Palm Sunday

Today we begin Holy Week; it is a time when we try to enter into the sentiments of the Heart of Christ as he faces his last days before his passion and death on the cross. Then comes Easter Sunday; I feel that my joy at Easter is usually proportioned to the way I have spent Holy Week and even the longer preparation of Lent. God works in us but we must surrender to his action, to his love. He is always with us and waiting for us to turn to him. Holy Week gives us the opportunity to be present to him in many ways. We have the Liturgies that call us to remember what Christ went through for us; we have time to sit and just be and realize, too, that Jesus conquered death. Palm Sunday celebrates his entry into Jerusalem but the same crowd that hailed him on Sunday may have been the crowd that shouted "Crucify him" later in the week. I will be spending several hours of prayer in my car driving home on Palm Sunday but I will not be alone. Jesus is very present when I am driving the highway and it will be a good day of prayer for me. I hope it will be for you, too, and that we will have a deeply prayerful Holy Week with Jesus and his Mother.