Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:04 All right. In terms of the ceremony, father will help out at the beginning with distribution of the palms, and then he'll be back in the confessional after the procession, except during communion. So we'll have confessions again, after the procession, we'll start by blessing the palms up here that tail will get moved back a little bit. There's actually two ways to bless palms, either up here in the sanctuary, like we'll do this morning or the other way, which is a person can hold them in their hands. It pertains this blessing actually pertains to palms and other glances. Cause it has like olives or any other kinds of branches. And so if the faithful bring other branches, uh, they can bless them. So we'd bust the palms and whatever they're holding, including poems in their hands and you'd go around and sprinkle them with Holy water and incense.
Speaker 1 00:00:48 So I think maybe because it was far enough South here that you can get other branches. This is an early Easter, but after that, we could do it that way. When it's later in the season. And that way he can have more, uh, blessed objects around, as you probably know, I'm in a Sacramento's and the particular blessing on these among other things helps keep wave of spirits. That's a very, they're very powerful Sacramento anyway this morning. What blessed all the palms up here and then we'll pass them out. Just like communion. We'll start up at the altar with the altar boys actually blessed him and whatnot, and then just come up like community and we'll give you the palms then, uh, then after everybody's got their palms go over, wash my hands. And will you sing the gospel? Which is the gospel. I just read for Palm Sunday.
Speaker 1 00:01:31 After that, then I was saying <inaudible> and then the third refer and the cross there and the acolytes and myself go out. And then from the front pews going backwards, he had fallen behind and would go off the main door. We'll go this way. We'll just go up this side of the parking lot, make a curve down the other side, but the far side of the parking lot and then back end. So that'll be the way it goes. We'll be in the front then if you go like that, then when you come back in, it makes it more orderly. So there's not a car wreck. So the front piece to the back piece. And then when he come back in, it gets it. Anybody that has troubles or whatever, don't feel bad at all about, about stand standing here. Okay. So you can put your palms down, uh, once, once we're in, I say one more prayer, cause there's one more blessing it has to do with keep away evil spirits.
Speaker 1 00:02:20 But once my mass starts, you can put your palms down. Uh, you no longer hold the pumps during the passion. Mass is the same from that point on, except that there's no last gospel. Okay. Now what does all this mean? Well, we could preach on any one of these things for a long time, but we'll make a few quick remarks this morning. First about that first Palm Sunday and our Lord. And then about in more particular about the ceremonies here this morning, let's start with the root. Our Lord chose to go into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Our Lord comes up to Jerusalem from Bethany. Bethany means the house, right? Fakes Bethany of course is the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. And it's also, we're doing all this Holy week. Our Lord will come down from Jerusalem and returned to spend the night every night, of course until Holy Thursday. So Lord comes up to Jerusalem from Bethany through Beth phage. He comes, he comes from the hospital, right things and goes to Bethpage. Bethpage means the house of unripe green fakes. So what, what does all this mean? Well, if we turn back the clock to about a year before Holy week earlier in his public ministry, our Lord had warned the multitudes, unless you repent, you will all perish. And immediately after that warning immediately after you'd said that our Lord then told them a parable,
Speaker 1 00:03:50 A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vine dresser lo these three years, I've come seeking food on this fig tree. And I find none, cut it down. Why should it use up the ground? And the vine dressers answered him, let it alone, sir. This year also tried to dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year,
Speaker 0 00:04:20 But if not,
Speaker 1 00:04:22 You can cut it down. Close quote, the multitudes to whom our Lord was. Speaking knew exactly what he was talking about. He's warning them to bring forth fruits,
Speaker 0 00:04:33 A repentance in a parable.
Speaker 1 00:04:36 The man who owns the vineyard stands for God. Father vine dresser stands for Christ. Our Lord, the fig tree stands for the Jewish nation, which of course our Lord spent three and a half years trying to get good fruits to come forth from his people. So what's the meaning of his path in Jerusalem. He's coming up from Bethany. The house of ripe takes the town where he has conference or patents. For example, st. Mary Magdalene, st. Martha's Saint Lazarus. He's coming from there and he's coming up through Bethpage, the house of unripe green fakes into the Holy city. It's a symbolic warranted. And then the day after Palm Sunday, as he comes again up to Jerusalem from Bethany to page, he stops at that fig tree and searches for fruit. When he finds none, he curses it and it Withers and dies. That's a symbolic, a frightening ending is paramount. He sought fruit on that fake tree and he found none was just his for three and a half years. He's been seeking good fruit from his people.
Speaker 1 00:05:53 It's obvious what he's saying when he does that. What about our riding up on an ass and the Colca and ass? What's all that about. That's the fulfillment of a property prophecy Zacharias. The father is point out that our Lord first rode the ass and got right off and then climbed on the Colt and wrote the Colt in the town. Why ask his book to ride cold? Wasn't it fast is a symbol of the Jews. Who'd been subject to God and his law will. The Colt represented the gent house. Who'd been running wild whenever Lord wrote the ass briefly and then got off and wrote in on a Colt, he was against him, Bobby warning, the Jews that you're about to be rejected and the Gentiles who to take their place. So what's with the poems in the olden days for both Jews and Gentiles, Palm symbolized, victory and triumph.
