Palm Sunday just has a special feel to it. I can't quite figure out how to explain it. It's the start of our, as Catholics, week of high holy days. The narrative of Jesus' passion and death comes alive at Mass. We hold our palms high in procession and later shout together, "Crucify him!" All of our faults and sins lay open to Jesus, as we commit to striving even harder to fulfill our promises during this final week of Lent.
And there is a renewed sense of hope. We know that Good Friday has to come first, that Jesus had to die to save us from our sins. But we know that Easter Sunday follows, and we, as Christians, believe in the Resurrection both of Jesus and, one day, of ourselves.
Have a blessed Holy Week and a Happy Easter!
Unrelated, but, in my humble opinion, worth including...
1. On Friday night I joined with over a thousand other people from across the Chicago area to hear Fr. James Martin, SJ, speak at Holy Name Cathedral about the Seven Last Words of Christ. He always provides thoughtful insight into Jesus and the Scriptures - just read one of his many books if you don't believe me - and he sprinkles in both poignancy and humor.
2. My sister and I went for a 16 mile run on Saturday as part of our marathon training. Though beautiful (as evidenced by the pictures below), it was WINDY! Needless to say, the fresh air did us good but the wind just about killed me.
3. Talk about a throwback - one of my good friends just turned thirty, and his wife organized a birthday party involving laser tag and pizza. Most of us hadn't played laser tag since middle or high school, so we were not quite sure what we had gotten into. It ended up being a LOT of fun - even more than we had hoped. Surprisingly I won the first game. And we all got a good laugh when the man announcing the winners got to me and said, "Gorn bows?" in a state of certain uncertainty. (Somehow "Go Ramblers" had been translated to, I believe, "Go rainbows," and then shortened to "Go Rnbows" which then turned into "Gornbows"...Who knows? But I now have a new nickname.)
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