Passion (Palm) Sunday
Next Sunday is Passion (Palm) Sunday. The Roman Missal explains that on this day the Church celebrates Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem to accomplish his paschal mystery.
Masses commence outside our churches. After an introduction and prayer, the priest sprinkles the people’s palm branches with holy water; the account of the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem from the Gospel is proclaimed and all process into the church while we sing.
A procession with palms on the Sunday before Easter has a long history. It is mentioned by Egeria in her account of Holy Week in Jerusalem in the 4th century. In the Middle Ages the procession usually moved from one church to another and included a representation of Christ seated on a wooden donkey. The well-known “All glory, laud and honour” was written especially for the Palm Sunday procession by Bishop Theodulph of Orleans around the year 800.
The procession with palms is a powerful symbol of the pilgrim Church, a Church on its way. 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. And Christ has done even more than making this journey for us; he now offers to make it with us. At this Mass the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ is proclaimed.
Next weekend is the first day of what has been known traditionally as ‘Holy Week’. As this title suggests, we are called to enter this time with reverence and celebrate its rites with care and devotion. All normal parish activity should be put on hold so that the community can focus on these special days. The reading of the Passion highlights what will be celebrated in the week that lies ahead – our passage with the Lord from death to resurrection
Fr. Mark Franklin
