Join Hands to Celebrate Palm Sunday

Liturgy is something I have come to love in recent years.  The word liturgy comes from the Greek word λειτουργία.  This Greek word is a combination of two words in Greek, λαός (people) and ἔργο (to work/do).  Thus liturgy literally means "the work of the people."  Liturgy is most often connected to the rituals, readings and order of Sunday morning worship.  However, I believe liturgy is more than just the work we do in worship...it is the work we do in our homes, in our workplaces, in our families and in the community.  Liturgy is a desire to work and order our lives towards God in all that we do.  

Over hundreds of years, a focus on liturgy has led to the crafting of a liturgical calendar that breaks the calendar year into into seasons such as Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Pentecost.  Much like I love liturgy, I love the liturgical calendar.  Each year the liturgical calendar brings to the forefront seasons that draw our focus to important aspects of the Christian faith.  The liturgical calendar offers space (during ordinary time) to focus on individual aspects of faith that we are seeking to know and understand more, but it also offers a time when the whole community can come together with one heart and mind to focus on and celebrate together important events in the life of the church.  

The home should always be a space where spiritual formation takes place, but special seasons in the church year offer opportunities for intentional connections between what is happening at home and what is happening at church.  Liturgy is a work we are called to engage in, both at church and at home, and the liturgical calendar offers a helpful avenue for this work.  Thus, much of my focus during important church seasons, will be on ways to connect what is happening in worship to what is happening in the home.  

We are currently in the season of Lent and will be entering a special time at the end of Lent called Holy Week.  Holy Week walks through the last week of Jesus' life as chronicled in the New Testament.  It begins this Sunday with Palm Sunday and this important day in the life of the church is where my blog will begin.

Palm Sunday marks the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The people waved palms to honor Jesus and shouted Hosanna. In Jesus' day, people waved palms to welcome royalty. For many years Christians have carried palm branches to church to remember how Jesus was welcomed to Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday. This tradition continues in churches around the world each Palm Sunday as children enter the sanctuary waving Palm Branches to remember, celebrate and honor Jesus at the start of Holy Week. 

This week at home, spend some time getting ready for Palm Sunday as a family.  First read together the palm celebration story found in Mark 11:1-11.  Discuss the questions: why were the people waving palm branches as Jesus entered the city?  Why do continue to wave palm branches in church each year?  

After you have read the story, take a few minutes to create your own family palm branch/branches. You will need: Construction Paper, scissors, pencils and tape.  After you have gathered your supplies, have each member of the family trace their hands at least two times.  Cut out all the hand prints and arrange them from smallest to largest.  Next you will cut out a long, skinny strip to be the center of your palm branch.  Then begin taping on the hands, starting with the largest hands at the bottom and ending with the smallest hands at the top.  Once you are done, you may want to add a banner to your palm branch that says "Hosanna".  This is a way to remember the praise the people shouted to Jesus on Palm Sunday.

Make it a point to be present in worship this week for Palm Sunday.  Encourage your children (and yourself) to participate in the Palm Sunday procession at your church as a visible way to remember and celebrate the hope and salvation that Jesus brings.