Family Faith Reflections from Chris

Palm Sunday must look strange to outsiders: a bunch of people squeezed into a big ol' church waving leaves around.

Come to think of it, I remember as a child being puzzled by the tradition. But then the thrill of the palm waving would overtake me and I’d suspend my curiosity and just enjoy it sheer weirdness of it. As an adult I’d simply be torn between enjoying the novelty of the ceremony and dreading the single longest Gospel of the year.
 

As an adult I have a greater appreciation for the story. Fresh from his greatest miracle, the raising of Lazarus, Jesus rides to the capital city. The prophecies are being fulfilled. He will overthrow the vile King Herod, summon an army to defeat their Roman captors, and rule with justice and majesty! No wonder the people gathered to witness this! But when Jesus fails to provide what they expected, the same adoring crowd became the angry mob that called for his blood.
 

I would gently suggest that this Holy Week, it might do us good to enter the sacred liturgies again like children. Sacrificing composure and foregoing expectations, let our hands wave with abandon to celebrate the coming kingdom of the Lord. Let the scandal of his sham trial shock us. Let real tears fall over our hero dies.
 

Let's ride the drama of this week as if for the first time.
 

And on Easter, let there be joy like never before!