Drive-through palms for Palm Sunday

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For Palm Sunday, my parish is offering drive-through pickup for 90 minutes on Sunday morning. The pickup offerings include palms and a prayer card.
 
We have them in buckets in front of the church after the 5:00 streamed Mass today and after the 8:00 streamed Mass tomorrow.
 
Our bishop specifically forbade the distribution of palms in any way, shape, or form, because of fears that it would contribute to health concerns. 😥
 
As Catholics, we are a sacramental people and believe that spiritual graces are conveyed through physical means. The waters of baptism, the bread and the wine of the Eucharistic celebration of the Mass, palms on Palm Sunday, holy water…all of these convey spiritual blessings via physical means.
 
A nearby parish was planning on doing this tomorrow, but ultimately decided not to for obvious health reasons.
 
As Catholics, we believe in physical presence. We believe that the tabernacle in the Churches containing the Eucharist holds the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. We believe in sacraments like Confirmation and Holy Orders where there is a laying on of hands. We believe in the waters of baptism. We believe in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. We believe in wedding rings and marriage. We believe in chrism and annointing oils. We believe in the Sacrament of Confession or Reconcilation and being physically present with a priest who has the authority to grant absolution.

We believe in the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. We believe that Jesus spit and made mud and used that mud to heal a man’s eyes. We believe that the physical presence of Jesus and Peter and Paul was used to heal. We believe in Eucharistic Adoration and relics and pilgrimages. We believe that physical presence matters.
 
World Over - 2020-04-02 - Dr. Janet Smith with Raymond Arroyo

If you would like to sign a petition / open letter of appeal to US bishops to expand our access to the Church and the means of grace during the virus crisis. Please visit the website linked below.

 
No way of obtaining blessed psalms that I can see here. An obscure fact, monasteries often, because of poverty, not been able to access real psalms. At our local abbey the tradition was to cut cedar boughs from cedars on the monastery’s property, and use those as palms instead. That went on until the monks became too old and they just ended up buying palms.

We used to have a cedar hedge on our property but it died out. However I found a small sprig growing this morning, so I cut off a bough, sprinkled with my little vial of holy water, made the sign of the cross, and put in my oratory in a small vase.

Like monasteries, this oblate made do with what he had available. I would have used a pine bough (of which I have plenty around the house), if I hadn’t found that little bit of cedar. I like the notion of cedar because it is a plant that also grows in the Holy Land. So it keeps a connection.
 
There are 2 churches that I know of doing “drive-through palms” and one church where you could go and pick up a palm from the vestibule. I went this morning to pick up 2 palms. There were people in there taking enough for huge extended families, which didn’t bother me as I was there practically when they opened so as to make sure of getting one. I strongly suspect that this church for whatever reason had already ordered the palms before the bishop’s suspension of Masses here, and did not want to waste them. The other churches all said no palms would be distributed and some said they would be distributed at a later date.

There were two people with rubber gloves keeping watch over the palms and we were making sure not too many people went in the vestibule at once, we were going like 1 or 2 at a time. I washed my palms in soap and water when I got them home.
 
Nothing wrong with cedar boughs. Ukrainians use pussy willows because years ago, we had no access to palms. We strike each other gently as a reminder of Christ’s scourging, saying “It is not I who strikes thee, but the willow. In a week will be the feast of the Resurrection”.
 
Walked past my local church today (which was unintentional) and popped in to ask for confession ( being Holy Week ).

Thankfully our priest was gathering up Palm Crosses in a tray for the public to collect later on…

Sometimes things happen for a reason. Personally I’ve always found an empty church full of silence very peaceful place to be.
 
In our diocese the palms are being saved to be distributed later.
 
Ours are available today for pick up from the front of the Church. They were disinfected and blessed. As contact is not the major vector for transmission, it is not a bad option. Heck, stuff at the grocery store is not disinfected and people are picking up groceries.

I think since pickup will be over hours, there will not be too many people. However, if people do arrive several at a time, keeping six feet apart as they take turns, it would make for a very somber parallel to the procession with palms.
 
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At our parish, the Knights of Columbus were at the church foyer for 90 minutes to distribute palms and prayer cards. The church sanctuary was also available for a visit (with proper social distancing, of course). I saw 7-8 people at the church building and everyone (including myself) was wearing a mask.
 
Not available here. No mass, no anything else. (Recorded/watch online not the same)
What was to be my first easter at the Catholic church is not going to be this year.
(Stay at home order issued for entire state now.) I am an essential worker though, and will be working tomorrow.
Pray for us all.

Dominus vobiscum
 
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