Happy Palm Sunday everyone!!! I'm feeling a little ashamed in a way because unlike most of you, I already celebrated this great tradition on Friday!!! Through no fault of mine, mind you! I know I read the ending of a book instead of from front to back; I know I go online to see the results of Dancing with the Stars before the show airs on my time slot; I know I can't always wait to open a gift before Christmas - but this time it was NOT my doing - and yet my heart was happy! :)
We have been blessed with a wonderful Priest! I got to go to Confession with him last week and we chatted for over an hour and a half! Confessions here are one on one; you have to make an appointment so Dave and I decided to do it early before the Easter rush. I went first so poor Dave waited a very long time for his turn, but since he was taking a break from work, he said the quiet time he spent waiting was worth every minute since he had been very stressed. Anyway, Dave got his fair share of time with Fr. Bob too while I prayed in the Chapel and during their conversation, he learned that 34 years ago, he and Fr. Bob were in Marine Corps boot camp at the exact same time in San Diego! Can you imagine?? They probably ate in the same mess hall; maybe even grunted at each other! After four years, he left the MC and went to Seminary; he entered his life's vocation and Dave got his lifetime sentence - he married me! ;)
What I love about Fr. Bob is his enthusiasm and love for the Lord and Mother Church. He always teaches us about the traditions of the Church and on Sunday he went into great detail about the Palms being sacramentals. He explained that that is why we don't ever throw away the little crosses we braid out of them; they must be burned. I remember having that same question when I was packing all of my belongings - what should I do with all those little crosses I kept finding? I couldn't pack them; I couldn't throw them away. I think I finally just put them in storage. So now I know - know you know if you didn't already. :)
And then he gave us the symbolism behind the cloaks being thrown on the donkey and on the ground; he told us why the people so willingly gave the disciples the donkey and why it was such a big deal considering what the donkey meant to the people and families of that time. People were very poor so many times four or five families went in together to buy one donkey so that they could use it to haul things, transport people, etc.... It meant a lot to them! But Jesus needed a donkey because the donkey was also the symbol of peace. When a king was going to proclaim war, he would ride in on a horse; but when he wanted to point out that he was coming in peace, he rode in on a donkey. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem would then symbolize his entry as the Prince of Peace, not a war-waging King. The palms symbolized goodness and victory. That's why there were often depicted on coins and important buildings. Solomon had palm branches carved into the wall sand doors of the temple (1 Kings 6:29) And if you studied Revelation, in Rev. 7:9, at the end of time, the people from every nation raise palm branches to honor Jesus.
I really miss being home for these special feast days; I can almost see the altar at Queen of Peace dripping in beauty from the touch of Father Trini's hand. I will miss visiting seven churches and ending up at QOP at midnight for Benediction. I will miss leading the Stations of the Cross up Mt. Cristo Rey (Barb and Richard Schaumberg asked me for the reflections I used because they are planning on going up so if you want to do it, you might want to contact them). And of course, I will miss seeing and smelling the hundreds of Easter Lilies that will fill the Altar on Easter Sunday! But God is sooo good because He finds a way to fill my life with those little details that mean so much to me. I loved the fact that Fr. Bob made the effort to decorate the little chapel knowing it would all have to come down right away since we have to share the chapel with the other denominations. He and the altar servers had to keep stepping over them and it was tricky and I noticed him just laughing about it when they kept tripping over their robes. I made sure to thank him for the effort after Mass. I had asked "Father Church" (their version of Jim Meyers - he is a lay person who takes care of setting everything up) if they ever had Adoration; especially on Holy Thursday. He said "sometimes" but if they did, it was just until midnight and even then, only if they could get people to stay. I quickly offered to take that last shift. But during Confession I asked Father about it and he said "No." He explained that since almost everyone lives off base (only lower ranked enlisted live on base because it's a small base) once they leave the Chapel they don't come back so he didn't feel people would stay or come back for Adoration. I was sad but understood. A few days later, Father Church was excited to tell me that Father had OK'd Adoration for Holy Thursday, but only until 9:00 p.m. Good enough for me!!!
We are so blessed to have so many beautiful rituals and traditions that draw us deeper into the Passion of our Lord; yes, all the bells and whistles that wake up our senses to the reality of the pain and suffering Jesus endured and then the JOY that all of His followers felt on Easter Sunday!!! I for one treasure them and I'm trying very hard to experience every little bit of them that I can, regardless of how different they may be from what I'm used to. It would be easy for me to just shrug my shoulders and say, "Oh well, I'm in a foreign land where I can't do everything I would like to do, but I'm sure God understands." No - I will not allow this Holy Week - the holiest of times go unnoticed. I am determined to do every little thing I can to join Jesus in His passion. No matter how different, how small, no matter the time and the driving back and forth that it takes; I will acknowledge it with joy and thanksgiving! Raise up your palms everyone!!! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!!!!!
And finally, I have to share a funny story with you! I must preface this with the fact that there is a very large contingency of Filipinos on the island and they work all over the base. Our choir is made up of about 10 Filipinos and they do a beautiful job. Anyway, they are very quiet, sweet and humble people. Well last week Father asked me to Lector and when I began the second reading, I said, "A reading from St. Paul to the Philippines!!!! OMGosh! I immediately corrected myself and said "Phillipians" but I wanted to laugh so hard!!! I was sure I would hear gasps or giggles, but I didn't. I guess everyone was OK with St. Paul addressing his letter to the Filipinos too!
May you all have a blessed and holy week!!!
