Passion Sunday and Palms

Next Sunday, Christians throughout the world celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before His death and resurrection. The biblical account of Palm Sunday can be found in each of the four gospels, but it is in the gospel of John that we find the reference specifically to palm branches.

Carrying palms or other branches in procession goes back to the Old Testament, where it was not only practiced but commanded by God. After the fall harvest, when the people gathered for the Feast of Tabernacles, God said in the book of Leviticus “On the first day, you shall gather foliage from majestic trees, branches of palms and boughs of myrtles and of valley poplars, and then for a week you shall make merry before the Lord, your God.” In the second book of Maccabees, the Jews celebrate Hanukkah in the same way.

The New Testament book of Revelation has John describing a vision in Heaven, where “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation…stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.”

An ancient practice in Christianity involves gathering leftover palms, drying them, and then burning them. The burning is conducted carefully, using special equipment, so that the ashes remain and do not fly up and blow away. After being burned and cooled, the ashes are used on Ash Wednesday. The palms, which symbolize triumph, and the ashes, which symbolize death and penitence, form a great symbolic connection between suffering and victory.

So what are we supposed to do with the blessed palms we receive? It is considered disrespectful to tear or shred the palms and leave the “strings” in the pews or on the floor; it is also very messy! Most of us will take our palms, some having folded them into crosses, and reverently place them in our homes. Our faith reminds us that the palms do not possess any power or virtue of their own, but they do serve as a reminder of the kingship of Jesus in our lives. An Italian and French custom is to break off a piece of the palm and burn it during fierce storms or natural disasters, while praying to St. Barbara, the patron saint of storms.

Few churches have the necessary equipment and resources to burn the palms properly: this includes Risen Savior. For that reason, you are asked not to bring your palms back to the parish; rather, you should dispose of them by carefully and respectfully burying them in the ground.

The Cross and The Lamb

During Lent, many people choose to wear crosses, crucifixes, or holy medals. These often serve as physical reminders of what one has promised to do or what one has given up as the Church prepares for the Passion and Death of Jesus. The cross is an important symbol to Christians throughout the world, but there are other symbols of Jesus as well. In fact, before the 5th century, Christians avoided use of the cross due to the disgrace associated with crucifixion, a heinous form of death. Instead, Jesus was primarily represented as a lamb. How did Jesus get to be associated with a lamb? There are many references in the New Testament, including thirty in the book of Revelation alone, but in order to understand the connection, we must look to the Old Testament story of Moses in Egypt.

The Jewish feast of Passover reminds us of how God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by killing the firstborn Egyptians and “passing over” the homes of the Israelites. This was the last of ten plagues God used to convince the pharaoh to release His chosen people. To protect the firstborn sons of their families, the Israelites were told to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and smear the blood on the doorposts of their houses. This was a signal to the angel of death to “pass over” and spare the firstborn of God’s people. For Christians, Jesus is both the sacrificed firstborn Son as well as the unblemished or sinless lamb who gives His blood and His life to save His people from the slavery of sin and death.

In the 5th century we start seeing the use of the crucifix, a cross with a corpus or body. Images of the crucifix in the Middle Ages tended to depict Jesus with his eyes open and no trace of suffering to reflect the Resurrection. By the 13th century, Christ’s body was often depicted as twisted and bleeding to emphasize his humanity, and by this time the crucifix became established as an altar centerpiece in most churches. During the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the crucifix was banned as a form of idolatry. Today, the crucifix is primarily used in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

While an empty cross can represent Jesus’ resurrection, Catholics understand the importance of remembering the suffering and death that took place on the cross before the resurrection. Both the crucifix and the lamb help us to remember the suffering that God endured for us and for our salvation.

The Scrutinites

During Lent especially, parishioners are exposed to the adults going through a process called the R.C.I.A. or Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Although much of the formation of these men and women is done in evening gatherings, as Lent advances and Easter approaches, the community takes a more active role in witnessing the journeys of these people.

Throughout the year, as they discerned their calling to be a disciple of Christ in the Roman Catholic tradition, these men and women participated in a Rite of Acceptance. Then, at the beginning of Lent, there was the Rite of Sending in which those who were accepted were sent to the Rite of Election or, if they had already been baptized, to the Rite of Continuing Conversion. This involved getting out of their comfort zone – this parish! – and taking part in a rite involving the bishop.

