Many of us won't be able to participate in Mass this weekend because of the health crisis in which we find ourselves these days. So I thought I'd use our space here to find you and to share these pussywillow branches with you. They are an encouraging sign of renewal, hope and new life. I send them with every good wish and a blessing for your family and every family in the world where there is anxiety, fatigue, sickness, loneliness or stress.
Were we at the Palm Sunday Mass we'd have heard St. Matthew's familiar Gospel account (21:1-11) of Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem. But the verse that stands out for me today is this: "Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road."
If you heard yesterday's audio-post, you might remember the thoughts about the withered tree Duccio placed behind Jesus' halo. My only fear is that I would come to the end of my life never having been fruitful in Christ. But looking again, by contrast, we see two other trees still further behind—tall, leafed-out and green. Young boys are scrambling up the trees to cut the branches they'll lay down on the road.
But what does it mean? It means, that along with the pussywillow branch, I offer this prayer for you:
O Christ our Saviour,
Christ, the tree of our ascent,
may we move
up and out
of spiritual infancy,
to maturity of faith—
that I would live my own unique life
as truthfully, generously and beautifully,
as you, Jesus, lived yours.
