Massgoers on Palm Sunday wave green palm fronds in the air, imitating the people who greeted Christ 2,000 years ago as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. But later in the Mass, those same people shout, “Crucify him!” as they participate in the retelling of Christ’s crucifixion.
The Palm Sunday liturgy is filled with triumph and tragedy. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, who celebrated Mass for Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington April 10, spoke in his homily about the highs and lows of life.
“We all know joy and sorrow, and in our own spiritual lives, we humbly acknowledge that there are moments when we embrace and welcome the Lord into our lives and other times that we abandon him and offend him by our sins,” he said. “Holy Week offers us an invitation to renew today our promise to follow Jesus even to Jerusalem, and to live consistently the lessons he taught us through his passion, namely that like Jesus, we promise to be obedient to God. That like Jesus, we will take up our cross and unite our patient sufferings to his. And when we stumble and fall, we will pick ourselves up and begin anew.”
After Mass, Bishop Burbidge went outside to greet Massgoers and members of Alfo-Conce, a group of Catholics who carry on the Guatemalan tradition of making sawdust art. On the bricks outside the cathedral, they created images of Jesus processing into Jerusalem, Jesus preaching on a boat and Jesus on the cross.