What’s left for those participating in R.C.I.A.? Those who were accepted and then sent will now be taking part in the Scrutinies. The Scrutinies are short liturgical rites that invoke the grace and power of the Holy Spirit and call the Elect out of the darkness of evil and sin and into the light of Christ. The Scrutinies serve many purposes for the Elect, including calling on the intercession of the parish community as these men and women prepare for the Easter sacraments. Another purpose of the Scrutinies is to purify the catechumens’ minds and hearts and strengthen them against temptation. The three rites, which take place on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent, help make them firm in their resolve, so that they become more closely united with Christ and make progress in their efforts to love God more deeply.

Each of the three Scrutinies is based on a Gospel reading with the theme of conversion and coming into the light of Christ. These are the stories of the Woman at the Well, the Blind Beggar, and the Raising of Lazarus.

While these Scripture readings are proclaimed for the benefit of the catechumens, the stories offer we who are already baptized and among the Elect something to think about as we prepare for the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. We, too, scrutinize our lives through the biblical examples. The woman at the well leaves behind her bucket, the blind man runs off and forgets the cloak in which he caught the coins of his beggary, and Lazarus leaves behind an empty tomb. What will we leave behind to follow Jesus? As we ponder that, we understand that, like those in R.C.I.A., we are all still on the journey.

The Elect of God

This Sunday, the unbaptized catechumens who are in RCIA will be participating in the Rite of Election. While they will be meeting the shepherd of our diocese, the real purpose of this rite is not to meet the Archbishop, but to celebrate their election by God and the Church, in preparation for the Easter Sacraments. What does it mean to be elected, and why doesn’t every Catholic participate?

Election has to do with being chosen. Just a few months ago, the United States held a rather contentious midterm election in which choices were made, but this is a little different from the Church’s concept of election. In the Bible, we hear many stories of God choosing a person or even an entire people. The Israelites were God’s “chosen people.” David was chosen by God to be king of Israel. The angel Gabriel brought Mary the news that she had found favor and had been chosen to be the mother of God’s Son. And, of course, Jesus is called the Messiah, the “chosen one” of God. It is God who chooses. God takes the initiative and claims a person or a people as his own.

Many of us were born into Catholic families and baptized as babies. At baptism, the priest or deacon who baptized us claimed us for Christ. This was symbolized by his making a cross on our foreheads and then inviting our parents and godparents to do the same. The Church teaches that all of the baptized are the Elect, God’s chosen people. This concept comes originally from the Hebrew Scriptures.

God's promises to Abraham are recorded in the book of Genesis. First, Abraham is promised that he will have a child and a nation of descendants that are uncountable. Second, Abraham is told that his descendants will inherit the land of Canaan. Third, Abraham and his descendants will be blessed and the rest of the nations of the world will be blessed through him.

These promises prefigure of the coming of Christ and the salvation offered to everyone. The child we are given is the incarnate God and the land we inherit is a place in Heaven. In going to the cross, Christ made salvation possible for all people in all nations. When does this possibility become an actuality? That happens when, in exercising free will, we choose to have faith in Jesus Christ and say yes to the salvation He offers. Those of us who are baptized, even if we were baptized as infants, continually use our free will to choose salvation. We don’t have to run for office, but being counted among the Elect is done in cooperation with our God-given free will.

Operation Rice Bowl

For many families, Lent is a special time of prayer and reflection. While we pray for our loved ones and those closest to us, we should also reflect on so many of our brothers and sisters in the developing world who struggle every day to provide enough food for their families.

When we were children, most of us knew little about what was going on outside of our community. There wasn’t CNN or Twitter or any other way for us to get instant information about what was happening out in the world. Our main exposure to poverty and hunger was participating in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF on Halloween and donating part of our allowance to Operation Rice Bowl during Lent. Today, we understand that it is nearly impossible to shelter our young people from the injustices in the world, nor do we want to. Instead, we educate ourselves and our families about social justice.

Solidarity is one of the seven tenets of Catholic Social Teaching. This tenet says that we are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. As Jesus’ disciples, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, and we have a responsibility to care for them.

Operation Rice Bowl, a Catholic Relief Services program, began in 1975 in the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, as a response to the drought in Africa. Each Lent for the past thirty-five years, thousands of faith communities across the United States have participated in Operation Rice Bowl. Symbolic cardboard "rice bowls," which will be distributed today in the lobby and at the west entrance, are used as the focal point of prayer, fasting, and learning – and to help people in poverty around the world. Participants make a small sacrifice every week, putting the change into the rice bowls. That money goes to support the CRS mission to fight global hunger and poverty. Seventy-five percent of Operation Rice Bowl donations help fund development programs designed to increase food security around the world. Twenty-five percent of the donations support food pantries and soup kitchens within New Mexico.

