Episcopal/Pastoral Overreach: No Palms!

A bishop is saying there will be no palms on Palm Sunday. Surely he has not thought the matter out. There is a simple solution. Let all households have their palm Sunday processions. Use branches and handkerchiefs (to represent the cloaks laid before Christ).

I recommend to all practicing Catholics households throughout the world, and all men of good will who promote true religion, to dress in their Sunday best and go out on Palm Sunday (this Sunday), randomly, reading and singing the ritual of the Palm Sunday Procession, led by the father of the family, the oldest able male (or in the absence of a male, the oldest able woman) and everyone waving handkerchiefs and/or picking twigs from the nearest trees/bushes and praying and singing and processing around the block then inside.

Use any convenient branches for now. We traditionally use branches from palm trees. In Rome they use olive branches. The branches of your yard can serve as an emergency substitute for those till you can get something more legit, later in the year. If you have holy water you can even sprinkle the kerchiefs and the branches and the people with holy water.

No bishop in the world has authority to forbid all of the Catholic faithful from Mass, the sacraments or the church if they can reasonably come. And, of course, he cannot forbid households of faithful from taking up branches and handkerchiefs to walk with Christ in triumphal entry to Jerusalem.

While we are at it, I think that perhaps just as good as watching Mass and the Triduum on television is for Catholics to do those rituals at home as dignified as possible, giving people proper roles. You are allowed to read and do everything except of course the consecration and consummation of the Eucharist and no blessing with the hands the way the priest does it. Imagine the father of the family kneeling to do the ritual washing of the feet of the entire household! Instead of the priest's blessing the head of the household should bless the children with the thumb on the forehead of each making the sign of the cross.

Fathers of families need to take the lead in this time of ecclesial crisis. The world is pretending we don't need priests or the Catholic ritual, suspend the sacraments and close the churches. Catholics need to do Catholic rituals physically, because man is composed as body and soul! We need to worship God with our bodies.