Fr Ray Blake's Blog: Palm Sunday Resources

I have borowed this excellent list of Palm Sunday resources from Phat Catholic

Sharon said...: I can remember as a child bringing home a piece of palm which was then put in a photo frame and taken to the church to be burnt for Ash Wednesday. My parish no longer uses palm branches, "in Jesus' time people just used whatever they had" and people bring anything green to church and quite often leave it on the seats or throw it away in the church grounds. Our Pastoral Associate, when I mentioned this, said the they should just be thrown in the rubbish even if they are blessed. It is this diluting of reverence for blessings, the Blessed Sacrament by not insisting on genuflection before the tabernacle etc which is, in my opinion, part and parcel of the malaise which is afflicting the Church today.

In my childhood orthodox formation was supported by reverence at Mass and respect for the priest and sacramentals and various acts of piety were encouraged. That is all gone now and soon the memory of what it used to be like to be a Catholic will be contained within the pages of books which people will read as a curiosity like they go to museums to stare at costumes or peoples of bygone days.; 5/4/09 3:19 am

Fr Ray Blake's Blog