So…why a “rice bowl?” Because rice is the most important food crop of the developing world and the staple food of more than three billion people, or more than half of the world’s population.

Operation Rice Bowl includes a wonderful Lenten calendar that provides information about communities being helped and opportunities for the entire family. Make this Lent a truly holy time by giving back to God in gratitude for the salvation we are offered through the sacrifice of Jesus.

When is Ash Wednesday?

Because Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, people make the effort to begin this period of repentance by coming to Mass and receiving ashes on their foreheads. Last year, Ash Wednesday was on February 17th. That may seem like old news, but our parish gets several calls this time of year asking why we didn’t give out ashes in the middle of February! This is due to a basic misunderstanding about how the dates of holy days are calculated.

Some holy days and feast days of the Church are easy to remember. Christmas is always on December 25th, while St. Patrick’s Day is fixed on March 17th. However, the most important holy day in the liturgical year, Easter Sunday, is a movable feast. It does exactly that – it moves from year to year, within a range of time. When Easter occurs also determines when Ash Wednesday is, as well as Palm Sunday, Ascension Thursday, and Pentecost.

So how is the celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection calculated? In 325, the Church Council of Nicaea set the date of Easter as the first Sunday following the first full moon on or after the vernal or spring equinox. Easter always occur on a Sunday, because Sunday was the day of Christ's Resurrection. As a result, Easter dates can range from March 22 to April 25 in Western Christianity. Just three years ago, in 2008, Easter was on March 23rd, one day short of the earliest it can occur. This year, Easter is on April 24th, one day short of the latest it can be!

Once the date of Easter is known, the other information you need to calculate Ash Wednesday and other related holy days is that there are 6 Sundays in Lent. Count back to the 1st Sunday of Lent, and then back four days to the Wednesday before, and you know exactly when Ash Wednesday is.

Then beginning with Easter as day one, count forward forty days, since that is the length of time Jesus stayed with his apostles after His Resurrection before ascending into Heaven. That 40th day is always a Thursday, and is celebrated as the Ascension of the Lord, except in dioceses like ours, when that celebration is moved to the following Sunday. Pentecost, which means “50th”, is celebrated 10 days later. Following Jesus’ Ascension, the apostles gathered and prayed, and on that 10th day, they received the Holy Spirit.

And that is how the dates of Lent and Easter are determined!

Confession in the 21st Century

Even if you don’t know what one is, you’ve probably heard the commercials that promise, “There’s an app for that.” An app is application software that runs on a computer, a mobile device, or other platform like an iPhone, iPad, or Facebook. There are apps for word processing, downloading music, and tracking your expenses.

Why are we talking about apps at church? Because of the technology explosion in recent years, developers are now creating apps aimed at one of the largest demographics in the world – Roman Catholics. There are rosary apps, Liturgy of the Word apps, and now, there is an iPhone app being advertised as a Confession app with Vatican approval.

According to news reports, the Pope himself had given permission for confession to be done via cell phone using this new app, with the only restriction being that the penitent had to actually go to a priest for absolution. The Catholic world was excited at the prospect of not having to confess sins aloud, but simply type them into a password-protected program on a phone!

This excitement was short-lived. The Vatican qualified its support for the app a day after the program’s developer announced it was the first app to have official Church sanction. A Vatican spokesman said, “It is essential to understand well the sacrament of penitence requires the personal dialogue between the penitent and the confessor and the absolution by the confessor. This cannot in any way be substituted by a technology application.”

A spokesman from the company that designed it said, "Our desire is to invite Catholics to engage in their faith through digital technology." He goes on to quote Pope Benedict XVI's message from last year’s World Communications Address, in which the pope encouraged Christians to interact with the digital world in service of the faith.

So how can this app be used by faithful, technologically-savvy Catholics?

For those who have not celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation recently – perhaps not since their first time – this app features three parts: an Examination of Conscience “to help you figure out what your real sins are;” step-by-step instructions for what to do inside the confessional; and a space to record any absolution or penance from the priest.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation has changed over the years. The priest hearing your confession is less likely to ask you “how many times” and more likely to help you understand your failings and give your some spiritual guidance to go with the grace you receive from the sacrament. But all of that still needs to be done in person!