One thing I’m sure that you will remember this Sunday is the palms that you and everyone else will be holding while the priest goes around blessing them. Do you know why we have palms this Sunday and why the priest blesses them?

Well to begin with, this Sunday is commonly known as Palm Sunday or The Passion Sunday. Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem where people praised Him as king of the Jews while waving palms along the road where He was passing. But that recognition and welcome was changed when He was put on trial for accusations which were purely religious in nature, and through the instigation of the religious leaders, people were swayed and shifted their cry of hosanna to “crucify him! crucify him!”. This is what we commemorate in the second part of the liturgy, the passion of Jesus.

So there are two events we can see in our liturgy this Sunday: the commemoration of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem by Jesus as we wave our palms, and the passion narratives that we will be hearing from the liturgy of the word within the mass.

Now, having the celebration of Palm Sunday, it signifies the beginning of Holy Week and the final Sunday in the Lenten Season. During the holy week, we will be introduced to different liturgical activities that will lead us into the Easter Triduum. We will have the Chrism mass on Maunday Thursday where all the diocesan priests, along with the bishop, gather at the cathedral for a solemn mass to renew the vows and bless the oils that will be used for the celebration of the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and anointing of the sick for the year. On that evening, mass of the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated in the parish to commemorate the Lord’s Supper. During that mass, washing of the feet of twelve people will be reenacted to commemorate the washing of the feet that Jesus did for his twelve disciples after their supper. The following day, Good Friday, there will be no mass. Instead, celebration of the word with communion service and veneration of the cross will be held. Tenebrae service will also be celebrated that evening to recreate the emotional aspects of the passion story that leads to the extinguishing of the light in the Church, but it is left unfinished because the story is not over yet until Easter Sunday. On Holy Saturday, there will be no service except for the blessing of Easter baskets at 12:00 Noon and the preparation in the evening for the 8:30 P.M. Easter Vigil.

All of these liturgical activities will help prepare us for the celebration of Easter, from sorrow to joy, from darkness to light, because the story of the passion of Jesus did not end there but with the resurrection, which we celebrate on Easter Sunday.

And so, as we enter into the holy week, let us open our heart and willingly participate in all the liturgical activities in our Church to appreciate what Jesus did for us.