Today many in our community will be celebrating Palm Sunday, a day that serves as the start to Holy Week culminating on Easter, which this year falls on April 4. The week serves as the beginning of the sacrifice and the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Christian faith.
“Palm Sunday is the beginning of the Holy Week. It is a celebration of the solemn entry of Jesus into Jerusalem,” said Father Lawrence Mariasoosai of Immaculate Conception Cathedral.
“Jesus enters with his disciples and all the people of the Holy Land, they were welcoming Jesus, singing hosanna and praising,” said Mariasoosai.
While last year Palm Sunday was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the celebration is back with some adjustments for public safety.
“What we do on Palm Sunday is we commemorate the memory of when Jesus entered the city. Usually what we have is the solemn entry from outside, sometimes a procession, from the parking lot to the church,” he said.
While the procession isn’t possible this year, Bishop Daniel E. Flores, of the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, has issued health and safety protocols to guide celebrations during Holy Week.
“The Second Form may be used to bless the palms at the beginning of Mass; however, there is no gathering or procession with people into the church. I think the best option is to either distribute the palms as people enter and take their seats for Mass, or at the conclusion of Palm Sunday Masses,” said Flores in a document posted to the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville Facebook page.
Furthermore, Flores stated that the palms must be sanitized, any volunteers passing out palms must wear masks and disinfect their hands and social distancing should be observed for parishioners waiting to receive the palms.
This year Immaculate Conception Cathedral has chosen to bless the palms at the start and pass them out to parishioners at the end of the Mass as they exit the cathedral.
For Mariasoosai, who came to Immaculate Conception Cathedral in October, Palm Sunday serves a second purpose for both himself and the community — the start of a week of hope.
“Hope is there always. As Jesus rose so do we rise from all of this suffering in the pandemic,” he said.
“Spring brings life and so the celebration of Easter brings hope and new life in each one of us. That is my hope and the significance for me,” finished Mariasoosai.
