How am I going to celebrate Palm Sunday this year?

All of us are used to honour Palm Sunday with early attendance to the church services and joining in the joyful singing of hymns.  We also enjoyed sharing our artistic touch in making crosses and donkeys with Palm leaves.

This year with the severe restriction on our movements with most if not all our parish churches closed to reduce the spread of Coronavirus, how will we be celebrating this joyful feast?

In Palm Sunday the church celebrates the triumphant entry of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem a few days before His Crucifixion for our salvation.

Wherever we are, we need to share in this celebration.

I advocate two simple steps for us to enjoy this Palm Sunday as any other.

The first is to ensure with all our efforts to accept our Lord entering our hearts as our Saviour and King.  When we do that, the Hosanna will have its true meaning in our life.  Jesus has to sit on the throne of our hearts for us to be shouting with the children Hosanna to the King of Israel.  Hosanna to the Son of David, Hosanna in the highest.

The second is to empty all of our hearts, feelings and intentions of material interests and worries. We usually forget that when Jesus entered the temple, He drove out those who sell and buy in the temple.  (zeal for Your House has eaten Me).  Trading of any kind in the temple was not acceptable by Our Lord Jesus Christ, even if it was selling Pigeons for the purpose of sacrifice offering.

When we empty our hearts off the material interests and accept Our Lord Jesus as our Kind and Saviour, then we will enjoy celebrating this Palm Sunday as a joyful feast wherever we are, and under any circumstances.

Blessed Is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord.  Have a blessed feast.