To be prayerful is to be friends to all

By Al S. Mendoza

WHAT is Palm Sunday again that we are observing today?

It is a moveable feast preceding Holy Week and before Easter Sunday.

It is, more significantly, a commemoration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels.

Palm Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday and is the sixth Sunday of Lent.

Entering Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, astride a donkey, Jesus was hailed Savior and King.   

A crowd gathered and laid palm branches and their cloaks in his path symbolic of his triumphal arrival in Jerusalem.

There is no certain rule that Catholics go meat-less during the Holy Week, although they often observe it on Good Friday.

 Not only Catholics but also Protestants celebrate Palm Sunday.

In the Bible, the palm branch is associated particularly with Palm Sunday.

The palm frond was adopted into Christian iconography to represent the victory of martyrs, or the victory of the spirit over the flesh.

A recent survey by the Washington Post online on the 25 most popular things to give up for Lent:  1. School (11,330 tweets), 2. Chocolate (8,916), 3. Twitter (8,171), 4. Swearing (6,733), 5. Alcohol (5,820), 6. Soda (5,087), 7. Social networking (4,087), 8. Sweets (3,860), 9. Fast Food (3,830), 10. Homework, 11. Lent (2,649), 12. Junk Food (2,558), 13. Meat (2,557), 14. Coffee (2,532), 15. Sex (2,236), 16. Chips (2,021), 17. You (1,910), 18. Bread (1,869), 19. Facebook (1,802), 20. Pizza (1,510), 21. Starbucks (1,471), 22. Candy (1,311), 23. Giving up things (1,165), 24. Instagram (1,114), 25. Religion (1,104).

Lest you get the notion that, suddenly, I have become of the clergy, all of the above were sourced from Google.

I’m no fan of social media.  Only Google—a little bit.

Now to my Palm Sunday piece: Let us celebrate it as though we are tossing Jesus up in the air in joyful observance of our conquest of our weaknesses—mainly selfishness.

This Holy Week, can we be as holy as possible?

Ceasefire from hostilities?

Let’s stop judging, condemning, scolding, shouting, and not loving both our neighbors and enemies.   

If we can try to go to Church everyday starting tomorrow up to Easter Sunday, then let’s try.

To be prayerful is to be friends to all.

To talk to Jesus is giving our hearts to complete strangers.

If candidates you like suddenly ignore you this Holy Week, forgive them. Even those you admire aren’t perfect.

If candidates you dislike come to you this Holy Week, embrace them.  They, too, are creations of God.

And, lastly, each time you pray this Holy Week, include those who have gone ahead of us.

In his infinite mercy, God will reconsider. Always.

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