Palm Sunday
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves” (Mt 11:28-29).
The Lord invites us to find peace and joy in Him this Sabbath as we set aside time to worship and rest.
“Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God.”
Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat”, which literally means “to stop.” Keeping holy the Sabbath is not just a commandment, but an invitation. An invitation from the Lord to stop our work, stop our worrying, stop our striving. An opportunity to fid rest and to be renewed. A chance to refocus on the things that truly matter - the Lord, family, community. In our culture, Sunday has become a day to “catch up” on everything that didn’t get done during the week, and any time left over is often seen as an opportunity just to “get ahead” for next week. But we Christians have a chance now to remember what it means to keep the Sabbath. During this pandemic the Lord is calling us back to Himself, offering us a chance to reclaim the gift of the Sabbath, reminding us again what it means to “keep it holy.”
A basic principle for observing the Sabbath is only to do things that can be considered “rest” or “worship”. Here are a few ideas to consider to begin more to enter into the Sabbath. Maybe pick just one thing to focus on this Sunday, then next Sunday keep that practice in addition to a second one. And then the next Sunday add a third, to slowly over time begin to enter into this great gift of the Sabbath more and more.
Keep the Lord at the center - read the Mass readings ahead of time, participate in Mass, make more time for prayer, spend some extra time in silence focusing on the Lord
Try not to work - resist the urge to check your email, or catch up on a few things, and leave it for Monday
Plan ahead - take care of what needs to be done before Sunday, so plan the rest of your week to make sure you get the laundry done, have gone grocery shopping, etc.so you don’t have to do any of it on Sunday
Spend the day “screen free” - try to stay off social media, internet news, and your phone as much as possible. If you can’t make it the whole day try to go for at least a few hours
Be intentional with others - if you live with others (ie. family, roommates), is there something you can do together like play a game or go on a hike? If you live alone, can you reach out to a good friend and catch up?
Leisure, not entertainment - try to do things that are life giving; binge-watching a favorite show or playing video games for hours rarely leaves anyone with a new zeal for life. Read a good book, go on a long walk, develop a hobby.
PARTICIPATE
“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). Each Sunday we are called to “keep holy the Sabbath” and although that may look different for right now we will still come together as a St. Ann community through the gift of technology.
MASS READINGS
GIVING
Take a few minutes to give to St. Ann Parish. Please give generously and sacrificially as an act of faith during these difficult times. You can give online:
After giving, offer ways to be generous of your whole self during this trying time for our world.
“Each must do as already determined without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.”
PROCESS
“When the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel’” (Jn 12:12-13).
What a fascinating day in our liturgical calendar: Palm Sunday. Today we celebrate both the triumphant entry of Jesus on a donkey into Jerusalem, and moments later we proclaim His Passion. This intense juxtaposition calls to mind the complexity of our relationship with God: one moment we praise His name and thank Him for the good gifts He has given us, and the next we forget His sovereignty and sin against Him.
Thankfully, Jesus’s saving power does not depend on our actions. He died for our sins whether we accept Him as our savior or not. He entered into Jerusalem amid cheers of joy, and processed up Calvary to shouts and spitting from onlookers - how many people celebrated His entry into Jerusalem and yet scorned him a few days later on Good Friday?
The Church chooses this great juxtaposition of themes on Palm Sunday to begin Holy Week. We hold in tension the joy and the struggle, the triumph and the pain. We long for Easter and begin to make our preparations, and yet we continue to fast these last days of Lent. Today we shout both “Hosanna!” and “Crucify Him!” Let us solemnly prepare our hearts and our homes for Holy Week and the joy of Easter that we know is soon to come.
Practice
On Palm Sunday, the first reading typically happens before the priest enters into the church - it is a reading detailing the journey of Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem. More than half of this reading describes the process by which the apostles found the colt Jesus sat upon as He rode into Jerusalem. We also see preparation in our Gospel, when Jesus details how the preparation of Passover should go. Jesus knows that preparation is very important. Palm Sunday is the ultimate preparation for Holy Week: we proclaim the Lord’s Passion at Mass and we know Good Friday is just around the corner.
Dedicate some time this week to prepare your home and heart for Holy Week. St. Ann offers a “Bringing Holy Week Home” guide that can help you prepare - make sure to pick one up if you haven’t already (or check it out online here). Spend some time reading the guide and preparing to celebrate Holy Week! These are the most holy days of the year. It will take a bit of time and dedication to prepare well for them. God Himself knows how important the preparation is, and He knows the dedication it takes.
Discussion Questions
Think about how you can continue to reflect on God’s word to you this week, and how you can invite others into the conversation. You can use the questions below for personal reflection, or to grow with others. Be creative! You could consider gathering with friends and family, or starting a group text, or a group FaceTime, to discuss the questions below.
What stands out to you from the readings this week? What might God be speaking to you at this time?
Where in your life did God bring new life this past week?
What is the most important way you can prepare your heart for Holy Week? What about your home?
Picture Jesus coming down a street near your home - what would that look like today? Would we wave palm branches or something else? How would you greet Him?
When in your life, if at all, have you ever felt abandoned by God? How did you come to know that God was with you throughout that experience?
St. Paul mentions that at the very name of Jesus, every knee shall bend. How can you have a more profound appreciation for the name of Jesus?
What part of our Lord’s Passion stuck out to you this week? What do you think God might be saying to you through this?