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| Father laid palm branches in front of the Altar and at the Crucifix (Dave is sitting on the right - he always wants to be there early!) Notice the choir on the right of the Altar - there is an important reference to them at the end. ;) |
We have been blessed with a wonderful Priest! I got to go to Confession with him last week and we chatted for over an hour and a half! Confessions here are one on one; you have to make an appointment so Dave and I decided to do it early before the Easter rush. I went first so poor Dave waited a very long time for his turn, but since he was taking a break from work, he said the quiet time he spent waiting was worth every minute since he had been very stressed. Anyway, Dave got his fair share of time with Fr. Bob too while I prayed in the Chapel and during their conversation, he learned that 34 years ago, he and Fr. Bob were in Marine Corps boot camp at the exact same time in San Diego! Can you imagine?? They probably ate in the same mess hall; maybe even grunted at each other! After four years, he left the MC and went to Seminary; he entered his life's vocation and Dave got his lifetime sentence - he married me! ;)
What I love about Fr. Bob is his enthusiasm and love for the Lord and Mother Church. He always teaches us about the traditions of the Church and on Sunday he went into great detail about the Palms being sacramentals. He explained that that is why we don't ever throw away the little crosses we braid out of them; they must be burned. I remember having that same question when I was packing all of my belongings - what should I do with all those little crosses I kept finding? I couldn't pack them; I couldn't throw them away. I think I finally just put them in storage. So now I know - know you know if you didn't already. :)
And then he gave us the symbolism behind the cloaks being thrown on the donkey and on the ground; he told us why the people so willingly gave the disciples the donkey and why it was such a big deal considering what the donkey meant to the people and families of that time. People were very poor so many times four or five families went in together to buy one donkey so that they could use it to haul things, transport people, etc.... It meant a lot to them! But Jesus needed a donkey because the donkey was also the symbol of peace. When a king was going to proclaim war, he would ride in on a horse; but when he wanted to point out that he was coming in peace, he rode in on a donkey. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem would then symbolize his entry as the Prince of Peace, not a war-waging King. The palms symbolized goodness and victory. That's why there were often depicted on coins and important buildings. Solomon had palm branches carved into the wall sand doors of the temple (1 Kings 6:29) And if you studied Revelation, in Rev. 7:9, at the end of time, the people from every nation raise palm branches to honor Jesus.
I really miss being home for these special feast days; I can almost see the altar at Queen of Peace dripping in beauty from the touch of Father Trini's hand. I will miss visiting seven churches and ending up at QOP at midnight for Benediction. I will miss leading the Stations of the Cross up Mt. Cristo Rey (Barb and Richard Schaumberg asked me for the reflections I used because they are planning on going up so if you want to do it, you might want to contact them). And of course, I will miss seeing and smelling the hundreds of Easter Lilies that will fill the Altar on Easter Sunday! But God is sooo good because He finds a way to fill my life with those little details that mean so much to me. I loved the fact that Fr. Bob made the effort to decorate the little chapel knowing it would all have to come down right away since we have to share the chapel with the other denominations. He and the altar servers had to keep stepping over them and it was tricky and I noticed him just laughing about it when they kept tripping over their robes. I made sure to thank him for the effort after Mass. I had asked "Father Church" (their version of Jim Meyers - he is a lay person who takes care of setting everything up) if they ever had Adoration; especially on Holy Thursday. He said "sometimes" but if they did, it was just until midnight and even then, only if they could get people to stay. I quickly offered to take that last shift. But during Confession I asked Father about it and he said "No." He explained that since almost everyone lives off base (only lower ranked enlisted live on base because it's a small base) once they leave the Chapel they don't come back so he didn't feel people would stay or come back for Adoration. I was sad but understood. A few days later, Father Church was excited to tell me that Father had OK'd Adoration for Holy Thursday, but only until 9:00 p.m. Good enough for me!!!
We are so blessed to have so many beautiful rituals and traditions that draw us deeper into the Passion of our Lord; yes, all the bells and whistles that wake up our senses to the reality of the pain and suffering Jesus endured and then the JOY that all of His followers felt on Easter Sunday!!! I for one treasure them and I'm trying very hard to experience every little bit of them that I can, regardless of how different they may be from what I'm used to. It would be easy for me to just shrug my shoulders and say, "Oh well, I'm in a foreign land where I can't do everything I would like to do, but I'm sure God understands." No - I will not allow this Holy Week - the holiest of times go unnoticed. I am determined to do every little thing I can to join Jesus in His passion. No matter how different, how small, no matter the time and the driving back and forth that it takes; I will acknowledge it with joy and thanksgiving! Raise up your palms everyone!!! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!!!!!
And finally, I have to share a funny story with you! I must preface this with the fact that there is a very large contingency of Filipinos on the island and they work all over the base. Our choir is made up of about 10 Filipinos and they do a beautiful job. Anyway, they are very quiet, sweet and humble people. Well last week Father asked me to Lector and when I began the second reading, I said, "A reading from St. Paul to the Philippines!!!! OMGosh! I immediately corrected myself and said "Phillipians" but I wanted to laugh so hard!!! I was sure I would hear gasps or giggles, but I didn't. I guess everyone was OK with St. Paul addressing his letter to the Filipinos too!
May you all have a blessed and holy week!!!
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| We got two kinds of Palms - the thin traditional ones and the fuller Bahraini palms
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So awesome! Glad you are enjoying it. Sounds like you guys are right where you need to be :) xoxo
ReplyDelete:D Coincidentally, the same thought briefly crossed my mind at today's liturgy when Elsa read it, too. I think it's because I kept bumping into Philipinos and Asians all day yesterday. :)
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful and blessed Holy Week!
Grace
Dear Marie, I am so happy everytime I read your blog. I especially love this one because I was on Team for ACTS last year in April and our theme was "Peace be With You". I have never heard the story of why Jesus rode in on a donkey and I love the image of a King coming in peace. I am so happy things are working out for you and Dave and you are in prayers. Happy Easter Sister, Yolanda
ReplyDelete