New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-04-06
THOUGHTS on PALM SUNDAY.
By A. LATC.

| gtetLou WIN IOuu 'lOSdnnae, HIS pdLu"a y
strewn with palm branches. To their
earthly minds He was the God-appointed
deliverer of the Isrelitish nation from the
Roman yoke, the Prince of the house OF
David, who was TO re-establish the autonomy
of their race, and found kingdom before
whose glory that of Solomon should pale
into insigniicance; a kingdom to which
ali the nations OF the earth should pay
tribute. Eis social position, to be sure,
did not correspond with their preconcelved
notions OF that of the expected deliverer.
His family was of the humblest; His chosen
associates were workingmen, fishermen and
mechanics; he did not assume any mys-
terry o. soemnity; did not seclude Himself
from the public gaze, appearing only on
rare and solemn occasions. On the con-
trary, he taught openly in the streets and
in the Temple, on the mountain side and
the rivers bank, and all who would might
hear his doctrine and witness his miracles.
Still there was about him an air of majesty,
a tone of authority, which impressed all
who stood in his presence. He was royalty
selt-possessed. No lawyer, the most acute
or artful, could for moment puzzle him or
disturb his equanimity. Whether the Gues-
| ton proposed was one of the Jewish law,
as old as the time of Moses, or one of
equity freshly started for the occasion, he
was equally prepared, and invariably
| spoke as one having authority. His
miracles, too, were admitted to be
such as could be performed only by
one having God with him: such as
to impress all, both high and low. with awe
and admiration and to inspire the most i'm
| piicit confidence in his power and his be-
| nevolence. When he went abroad he was
| beset by the blind, the deaf, the mute. the
| crippled, the friends of those unable to
| come or unfit to be carried out into the
| public ways. And the blind saw, the deaf
heard, the dumb spoke, the insane were re-
stored, the paralyzed jumped for joy. the
sick at home became well at his mere word,
those who only touched the hem of his gar
ment were healed of long standing infirmi-
ties. Even the dead rose from their tombs
at his command. A short while before this,
his last entrance into Jerusalem, his great
spread his fame far ard near so that not
only the people, but even many of the chief
rulers believed him to be the expected
Messiah, the Son of David, foretold by the
prophets. What if hts social position was
humble! God was no respecter of persons
David himself had been raised from
humble life to the throne, and although
~. ~
promised Messiah should be of princeIy |
rank, the prophecies never expressly de- |
clared more than that he should be of |
princely lineage, a descendant of David. |
This then was the state of feeling in Je- |
rusalem OF that memorable morning when |
Jesus FOR the last time entered its gates. |
The common people recognized in him |
their promised Messiah, and greeted him as
such, thinking in their gross manner that |
the next step was to crown him as king. |
Disappointed in this expectation, the same |
multitude may be seen within less than |
week bowling for his blood. Now, however, |
all is JOY and triumph. The cries of |
"Hosanna" fill the air: rich garments are |
thrown beneath the feet of the humble |
beast which he had selected TO bear into |
the city, the symbolic palm is scattered in |
his pathway, he is hailed again and again !
as king Of Israel He that cometh in the |
name Of the Lord His chosen disciples, |
putfed up with hope, began already to |
speculate upon the positions of distinction |
and power which they were shortly to pos
sess in the new kingdom. Meanwhile he |
knew that he was riding to the seaffold |
Propheticaily he heard the cry "Crucify |
him cruelty him." mingling with the |
"Hosannas:" he foresaw the desertion of |
his chosen ones; he anticipated the agony |
of the cross.
The commemoration of this and other |
events in the life of Jesus practiced by the |
Catholic and EpiscOpalian Churches is a |
holy and wholesome custom. It brings |
home to the minds and hearts of those who |
participate in it the humanity of Jesus, |
the only phase of mis- nature, even to those |
who believe in its duality, that can in any |
way profit us; his mildness. dignity. for
bearance. wisdom, benevolence. By the |
yearly recurrence of holy week. of which |
Palm Sunday is the first day. the worship. |
ers in these churches are taken back to the |
very times when Jesus lived and walked on
earth; their faith is strengthened anew,
their love warmed. Worldly matters for
the time assume their true insig gniicance,
and the earth is trOdden upon a. foot
stool, not revered as a throne. What if |
they all resume their work-a-day tone of |,
ind hn dar oft 70 -,
is over 1t has done them good to be even
nomentarily raised above themselves and |
the vulgar cares that daily oppress them
and one moments sublimity of sentiment
may perhaps season long dreary level Of |
commonplace.
Z 1t Is true tina. we all have tho Bible, and
may read when we will the sublime and
touching story of Christ's passion and
death; may ponder upon it in secret, and
realize by the forcs of imagination the
scenes therein depicted. The celebration of
the Lords supper is also regarded by many
as the all-sutficient commemOration of ais
sacrifice. But neither the private reading
of the gospel story, nor the partaking of the
Lords supper (cOnfined as it is by usage TO
the few, can take the place of the public
commemoratien of the events of his passion
as cele brated in the churches above named.
We think. therefore. that the so-ealied
evangelical and liberal forms of Christian.
ity would greatly strengthen themselves by
in some modified form ceremO.
malls corresponding to those Of the old
church, at least to the extent of noticing