The liturgies of Holy Week are filled with some of the richest and most ancient symbols of the Catholic faith.
PALM SUNDAY (PASSION SUNDAY) is the beginning of Holy Week. Palm Sunday is one week before Easter Sunday. 5th Sunday of Lent used to be referred to as Passion Sunday. Now it is placed together with Palm Sunday as Passion refers to the sufferings of Christ and the Palms to His glory of the Resurrection.
The palm branch is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. …
A palm branch was awarded to victorious athletes in ancient Greece, and a palm frond or the tree itself is one of the most common attributes of Victory personified in ancient Rome.
“Passion (or Palm) Sunday” joins the foretelling of Christ’s regal triumph and the proclamation of the passion. The connection between both aspects of the Paschal Mystery is shown and explained in the celebration and catechesis of this day. (PS 28)
We remember what is called the Triumphal Entry of Jesus and his followers into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Our scriptures tell us he was received as the rightful king. For the 1st time in His ministry He was publicly acclaimed as the Messiah.
The commemoration of the entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem has, according to ancient custom, been celebrated with a solemn procession in which the faithful in song and gesture imitate the Hebrew children who went to meet the Lord singing “Hosanna…….” (PS 29) People lined the way, shouting praises and throwing down palm branches to smooth out the unpaved road.
During the procession into the Church, the choir and people sing the chants proposed in the Roman Missal, especially Psalms 23 and 46, as well as other appropriate songs in honour of Christ the King.
(PS 31)
The celebration of Palm (Passion) Sunday becomes a beautiful symbol of the Pilgrim Church, the Church on its way towards God now and in the life to come. Elects and Candidates can also reflect on their journey in RCIA. How they began, what were their thoughts then and now heading towards Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, what are their thoughts now?
We are moving towards the heavenly Jerusalem, yet we can only make the journey because it has already been made by Christ in his Passion.
Christ has not only made this journey for us but now offers to make it with us.
For by offering His Passion as our own, he has made us co-workers in our own redemption.
Catholic Churches veil all religious images from this day onwards.
It seems strange that during the most sacred time of year Catholics cover everything that is beautiful in their churches, even the crucifix. Shouldn’t we be looking at the painful scene at Calvary while we listen to the Passion narrative on Palm Sunday?
While it may appear counterintuitive to veil statues and images during the final weeks of Lent, the Catholic Church recommends this practice to heighten our senses and build within us a longing for Easter Sunday. It is a tradition that should not only be carried out in our local parish, but can also be a fruitful activity for the “domestic church” to practice.
Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.”
Activity
We have had no Masses since Ash Wednesday and so the whole season of Lent has been lived in life without the Liturgical celebrations to inspire and motivate us. Holy Week is going to be no different. Should we remain discouraged and dejected? How can we publicly acknowledge this Palm Sunday on our calendar when so many of us will be behind closed doors?
The Missionaries of the Holy Spirit posted this idea on their Facebook page:
What if everyone on Sunday April 5 in the morning, puts a branch on the door of their house or on the window, to celebrate Palm Sunday
It could be any green branch you can get. This would help, despite the social distancing, to be connected as we enter into the Holiest of Weeks.
Want to join? We may be physically isolated, but not separated. We are united as the body of Christ. We are the Church.
A Palm Sunday prayer during COVID-19 written by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
Lord Jesus Christ, you from whom angels hide their faces, you made your way to be with us sinners. You are King of kings, yet you humbled yourself to bear our flesh. You shine with heavenly glory, yet you lowered yourself into our darkness. You glow with moral purity, yet you absorbed all our evil into your holy being and did not pass evil back. We join our voices with the Palm Sunday crowd to say, “Hosanna! Save us!”
Lord Jesus Christ, we live in a frightening world, menaced by a tiny virus we cannot see and cannot see coming. Some of us are sick. Some of us have been sick. Some of us will be sick. All of us are afraid of being sick. Lord Jesus Christ, hosanna. Save us.
Lord Jesus Christ, you entered our world as a helpless babe. We pray today for the babies of the world who cannot do for themselves, for the elderly, who can now do so much less for themselves, for people with disabilities, for the unlettered, the unheard, the unmentioned, the unmentionable.
