I recently heard someone comparing Lent to palms. Yes, the palms that play an important role during this season. We see the old palms from last year, all brown, shriveled, and unpleasant, being burned up and used as ashes on Ash Wednesday. Then, again we see new, fresh, vibrant palms on Palm Sunday. These palms give us a bittersweet remembrance of Christ’s Passion, but at the same time His Resurrection.
We can compare ourselves to these palms. We come on Ash Wednesday before the Lord to remind ourselves and acknowledge that we became “brown, shriveled, and unpleasant” over the past year and need to be “burned up” to become renewed. So then we start the Lenten journey of repentance and returning to the Lord and believing in the Gospel. At the beginning of Holy Week, we come to celebrate Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection as “renewed, fresh, and vibrant” people that were touched by God’s Grace and Mercy and start again.
Looking at these palms in this way, we can see a reflection of ourselves. I liked this image. It puts into perspective the fact of why Jesus had to suffer, die, and resurrect. It is so that we can keep coming back every year to be renewed by His Love during this Holy Season of Lent.
Have a Blessed and Fruitful Lent!
Marta Sniezko
