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Palm Sunday marks the
beginning of Holy Week with the blessing and distribution of palm
branches to the faithful. The palm branches should be put in a
place of honor in every home. It is the day when the Christian world
celebrates Christ's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem.
After the Second Vatican Council the church began to refer to Palm
Sunday as Passion Sunday. The change in emphasis was to remind us of the
importance of Christ's redeeming passion. Whether we call it Palm Sunday
or Passion Sunday does not matter. What really matters is that this
Sunday we recall the holy days when Jesus accomplished our salvation.
All four evangelists point out that Jesus realized his hour was fast
approaching. His actions had so angered the Jewish religious authorities
that it was only a matter of time before they destroyed him. Under those
circumstances most people would have avoided Jerusalem altogether or
slipped into town under the cover of darkness. But Jesus arranged a
parade into the city, making the authorities even more hateful after
Palm Sunday.
Jesus chose to enter Jerusalem in a way he saw as the fulfillment of the
Messianic prophecies. Great warrior kings triumphantly entered
their cities on war horses and with great pomp and circumstance they led
their victorious armies. Jesus remembered the prophet Zechariah who
announced that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem astride the foal of a
beast of burden. This Messiah would bring about peace through his
own suffering. By riding a colt into the city Jesus was proclaiming his
Messiahship.
Once again this year we are invited to relive the great moments that led
to our redemption. We are invited to examine our lives in light of the
Lord's loving passion and death that led to his resurrection and leads
to ours. This week begins the holiest season of the year, the end
of Lent and the days of the Paschal Triduum. Lent ends as the church
begins the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday night. This is a
time of peace, prayer and vigil. The Mass of the Lord's Supper recalls
the institution of the sacraments of Holy Orders and the Eucharist in
the Lord's command of loving service to his apostles. Our Catholic
community here in Chicago Heights will continue the tradition of
pilgrimage to the local churches in honor of the Lord's vigil in the
garden.
The celebration of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday calls us to witness
the mystery of God's love for us. We venerate the cross on which
hung the savior of the world. We reverently receive the Body and Blood
of Christ, the promise of a heavenly banquet.
Holy Saturday night we
celebrate the Easter Vigil. On this holy night we bless the new
fire and light the paschal candle, the symbol of the Risen Christ with
us. In the liturgy of the Word we hear the story of our salvation,
the history of God's people - our ancestors in the faith. Our catechumen
and candidate come forward for full acceptance into the church. In
them we have an opportunity to die and rise again with Christ who saves
us. We witness the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. We
joyfully celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with our newest members in
full communion with the mystical Body of Christ throughout the world.
Please make a special effort to join us for this wonderful season of
grace. The Holy Week schedule
is on page 5 of this Bulletin.
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