palm Sunday. I have faithfully played the Jesus Christ Superstar album in its entirety every year on this day since Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice shared their masterpiece with the world in 1970. Forty years. I cry every time. Perhaps it triggers some emotional hormones as I was beginning my adolescent years and now I am destined to endure the same pangs as back then. As I close my eyes and listen to the rock opera, I feel strong spiritual connectedness to the Passion of Christ's final journey on earth more fervently than I would in any church service re-enactment.
Everyone knows about Palm Sunday. The practice of blessing and distributing palm fronds ranks among the Church's most cherished sacramental practices. Who wants to miss getting his or her palm? So young and old, rich and poor, conservative and liberal, find common ground and instant solidarity when each holds up the strips of greenish palm that are distributed to those who commemorate Christ's entrance into Jerusalem. To receive blessed palm commits us to a way of life. Once the palm frond is placed in our hands, we discover ourselves set on pilgrimage. We move toward the heavenly Jerusalem, the place where God welcomes all those who have done His will throughout the ages. The Palm Sunday pilgrimage is unlike other spiritual exercises we make. At its head rides Jesus. Our sung hosannas remind us that Jesus abides with us even as we journey toward him and his kingly city.
Prayer: On this Palm Sunday, Jesus, you were greeted by the crowd with songs of joy. May I, too, greet you with love and praise. The crowd that cheered you, however, turned against you on Good Friday. May I be your loyal follower in good times and in bad. Hosanna, Jesus, I offer praise to you, may I give you joy in all that I do today and during this Holy Week. Have mercy on me when I fail. Amen.
Neither you Simon, nor the fifty thousand
Nor the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Judas nor the Twelve,
Nor the Priests, nor the Scribes
Nor doomed Jerusalem itself,
Understands what power is
Understand what glory is
Understand at all..understand at all
If you knew all that I knew, my poor Jerusalem
You'd see the truth, but you close your eyes
But you close your eyes
xo
