Palm Sunday Reflections

O Christ God, when before Thy voluntary sufferings Thou didst explain to all the confirmation of universal resurrection; Thou didst raise Lazarus in Bethany by Thine exalted might, after he had been dead for four days. And to the blind Thou didst give sight; for Thou art the Giver of light, O Savior. Thou didst also enter the city with thy Disciples, sitting on an ass, fulfilling the preaching of the Prophets, as though riding upon the cherubim, and the Hebrew youths received Thee with palms and branches. Wherefore, we also carry olive branches and palms, crying out to Thee in gratitude, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He that cometh In the Name of the Lord.

Orthros of the Feast

 "In our liturgical celebrations, we remember events of the past. But the whole meaning and
power of Liturgy is that it transforms remembrance into reality. On Palm Sunday this reality
is our own involvement, our responsibility to, the Kingdom of God. Christ does not enter into
Jerusalem anymore, He did it once and for all. And He does not need any "symbols," for He
did not die on the Cross that we may eternally "symbolize" His life. He wants from us a real
acceptance of the Kingdom which He brought to us... And if we are not ready to stand by the
solemn oath, which we renew every year on Palm Sunday, if we do not mean to make the
Kingdom of God the measure of our whole life, meaningless is our commemoration and vain
the branches we take home from the Church."
 
[taken from] A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week
                    by
                   The Very Rev. Alexander Schmemann, S.T.D.

"In other words, in our making a remembrance of that unique momentous event, which we do with palm branches processing into the church, the intent is to not merely perform a symbolic reenactment, but to allow God, through the Holy Spirit to make that past event reality in our lives now and forevermore. And that which He makes real in us is nothing less than the Kingdom of God itself.  And since what He did through His entrance into Jerusalem in such a royal manner was to establish His Kingdom here on earth as the King of King and Lord of Lords, it is that same Kingdom that is established in our lives in the here and now through this act of worship."

~ Papa