Lord Jesus Christ, you were a homeless man with no place to lay your head. We lift to you the exiled peoples of the world. Look in mercy on men and women in refugee camps today, dependent for life itself on blessed handouts. Look in mercy on their children, stung to see their parents ask strangers for help. Turn the strangers into friends, we pray, and the camps into havens of relief, all because your own people knew exile and because you are the one in whom our hearts find their true home.
Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, come into our lives, we pray. Shine on us with everlasting light. Rain on us with unceasing bounty. Blow on us with life-giving love. Settle on us with refreshing dew. Shine on us, rain on us, blow on us, settle on us. O Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, come into our lives today. We need you. Hosanna. Save us. Amen.
Palm (Passion) Sunday – A Reflection by Fr. JJ Fenelon
SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 50.4-7; PHILIPIANS 2:6-11; MATTHEW 26:14-27:66
People remember the last days of their loved ones. Whether they had been sick for a long time or whether they had died suddenly in an accident, those who remain can tell you in detail whatever happened in the days and hours leading up to the death of someone they loved dearly.
In the same way, the Passion of the Lord was chiseled into the minds of the disciples, the apostles, and the primitive Church. Every step along the way was remembered in precise detail. The early Christians committed the events to memory. They would read them or even recite them before the Breaking of the Bread. It was the first Liturgy of the Word. The Passion was not memorised out of a hatred for those who demanded the death of the Lord, or a hatred for those who so sadistically brought it about, it was remembered out of love.
Passion/Palm Sunday is not about a man who is timid and frugal in his ways, “Like a lamb led to the slaughter”. No doubt scripture says that it is only at the last moment that he is like that. Till then Jesus was one of passion and energy.
Throughout his ministry Jesus revealed his undying urge to do his Father’s Will, making demands for discipleship, opposing the hypocrisies and double standards of His time. This is not a timid man but one who is filled and driven with a grand passion. In the end, the Cross comes as no surprise. It is the penalty for the giving of ultimate love.
Jesus on the Cross stands as a sign of God’s unconditional, forgiving and compassionate love. We should never doubt how much God loves us even though we cannot find the answers to our problems and suffering. Jesus died for us because he felt we were worth suffering and dying for.
This is the passion of one who is supreme in the act of love. As St Paul says in the 2nd reading, “though he was in the form of God, he did not cling to equality with God but emptied himself to become a slave, obedient to death on the Cross”
Today as we celebrate his passion and death, we too are asked to empty ourselves of our selfishness, our pride, our riches and our attachments. We know it is not easy to do this.
Jesus was human like us in every way but sin. Was it easy for Jesus to go to the Cross? In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed to be delivered out of suffering. Isaiah’s description of the suffering servant we read today ends with the line “I know that I shall not be put to shame”. That is Jesus’ hope and trust in God!
And yet, in the Psalm today we also hear the words spoken by Jesus on the cross as well: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Does this indicate that Jesus lost hope in God? Jesus was feeling the weight of everything he had been asked to do, perhaps even feeling continual abandonment. He was giving up his life for a people that haven’t accepted him. The weight of this is on him at that moment, questioning, as he submits himself up freely for a people who abandoned him.
In our lowest depths of depression, we too can feel that the whole world is against us and that we have accomplished nothing in our lives. We may even blame God or feel that God has forsaken us. Perhaps that is the point that people get to in order to kill themselves. But Jesus never lost faith in God.
It is easy for us to thank the Lord when we experience his wonders in our lives. But life also has challenges and crises. Life often calls us to Calvary, calls us to have faith in the Triumph of the Cross.
“As Christians we believe that Golgotha is not the end, but the empty tomb & the Risen Lord will have the final word at the Last Judgment.” Yes, Jesus’ suffering is a living reality, but not the last word.
Tens of thousands have died because of the Corona virus. The world has been plunged into darkness and despair. Lockdowns throughout the world has weakened the economy drastically and millions of people have become unemployed.
Many others are suffering in old age homes and refugee camps. Human trafficking is rampant. The environment has been damaged beyond repair. But as death was not the last word in the life of Jesus but Resurrection so shall we come out of darkness into light at Easter. We pray for this grace.
Amen.
To reflect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNKdnuw-eeE