You may remember as a child how Palm Sunday was filled with feelings of lightness and generosity. You got a sweet-scented palm, replacing the dry one burnt to ashes. Burning the old and replacing the new meant that soon a basket of candy would be appearing. Later in life, after you have outgrown the candy, what is there to look forward to? The Passion of Christ is filled with betrayal, abandonment, and death—like joy also all elements of a human life. Who is this man? Who are you?

Arise! The spirit is alive in you! What are Jesus’s expectations of you during your lifetime? Like Lazarus and his family, getting out of a hopeless, desperate situation may be enough—to get some distance from the sorrow of death and separation. But is that enough for a disciple of Christ? When Christ is saying to you arise, then arise in the spirit of life-without-end. Your resurrection and redemption begins with listening for his voice.

In the gospel Jesus faced Temple leaders, the parents of a sight-challenged man, and the surprised man himself whose sight was restored in order to clear up their perception of inherited sin. Jesus wanted them—and wants you—to see the truth of who he is and why he is here with us: to make us whole. When in your life have you been healed and have those around share in your restoration to wholeness?

When are you are thirsty, uncomfortable, feeling you don’t belong? Today is your day. In today’s scripture you learn that having a relationship with Jesus will fulfill your hopes. This experience of being understood and wanting to understand makes you human. This desire to satisfy your longings is the bridge where Jesus meets you. That is the conversation God wants to have with so you may go on in grace and peace.

At the baptism of Jesus, God declared: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” At the Transfiguration these words are repeated, perhaps with more drama. The apostles were challenged to listen to Jesus—and then told not to say anything until he had been raised from the dead. When in your life has an event so changed your understanding of the world that you don’t know what to do or who to trust? God tells you again; listen to my beloved Son.

Don’t eat the fruit of a beautiful tree? Go out into the desert without provisions? Are you kidding me? Lent is here! These readings remind you of the boundaries between God and human beings. The words may conjure up feelings of sin, temptation, and failure, but, you learn of mercy as well and enter into the mystery of redemption.

Have you ever talked to someone who has been unemployed for an extended period? Worry and anxiety about tomorrow is intense. To those situations Jesus says: Do not worry about your life. Do not toil unless for the kingdom of God. Do not worry about what to eat, what to drink, or what to wear. Do not worry about your life. God remembers you, knows you, and brings light into your darkness. Trust in God and be confident in the life God has given you.

Earlier in Matthew the gospel asked you to settle on your way to court so not to be judged yourself. Now you are asked to deepen your relationships, to be kind and merciful, even with your enemies. What injustice in your own life keeps you from an open heart? What keeps you stuck in resentfulness? You belong to God, and with God’s love your heart has the capacity to let go and move on.

It’s simple: Make a promise and keep it. But life happens; vows are broken, truthfulness is blurred. Jesus reminds you that he accepts your humanity and gives you God’s perspective: what you can’t see, what you can’t hear, and what only your heart can know. God is there. When are you humbled by God’s covenant of love? Be assured: God doesn’t break promises.

The point in today’s gospel reading is to be “salt”: not to lose your taste for life or the flavor you bring to it.