Palm Sunday always seems to go too quickly. We start singing Hosanna and waving our palm branches, and before you know it we’re shouting “Crucify him!” One minute Jesus is entering Jerusalem in triumph, and just a few minutes later he’s dead in the tomb. It all happens so quickly. Fortunately, Palm Sunday is not meant to be our only experience of these most sacred events.
Palm Sunday begins the annual commemoration we call “Holy Week.” It is really a sort of preview of this upcoming week. Over the course of these days we will, more slowly, go through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the most important events in the history of the world.
The culmination of this week is the period of three days known as The Sacred Triduum, which is Latin for “The Three Days.” Beginning Thursday evening and lasting until Sunday evening, we have special celebrations that allow us to remember and participate in the events of that first Holy Week two thousand years ago. In a special way, these events are made present to us and become real.
As we begin this week, I pray that it may be a time a great renewal for your families and the Church. Plan to get to confession if you haven’t already. Most especially, plan to celebrate the Sacred Triduum by attending the liturgy on Thursday evening, Friday afternoon and, the highlight, the Solemn Vigil of Easter on Saturday night. Let’s really make this week holy.