Speaker 1 00:06:48 For example, in the old Testament books of Leviticus and first and aggravate, we can see palms used by the Jews for just these purposes. It's a course. We see today in our large triumphal entry into Jerusalem at Roman games, the Champion's got Palm branches and palms were also used in the great triumphs. When a Roman emperor would use to celebrate a victory. We still see this ID and Christian art writing. We talked about martyrs receiving the Palm of martyrdom, and you'll see a lot of times in Holy cards or paintings. No churches are stained glass, but there's a monitor scanner holding the Palm in one hand. What does it stand for? The triumphal victory over death. There's a lot more symbolism here, but we'll just stop there and take a moment to briefly consider some of the symbolism of what we're doing here, the procession outside, and then back into the church on the first level represents our, for our Lord's Andrea and Jerusalem, but on another level, it also represents his triumphal entry into that heavenly Jerusalem.
Speaker 1 00:07:49 Now, this was easier to see until Paul Potts, the 12th changed the Holy week ceremonies in 1955, because until tell them when the procession would arrive back at the church, the doors were closed and on the inside, there'd be singers representing the Holy angels, the church triumphant, and they'd be singing that beautiful him, Chloe louse it on her, uh, um, uh <inaudible>, which is glory honor and praise be to V O King Christ, our Redeemer and they're singing celebration of our Lord coming up to the heaven, new Jerusalem. And then the outside of the choir outside would answer them as representing, uh, the church militant here on earth. After the whole earth, whole hymn was sung back and forth through the closed doors. Then the guy carrying a cross would slam on the bang on the doors with the cross. The doors represent the Gates of heaven that were slammed shut by Adam sin and closed and dangled out on the cross.
Speaker 1 00:08:49 As soon as he hit it with the cross, they'd be thrown open, which symbolizes represents the opening of heaven by the cross of our Lord. And then his Ascension leading those members of the church, militant who have triumphed carrying their palms into that heavenly Jerusalem, right after that, then during the course of the mass, we turned to the scene of the passion. So we've just had this triumph that represents the course Palm Sunday, the triumph into Jerusalem and Ascension Thursday, the triumph in heaven. But then we turned to the scene. You have the passion. Now there's another change until 1955. During the past, we would hold our palms during the scene of the passion and this symbolized that although his disciples abandoned him during his passion, we'd be faithful to him until the end. But for the past 50 years, liturgically speaking, we no longer declared two things it's been changed. We're no longer clearly declaring without the bang on the door of the cross. That only by means of the cross. Can we get to heaven by not holding the palms up? We're no longer clearly declaring that we're going to be made faithful to Christ even in the passion of his mystical body. And I think those changes a pathetic.
Speaker 1 00:10:11 Now, seeing you, the passion reminds us between the triumphal procession of our Lord and of the earth free Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and his triumphal procession heavily true slum on Ascension Thursday. Our Lord had to suffer his agony and his passion, and that ought to give each one of us pause because in the first place we put him through it by our sins and in the second place, because his Catholics as members blessed to be members of the true religion, our Lord has the same message for us as he had for the Jews. He's been coming to look for fruits of repentance in our lives during this Holy season of land, he's warned each of us time. And again, that last year you will surely perish in a third place just as our Lord used his path in Jerusalem, a fig tree, and, and asked Nicole to warn the Jewish people of his collective judgment of them. So also he's given us Catholics, very clear indications. His collective judgment of us let's consider too first at the eighth station of the cross. Our Lord says to the weeping women, don't wait for me, wait for your children for they'll come a time. When I say blessed are the barren, the loans, and never bore the didn't ever gave suck. In other words, our Lord is telling the women, they should wait for the people that live in that time a time when our Lord will come again, looking for fruit, fruit of the womb ABCs.
Speaker 1 00:12:13 And instead of finding those fruits, you'll find people, his people that say blessed are the barren. He'll find people that actually think it's better to not have children to be sterilized to contracept, or even to abort those fruits. He's telling the women to wait for the people in that time will not bring you forth. The fruits he expects. You don't need me to tell you. We live in that time. Second, our Lord is also given a very clear indication of his collective judgment of us, but the state of his church st. John Utes explained quote, the most evident Mark of God's anger and most terrible castigation. He can inflict upon the world are manifested. When he permits his people to fall into the hands of clergy who are priests, more name and emptied. When God permits such things, it is a very positive proof that he's thoroughly angry with his people and is visiting his most dreadful anger upon them close quote. God's warning us collectively as a Catholic people, he's thoroughly angry with us. We need to bring forth fruits of repentance. We each need to become Holy. And then we too, can each win that glorious Palm, a victory and fall Christ, his triumphal procession into heaven. Let's each commit ourselves to holiness.
