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Many years before Christ was born, Jerusalem was invaded, and the holy Temple desecrated and destroyed, to the horror of the people.

Many years before Christ was born, Jerusalem was invaded, and the holy Temple desecrated and destroyed, to the horror of the people.

Jesus enters Jerusalem in procession (Palm Sunday)

Jesus enters Jerusalem in procession (Palm Sunday)

Before the time of Christ, people had to go to the Temple at Jerusalem to be where God had come down in a special way. But Jesus, by His saving work, and the gift of Baptism, has made possible the entry of God, and the indwelling of God, in His glory, in the soul of the one who has freely accepted Christ and the sacrament.

A wise Christian never says: 'This path before me is so difficult or painful that God can't possibly want me to follow it'. A friend of Christ follows where Christ has led him, avoiding an easier route. He steers straight towards the Heavenly Jerusalem.

There are all sort of trials that must be faced by Christians who are trying to be faithful. This should not surprise us. Christ was not surprised by the jeering crowds who lined the streets of Jerusalem as He staggered along the road the Calvary.

To be in the Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is to be in the Presence of God: to be with our Saviour now, as the Apostles were with Him in Galilee or Jerusalem. Though He is 'hidden', he deserves adoration and reverence in traditional ways. It is not appropriate to arrange rock music, or half-naked dancing girls.

When we suffer heartache, in earthly life, because our own children are sad or in trouble, we do well to remember Our Lady, and the heartache she suffered: not just at her son's Passion, in Jerusalem, but earlier in Galilee, when she waved to Christ as He left her to set out at last on His adult Ministry.

The sanctuary of a Catholic church is a holy place, just as was the holy of holies in the Temple at Jerusalem. A man who enters the sanctuary as a priest to offer Christ in sacrifice, in the Mass, should be pure and holy in body, mind and soul. If he is not, he should repent, and confess his sins when he can.

Christ wept over Jerusalem because He saw, even in that holy city, the very sins which have festered in human hearts in every age of history: not just greed, lust and envy, but also malicious misinterpretation of innocent remarks and events, vengeful desires, and other sins, all of which injure individuals and damage families, communities and nations.