LIVING PALM SUNDAY

Hello Everyone;
Blessed Palm Sunday to all! The liturgy of Palm Sunday is a solemn introduction into the great days of Holy Week, getting our hearts ready for the deep mysteries as well as to the subsequent joy and glory of Easter. With the blessing of the palms, we start with the triumphant entry into Jerusalem where the great sacrificial act is to be accomplished and then in the Mass we go through the Passion and Death of Jesus.
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From the hand of the Church we receive the blessed palm branch and join the ranks of procession holding the palm in our hands. By this acceptance of the blessed palm we agree to be martyrs of Christ, to bear witness to Christ in word and dead, above all to share in His Passion. In this procession, we are joining the ranks of the followers of Christ to suffering and to battle.  Jesus suffered alone; now, we who are His members, are to suffer and battle with Him but with the joyous consciousness of victory! For He is our victorious King and our own suffering and death are the only passages leading toward the never-ending joy of Easter - Heaven!
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We are not just spectators reminiscing history, we are participators – ready and willing to take up our own cross and follow Him! We embrace all the sacrifices that God wills to allow us to offer Him. We walk this life with greatness of strength, with the light of faith, with the happiness of hope  -  with hearts that beat with the warmth of love for God and for souls. It is the life of one who honestly looks at the Truth, strongly works out the good, sweetly comforts the sad, and mercifully lifts up the fallen. It is the life of one who, heart and soul, is devoted to Our Redeemer and King. It is one who is a living Revelation of light, and a living lesson of love; who is a very Christ again in the world – A Christian!

Yes, the life of a Christian is a life of sacrifice but it is done with a true sense of happiness. There is always peaceful and triumphant rest when the victory of virtue has been nobly won. Most importantly, the life of sacrifice brings us nearer and makes us dearer to the Heart of Jesus Christ which is love itself.

May we spend this Holy Week looking upon those bleeding wounds, the nails, the thorns, His Sorrowful Mother – the Cross! Oh, let us look upon the Lamb of God! May we behold His Heart pierced to let His love and blood flow forth for us. May we learn the story of Love and imitate Him by denying everything that may hinder us from the Cross and from sacrifice so that we too experience the Resurrection!

May we come to the end of our journey on earth and say, “It is consummated”. Our sacrifice too will be one day completed and there will be that great rapturous moment when we experience the boundless, eternal Love of Jesus – the One Who loved us first and loves us most!
 
Have a Blessed Holy Week through the prayers and intercession of Our Lady of Sorrows!