Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday
Today we celebrate Palm Sunday and we recall Christ’s entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey with the common people out waving Palms and crying out ‘Hosanna in the Highest.’ To onlookers this would not have seemed a very auspicious occasion and yet we know that it marked the moment Saviour of the World took possession of his holy city. It was his solemn entry into Jerusalem immediately prior to the working out of the great events which brought about our salvation.
So despite the fact that it was a very low key incident, which was surely overlooked by the social and religious elite, it was actually an occasion of great significance. This reminds us that we too often overlook what could be highly significant events. We prefer to notice the grand occasions and would rather see the big picture, and we fail to take notice of what might appear to us to be rather insignificant events. And yet the lesson of today is that it is often the insignificant things which are the most important of all.
This is one of the lessons given to us by St Theresa of Lisieux. She told us to concentrate on getting the tiniest of things right because according to her they were the most important of all. According to St Theresa the passing of salt at the table could be a great act of charity because it would mean that we were totally focussed on the needs of others. So let us open our eyes to notice the significance of the insignificant and remember that it is the least important of our actions than can raise us up in the eyes of God.
Father Alex