Today marks both Palm Sunday and the Annunciation. This is altogether fitting, as both are days of heralding what is to come. We enter now Holy Week, a week marked by both triumph and tragedy. The passages for today are easy enough to guess ahead of time:
26Â In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27Â to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virginâs name was Mary. 28Â And he came to her and said, âGreetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.â 29Â But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30Â The angel said to her, âDo not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31Â And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32Â He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33Â He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.â 34Â Mary said to the angel, âHow can this be, since I am a virgin?â 35Â The angel said to her, âThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36Â And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37Â For nothing will be impossible with God.â 38Â Then Mary said, âHere am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.â Then the angel departed from her.
(Luke 1:26-38)
Yet more triumph awaits:
28Â After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29Â When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30Â saying, âGo into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31Â If anyone asks you, âWhy are you untying it?â just say this, âThe Lord needs it.ââ 32Â So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33Â As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, âWhy are you untying the colt?â 34Â They said, âThe Lord needs it.â 35Â Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36Â As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37Â As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38Â saying,
âBlessed is the king
    who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
    and glory in the highest heaven!â39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, âTeacher, order your disciples to stop.â 40 He answered, âI tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.â
(Luke 19:28-40)
But as I mentioned earlier, this is also a week of tragedy. And it is altogether fitting that the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem should transition quickly into a tale of tragedy:
41Â As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42Â saying, âIf you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43Â Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44Â They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.â
(Luke 19:41-44)
Thinking on it, it occurs to me that in many respects all of Creation was waiting for this week since the beginning. Indeed, one might argue that Creation was made for this week, as it would restore what had been lost.