Palm Sunday - Starting off on the "right foot"

 

The first day of Holy Week in the Christian Calendar is Palm Sunday (this year it appears on April 13th - we will only have one service at 10:00 am). It is the tradition here at St. Matthew's to also celebrate this day as Passion Sunday, and to see Holy Week through the eyes of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Thus, Holy Week is often called Passiontide.

Palm Sunday reminds us that the people in Jerusalem did not understand who Jesus truly was or the significance of his triumphal entry. They were hoping that he would be a Messiah that was better suited to a white stallion instead of a donkey. Their hope was that he had come to make their political and economic dreams come true. Many traditions of Christianity still want these same things from him (and so do we at times). Jesus was never to be that kind of Messiah. That Messiah has no redemptive or life-giving power.

But Jesus was on a triumphal path to his crucifixion and resurrection where he would defeat sin, evil, and Satan. His path would be glorious, but it would only be seen this way by those with "eyes to see".

By being present at the Mass on Palm Sunday, we communicate to those in attendance (and some that are not) that we want to be among the followers of Christ who "see". We welcome and celebrate afresh (although, in muted ways) the ride that Jesus takes which would lead him to the cross. Through a spiritually accused week, we re-engage the tragedy and the victory that must come before the glory of the resurrection. Without it, there is no resurrection, life, or spiritual power. Without it, there is no hope.

 Let us start Holy Week on the right "foot" (pun intended).

  

Fr. Tom