We stand gazing upon the Man
riding into Jerusalem
and we hear the crowd shout
in jubilation,
"Hosanna"
Hosanna?
What does it mean?
[PAUSE]
The people of Jerusalem
shout, "Hosanna"
in their native tongue
meaning, "please save us!"
They recognise that
the Man on the donkey
is the Messiah
who has come to save
Jerusalem from oppression.
At the very heart of the word
Hosanna in Hebrew and Aramaic
is "yesha'"
and you see that word
in the Hebrew name Yeshua,
which we know as Joshua
and its Greek form is
Jesus.
In calling "Hosanna" the crowd
are calling the Name of the Lord.
They recognise
that Jesus is the Saviour.
But saviour from what?
[PAUSE]
During Advent,
we think upon
The Four Last Things:
Death
Judgement
Hell and Heaven.
The first of these is Death.
In Advent,
we remember that
Our Lord comes
to save us from Death.
Death is the end of Life.
In Death we lose the power
to move ourselves,
to feel or express our thoughts.
In Death, we are slaves
to our inability to control
any aspect of the world around us.
In Death, we are utterly helpless.
Death enters the world
with the sins of Adam and Eve.
Because of Death,
we sin,
and because of sin,
we die.
Sin separates us
from awareness of God.
Death separates us
from the ability
to become aware of God.
Our Salvation
requires God Himself.
[PAUSE]
God is Life.
So He gives us Life
through His Son.
His Incarnation
is the means for us
to live Eternally,
to be able to move and have our being
in God.
[PAUSE]
Of course,
the Incarnation begins
at the Holy Conception of Our Lord,
the moment Our Lady
said "yes" to God
at the Annunciation.
Once we know that
He's on His way,
we can prepare ourselves to live
we can prepare ourselves
by recognising that
our ability to affect the world around us
is best lived in Christ.
[PAUSE]
We shout, "Hosanna!"
with the crowds
because we can be sure that
at the Heart of that Hosanna
is Life itself.
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