Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is on March 24 this year, it is the sixth Sunday of Lent and it is the beginning of Holy week. 

On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem, he was greeted by many people waving palms, and throwing their cloaks on the ground, just as they did when they were greeting military and government leaders.  The cloaks were placed on the ground to hold down the ever present dust from the road so important people would not be covered with dust when they arrived at their destination.  We are reminded that Jesus the Christ is a king because of this triumphant greeting.  The government leaders and military officials arrived on horses, usually with a large group of guards or soldiers around them, the way Jesus arrived, riding on a donkey, reminds us that he is a humble king, a king for all, poor and rich alike.

The formal celebration of Palm Sunday and Holy Week has been in practice since early in the 4th century.  In the earliest times the celebration began with a procession from the Mount of the Ascention and ended at the Church of the Holy Cross.   A few centuries later, around the 9th century, the practice became more widespread.  As the practice became more commonplace, the procession began at a church with the blessing of the palms, people processed outside the church, and then returned to church for a reading of the Passion.  The tradition continues today for our Parishes.

Many of the palms received are woven into crosses to diplay in our homes.  The palms we receive are blessed and should not be discarded in the trash.  The palms should be returned to church and they will be burned, the ashes will be used for the next year's Ash Wednesday blessing. I have many fond memories from childhood sitting at the table after dinner making braided crosses from the palms for our rooms. 

As we continue through Holy Week, we remember the Last Supper, and the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the washing of the disciple's feet by Jesus, reminding us all to be humble servants, (our new pope, Pope Francis I, certainly displays this humble servant leader attitude doesn't he?), and Jesus' arrest on Holy Thursday.  On Good Friday we remember Jesus' death on the cross.  The cross is a sign of Jesus' love for us, all of us are embraced by the cross and his love.   Jesus was called to save us and he did, we are called each day to help others, we can answer that call too.

Submitted by Denise Murre, Director of Child Ministry

Below is another Two Minute video from Busted Halo (I know I use them a lot but that's cause they're good!) on Holy Week:

And don't forget to register for Growing the Cluster! Not sure what that is? It is a cluster wide celebration of our faith that we do each year based on a different theme. This year we will be looking more closely at the Year of Faith and "Alone we can do little; together we can do much" from Helen Keller. ALL parishioners are invited to attend one of the six sessions, regardless of age or family status. We spend time praying together, learning together, eating together and growing as a community of faith.  Plus, its free! To register, go to http://www.portyouth.org/growingcluster.html or contact Denise Murre, Carol Burczyk or Maureen Rotramel.