As Deacon Rich and I arrived at the altar, like everyone in the large assembly we were waving our palms. We venerated the altar. Suddenly, I felt A GREAT JOY take over my HEART. I had not felt so joyful in a long time. It took me some time to realize what was happening.

As the Mass went on, it became clearer to me. This was the JOY OF EASTER! THE JOY OF THE RISEN LORD! As we processed in the church, we were entering with Jesus into the Heavenly Jerusalem! We were entering into the HOLY WEEK, which will culminate in EASTER VIGIL AND EASTER SUNDAY. Unconsciously, I was also reflecting on the Palm Sunday celebration of one year ago!

What a difference one year makes! Last Easter, our church had to be closed to the public. We were not even allowed to bless palms. We had a Palm Sunday without palms. We had a Palm Sunday without a congregation!

Last Easter, only Deacon Rich, Deacon Bill, Fr. Ben, and I were allowed around the altar. Only one person was representing our entire community of 1,200 parishioners: our volunteer cameraman Mike Spurgeon! This year, my JOY OF EASTER is coming from the presence of so many "new" faces that had not returned to our parish for the last 12 months. WHAT A JOY! This is what Easter is all about: a new beginning, a spiritual transformation by the RISEN LORD, the JOY of a renewed congregation coming to church to pray together around the altar and share in the BODY OF CHRIST!

The crowd at our Masses this Palm Sunday represented the crowd entering joyfully with Jesus in Jerusalem. Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that "the palms we wave are the SPIRITUAL PALMS OF OUR SOULS." As you know, I love images. Certainly, on that entrance into the HOLY WEEK of 2021, the spiritual palms of my soul were "PURE JOY". Until that time, I had not realized how much I missed our large congregation during this year of pandemic. Internally, I was suffering without knowing it. The burst of my JOY came from that pain inside my soul being lifted up by the SPIRIT of the RISEN LORD! HE is walking with us at every Mass entrance! HE IS COMING TO US AT EASTER!

The early Fathers of the Church commented abundantly on the coats that people were throwing on the ground ahead of Jesus: "It is not our coats that we should spread before Christ, we must SPREAD OUT OUR LIVES, in ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE AND ADORATION... We should SPREAD OURSELVES UNDER CHRIST's FEET."

In a sermon on Palm Sunday, St. Andrew of Crete, bishop (8th century) said, "Jesus is meek and HUMBLE and he will make his entry in Jerusalem in simplicity. Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward his passion, and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being HUMBLE and by trying to live as he would wish...JESUS' LOVE for men will never rest...So, let us SPREAD BEFORE HIS FEET, not garments or soulless olive branches, who delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but OURSELVES, clothed in His GRACE, or rather, clothed completely in Him. We who have been BAPTIZED into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before Him. Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of his victory. LET OUR SOULS take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children's song: BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. BLESSED IS THE KING OF ISRAEL."

At every Mass before the Eucharistic Prayer, we all join in saying, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. HOSANNAH IN THE HIGHEST!" Every Mass is Palm Sunday Mass. Every Mass celebrates the PASCHAL MYSTERY: the PASSION, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. Every Mass is EASTER MASS! Let us recall with Dr Sri (fifth session of GIFT OF LOVE) that the word PASSION has two meanings: SUFFERING AND LOVE! It is by HIS LOVE that Jesus SAVES us in dying on the CROSS!

May the HOLY SPIRIT fill our hearts with the JOY AND LOVE OF THE RISEN LORD and guide us to be "PASSIONATE" DISCIPLES OF CHRIST"! We cannot be simply “Lukewarm” Disciples of Christ. God wants all of us to be “Passionate” Disciples, with a great love for the Lord and always doing His will.

May you and your families all have a most blessed TRIDUUM AND EASTER SUNDAY! HE IS RISEN! HE IS TRULY RISEN! ALLELUIA!

One in Christ,

Fr. Alain