Passion or Palm?

Today is either Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday. We used to call it Palm Sunday, but for a while there was a change to Passion Sunday, but the books at church call it Palm Sunday, so we'll stick with that. I seem to remember Palm Sunday being much warmer, but Easter is early this year--about a month earlier, so we expect cold and rain and snow.

I am a reader or lector at church, and in fact I recruit, train and schedule the lectors. This is a busy time with two people needed at each Mass this weekend, and then Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday. The vigil is the most fun, since we do a three part Genesis reading, a two part Exodus, one person does Isaiah and I do Romans. Some years ago the person who was organizing the liturgy asked me to memorize Romans 6--I think it's the first 12 verses or so--and deliver it during the vigil Mass. Now it's my regular job. People seem to like it.

Memorizing scripture is something I used to do more of. Two of my friends used to challenge each other with verses to commit to memory. They would test each other to see if the other had done his homework. There is something about memorizing it that helps make it more a part of you than just reading it. You can call it to mind whenever you need inspiration or help or solace. It keeps God's promises right at hand.

Have you ever read the Bible all the way through? There are a couple of ways to do it. Reading roughly three chapters a night will get you close to finishing it in a year. I followed one scheme once where you read some Old Testament, then skipped to some New Testament, back and forth. At first I thought that might be a neat way to do it, but the selections weren't related in any way, so I went back to forging through cover to cover.

Today we packed food up at church with the group I belong to called Social Justice. With a name like that you might think we are likely to be found in a demonstration somewhere, but no--we just try to look out for people who need help in our parish. We don't have officers, but we have people we count on for different tasks. They asked me to be in charge about three years ago, and so I chair our monthly meetings. We are a very loose organization, a perfect example of how the Spirit holds things together and shows us what to do. My son came up to help--Max's daddy. None of our children go to church any more, so it was nice to have him there. He was a great help, carrying heavy boxes for the older people.

So what are you doing this Easter season?