From hollow to hallowed And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:9 Hollow… I say it …. “Hosanna to the son of David!” I say it, and it just sounds hollow. I muster a second try … “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Nothing. Only silence answers back. How different from that day when our Lord rode into the Holy City on a colt. That day full of anticipation and excitement – a day of conquering hope, of victory! If only they had known the hollow silence and grief the next few days would bring. And what of us, perhaps shrouded in our own silence as we remember that triumphal entry into Jerusalem? In place of sweet hosannas, I hear the psalmist’s words: “How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land?” Psalm 137:4 Is this not the very drama of Holy Week that we remember year after year, when hopes were dashed, and tears were shed, and grief threatened to overwhelm? Is this not what the disciples encountered as they watched their master and friend betrayed and arrested – completely out of their control. Would they not have cried out in lamentation? Might they not have echoed Jesus’ words from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It is true that we are not forsaken. We know how the story ends. Easter will come. The grave will not have the last word. But for now, I will not reject the profound and sacred gift that lament has to offer. The opportunity to pour my heart out to God without fear or worry of rejection or condemnation to a loving Father who is trustworthy – who laments with me over the circumstances of my life and the world and rides triumphantly right into the depths of conflict, trauma, and despair as The Hosanna Himself reverberates in mercy, power, and love over all; transforming my cry from hollow to hallowed. Blessings,
Matthew+ Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP p. 219) | 
