Dominica in
Palmis
Evening, 19 March 2016
Church of St John the
Evangelist / Agawam
O Lord, keep
not thy help far from me, look to my defense:
deliver me
from the lion’s mouth (Ps 21:20).
Many thanks for your patience with
the very humble circumstances of our celebration. And yet, perhaps this is
fitting: the triumphal procession of Jesus into Jerusalem that we commemorate
this evening was far from a grand affair. In our first Gospel reading, St
Matthew takes pains to show the difference between our king, Jesus Christ, and
the kings of the world. Our King rides, not a warhorse, but a pack animal; he
is escorted, not by victorious soldiers, but by children; he is surrounded, not
by the spoils of war, but by palm branches.
Briefly, I want to reflect on the
sign of these palm branches. The collect I recited after our procession—somewhat
lost amidst the long texts of today’s ceremony—teaches us what exactly these
palms signify. That prayer reads:
Oh Lord Jesus Christ, our
King and Redeemer, in whose honor we have gone on singing solemn praises,
bearing these palms: graciously grant that, wherever these palms might be
carried, the grace of your blessing may descend there; and, having overthrown
every evil and illusion of the demons, you might protect with your right hand those
it has redeemed.[1]
A very fulsome prayer.—Who knew such
a blessing is carried by so simple a sign, a mere blade of leafy grass? And yet
this is precisely the nature of the sacramentals of the Church: they are
sacraments in miniature, exterior signs that, with God’s blessing, carry his
power, protection, and grace when they are used in faith.
The ancient enemy hates all of
creation, because all of it speaks of God. This is why we bless created things:
to claim them for the kingdom of light. Our sacramentals, then, represent so
many weapons against Satan. In this case, these humble palms are like the
banners of a victorious army, because the events of Holy Week, begun today,
were the means by which Satan was defeated. We perpetuate his defeat by
displaying these palms wherever we go and by sincere, devoted repentance to the
Heart of Christ.
There is one more connection worth
mentioning this evening. We have celebrated the feast of St Joseph, the Spouse
of Mary. The Introit for his Mass begins with this verse from Ps 91: Iustus ut palma florebit: sicut cedrus
Libani multiplicabitur. “The just man will flower like the palm tree: he
will be increased like the cedar of Lebanon.” These palms then are also the
sign of his righteousness before God. Joseph is called “the terror of demons”
in the litany composed in his honor. So let these palms speak to us of St
Joseph—silent, steadfast Joseph. He safely brought Jesus and Mary through the
dangers from Herod and the worship of demons in Egypt. He will do the same for
our Church, beleaguered as she is from without and from within.
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