Palm Sunday
When I was young, I used to spend a lot of time at my grandma’s house. She was a refugee from Ireland who, like so many others, came to this country to find work.
To this day, one thing in particular stands out in my mind whenever I think about my grandma: her deep faith. On every wall of her house, for example, it seemed there were pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the baby Jesus, and a multitude of other faith related art works that were popular at that time.
But what caught my eye even as a kid was that these works of art were often enhanced by the presence of a single palm leaf – leaves like we hold in our hands on this Sunday.
I later came to realize that these same palm leaves often show up in the unlikeliest of places: behind bedroom mirrors, tucked away in taxi cab visors, woven into crosses, and placed behind crucifixes and other holy pictures.
All of this made me wonder why these palms are so important to people … why bits of palm have been given so much prominence. What is it about them?
Maybe it’s because these simple palms remind us of The Greatest Story Ever Told – a story so boundless that we repeat it every year and revere it as the most significant spiritual event that ever took place. But maybe it’s also because they go even further than that.
These palms also tell our story – the story of our own faith life.
Five weeks ago we received ashes on our foreheads, and were once again reminded of our sinfulness and our need for a radical change in our life. But those ashes that were used did not just come from the bottom of someone’s fireplace. They were the result of blessed burned palms.
Today we are five weeks older. The palms we now hold in our hands are new green leaves ready to serve once again as a reminder – a reminder that we are a part of this great story; that it isn’t just something that took place 2000 years ago; that this drama is ongoing; and that we are each involved in our own way in being a part of the conspiracy and the betrayal that happened that night.
These palms can remind us, for example, that we have played the role of Peter in our own lives: lying/denying. They can remind us that we have played the role of John: abandoning. They can remind us that we have played the role of all the rest: arguing about who among us is the greatest. They can even remind us that we have played the role of Judas: betraying.
But here’s the good news about these palms: they can also remind us of the miracle of reconciliation that can be ours.
They can do that by reminding us of that great meal that we celebrate together to this day, the meal at which Jesus told us “I am among you as one who serves.” They can do that by reminding us of Jesus’ words of indescribable mercy spoken to the thieves crucified on either side of him: “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”
These palms that five weeks ago reminded us that we are dust and to dust we will return, now remind us that we are also graced by Love, an abundant Love that goes before us and beckons us to follow.
Lent begins with palms and ends with palms.
The question is: What will we do with their promise and their challenge?
Ted Wolgamot, Psy.D.
11809194.1
3/17/16
