THE RECTOR’S RAMBLINGS...Palm Sunday

"All glory, laud, and honor to thee, Redeemer, King! To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring." (Hymn 154)

The words above are from the refrain of one of the most beloved hymns of the Church.  In most, if not all, Episcopal churches in our country, congregations will be singing this hymn as the processional for Palm Sunday.  By singing this hymn we in our own way do two things.  First, we become a part of the great triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  A number of years ago when I was studying in Jerusalem, some of us in our group followed the traditional path down the Mount of Olives toward the old city of Jerusalem while singing this hymn.  I can only imagine what this walk would have been like for the disciples, but for me it was a powerful experience for I came to understand in a new way that we can truly come to experience the presence of our Lord in the ordinary events of our daily living.  It was going down the Mount of Olives on a warm, sunny day in May 1979 that my life was touched anew by the sounds of that great Messianic acclamation that has resounded across the ages, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest."  Each time I participate in the Palm Sunday Liturgy I remember this scene.

Second, in singing this hymn, we mark the beginning of Holy Week.  On Palm Sunday we experience the full range of emotions associated with this week as we move in our worship experience from the cries of hosanna to those of "crucify him" in the reading of the Passion Narrative.  During the week we hear the lessons surrounding the events of Holy Week as we celebrate the Holy Eucharist at noon on Monday through Thursday.  Then at 7 pm on Maundy Thursday we experience the power of the Last Supper and the Stripping of the Church at the end of our worship.  On Good Friday, each of us in our own ways will stand in the shadow of the cross through the Good Friday Liturgy.  As somber as our worship is on this day, I believe that Good Friday is a day when all Christians need to be at Church for we truly need to understand both the depth of human sin and the depth of God's love for all humanity.

I encourage you to join with your brothers and sisters at Good Shepherd and walk with us along the path from the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the Cross on Good Friday