Whenever we go on trips, most of us pick up souvenirs to remember the places we visit. Like others in our group, I did not come back empty handed from the Holy Land. Along with the cold that I picked up flying back from Cairo, I picked up a Jerusalem cross made of olive wood, a Coptic cross made of camel bone, a yarmulke, a Jewish prayer shawl, and a camel hair carpet depicting the tree of life.
Today, each of us received a souvenir of Holy Week, a simple yet powerful reminder of a trip we have just begun. Our souvenir is a palm branch. (I was tempted to bring one home from Jerusalem but the stem was prickly, so I decided that wasn’t too practical.) Take your blessed branch home and keep it as a reminder of the trip that we have just begun.
From the Mount of Olives near Bethany where he mounted a colt and rode into the city amid cries, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord,” we ventured to the upper room where Jesus shared his last meal with the apostles, a meal that has been celebrated many times since all over the world, a meal we celebrate at every Mass. We then trekked back to the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed fervently and the disciples slept.
After he was arrested, we find ourselves in the high priest’s courtyard where Peter denied him three times before hearing the cock crow. How often have we denied Jesus in the past year? Then we witnessed his trial before Pilate in a place called Antonia’s fortress and later watched be mocked by Herod. Walking the Via Dolorosa in the early morning hours in the snow to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher will remain an unforgettable experience. My feet were cold and wet but my discomfort paled compared to what Jesus endured for us. Before long, we were at the Place of the Skull where they crucified him and divided his garments.
I hope your palm branch will remind you of what we have seen and heard from the words of praises that greeted Jesus as he came into the city to his dying words, “Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit,” to the words spoken by the centurion, “This man was innocent beyond doubt.”
Don’t discard your branch when you get home; save it as a precious souvenir of the passion and death of Jesus. Treat this branch with reverence, mounting it, perhaps, behind a crucifix as a reminder that Jesus is our king and savior.
These palm branches are more than a simple souvenir of a distant event; they are also an invitation to recount our salvation history during the holiest week of the year.
Lent ends at sundown this Thursday. Then the Triduum begins, the three most sacred days of the year. We begin at 7 with a recollection of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. After Mass, I urge you to spend time in prayer adoring the Blessed Sacrament anytime before midnight. On Good Friday, our celebration resumes at 7 with the Passion of the Lord according to John and the veneration of the cross.
The Triduum concludes on Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil when we recall our history of salvation. We will gather at a fire at 9 in the evening, a visual reminder that Christ, our light, has risen from the dead. On that night, we will welcome those adults who have been preparing to join our Church.
A week from today, your palm branch will be more than just a yellowed souvenir of this day; it will a symbol to display proudly in your home as a reminder that someday you too will rise from the dead and feast with Jesus at the heavenly banquet.