From the Ashes of Ash Wednesday to the Palms of Palm Sunday we have come full circle once again in our celebration of the Churches liturgy. This year our Palm Sunday celebrations are going to be so very different as we are dealing with the difficulties that the COVID19 virus has brought to all parts of the world. We will be uniting with one another through the Webcam and radio links that have been a great help. But the main message of Palm Sunday remains the same as we commemorate Jesus going up to Jerusalem and then all that happened during the days of that first Holy Week.
On ash Wednesday we placed the ashes on our foreheads as a sign of our humility as we began our Lenten Journey and now six weeks later on Palm Sunday we remember Jesus entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey as the people raised their voices in joyful acclamation as they sang hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. But what does Palm Sunday really mean to you and me? What does it mean to us as Christians in the year 2020 in the midst of the COVID19 outbreak , a big question indeed. The Passion and death of Jesus will mean so much to some and many other people won’t care one single bit no matter what is going on at this time. The Passion narrative of Matthew which we hear this year emphasises the great humility of Jesus, the King. Lent, Palm Sunday and Holy week give us the opportunity to look hard at ourselves and see exactly where we are going and perhaps were we should be going. We need to remember that Christ came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many as a result of this he points us in the right direction.
Jesus took our sinful ways on himself because of his love for us It is important that we who say we are Christians accept the truth about ourselves that truth may not always be good and then in our acceptance of the truth we will be able to look at the Cross and recognise the love of God our Father through Jesus the man on the cross.
May the passion story inspire all of us to try to imitate in some small way the all loving all forgiving Jesus who went through betrayal to death and finally came to the resurrection for us so that we will have life and have it to the full. Over the next few days let us prepare for the Easter Triduum Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday and then we will really be able to enjoy the Easter feast which we have been preparing for since Ash Wednesday. As we go forward we think of all the people wherever we are who are not able to get to the Holy Week ceremonies who will be joining their fellow parishioners through the web cams and the parish radios. We also remember in our prayers the healthcare workers and all the other front line workers who are keeping all of us going during this difficult time. As we celebrate Palm Sunday and the events of Holy Week we remember that our faith tells us that god is with us no matter what happens and he will help us to get through the COVID19 pandemic and come out the other with our faith in God and one another renewed.
Fullerton T 