Palm Sunday – A
Matthew 21: 1-11
March 16, 2008
Fr Carl McCarthy

             We have joyfully begun our Holy Week; it is Palm Sunday, and we wave our branches of palm. These rich, green branches are full of life; they are soft and bendable, but yet hearty and strong. These branches remind us that the long-awaited spring is almost here, and we rejoice.

            But we know that these palm branches will not be soft very long. Those who decorated our church for this Palm Sunday can tell you that these branches will dry out, become brittle, and lose their beautiful green color within a couple of days.

            These branches of palm that we hold are a lot like our faith – not what our faith should be like, but what our faith can often become.  After the hosannas are sung this Sunday, we will plat our palms, make crosses out of them, and tuck them behind a crucifix or a holy picture. There they will stay, largely forgotten, until next winter, when we take them down, put them in a plastic bag and bring them back to church to be burned to make ashes for Ash Wednesday.

              Our faith, our belief in Jesus, our embrace of his love found in the Gospel is often like these palms. On holy days, at milestone celebrations like baptism, first Eucharist, confirmation, and marriage, our faith is strong and alive with Christ. But our faith can quickly fade in the ordinariness of life and, like these palms, become brittle and crack under the pressures or our lives. In our daily lives, we can quickly lose the vibrancy of our faith as we face moral dilemmas, and our consciences are pushed to make important decisions or choices.

            The call of this Palm Sunday is to remember the hosannas that we sing…the call of this Palm Sunday is keep our faith alive and vibrant, even after these palm branches have faded and become brittle. The invitation is to take these branches home, make your crosses, plat them, place them behind a cross, and let them be reminders throughout the year of how much God loves us. 

But there is also an invitation to continue to wave these branches and return to church this Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and for the Easter Vigil and live again the full story of our salvation. We cannot allow these holy days to pass us by. We must celebrate them and remember what God has done for us through his Son, Jesus. 

May these palm branches, whether green or cracked, bendable or brittle, remind us every day, and in every season of our lives with Christ, that despite the many Good Fridays of our lives, Easter morning will always dawn if we do our part in faith.

3-20-2008
sdrose@bellsouth.net