Russian icon of Jesus entering Jerusalem
Palm Sunday
Today is Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem upon a donkey to the shouts of children strewing palms. Five days later he would be crucified. Here’s a wonderful G. K. Chesterton poem of the event told from the point of view of the donkey. It reminds us that Jesus is the savior of the outcast and the downtrodden.
The Donkey
By G. K. Chesterton
When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.
With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil’s walking parody
On all four-footed things.
The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.
Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.
