On Palm Sunday, March 29, the three Catholic congregations of Natchez and the Fayette congregation will jointly celebrate a worship service (Mass) at the St. Mary Basilica at 10 a.m.

Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (Mt. 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19), and begins what is known as Holy Week. Holy week recalls and liturgically re-enacts great events in the final week of Jesus’ life – his arrival in Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover, his last supper with his disciples, his arrest and trial before Pilate, and his death on the cross. But the Jesus story did not end with his death, and we Christians believe that He was raised to life again, and this event is commemorated at Easter.

Father James Fallon, pastor of Holy Family Church in Natchez, St. Ann congregation in Fayette and St. John the Baptist congregation in Cranfield, said, “Palm Sunday is a great feast day that draws our minds back to the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. My experience is that even church members who are not regular weekend church-goers, find a special attraction to Palm Sunday, and actively participate in the procession with palm branches. The palm branches are reminders of how Jesus was greeted on his arrival into Jerusalem. The service is joyful as it recalls His arrival but it also focuses attention on the events that would happen later in the final week of Jesus’ life with the Gospel proclamation from Mark 14:1 – 15:47.”

The Palm Sunday event is recognized by all Christian people. Because of this we extend an invitation to all interested people in the Miss-Lou area to join us for this service. We warmly welcome Catholics who have not been active in their parishes in recent times, and we pray that this might be a new beginning for them.

“The order of this worship service begins with a call to worship and blessing of palms beside the Family Life Center at 9.40 a.m., then a prayerful procession through Memorial Park, distribution of palms to all those present, the proclamation of the sacred scriptures and the homily (sermon), the general intercessions, followed by the offertory rite, the Eucharistic prayer recalling the words and actions of Jesus at the last supper, and the communion rite. The final part, called the dismissal rite, is the sending forth of the congregation to live the central message of the celebration,” said Ruth McWilliams, chairperson of the Multi-parish planning committee.

“The planning committee included members of Holy Family parish, St. Anne church in Fayette, Assumption and St. Mary parishes,” said Patricia Tumminello, liturgy chairperson at St. Mary. “Members of each of these congregations will serve in liturgical roles – greeters, gift bearers, ushers and ministers of Communion.”

The music for the service will be provided by choirs from St. Mary Basilica, Holy Family parish, and Assumption parish under the direction of Dr. Patrick Doherty.

The gathering and the blessing of the palms will take place beside the Family Life Center. Persons who are not able to walk in the procession are asked to go directly to St. Mary Basilica and await the procession there. Those able to walk in the procession are encouraged to gather beside the Family Life Center between 9:30 and 9:45 a.m.

In case of rain, the blessing of palms and the procession will be transferred to St. Mary Basilica. Babysitting with adult supervision will be provided at the nursery in the Family Life Center beginning at 9:15 a.m. In addition to the Sunday morning service, a vigil Mass is scheduled at 5 p.m. in St. Mary Basilica, 5 p.m. at Holy Family and 7 p.m. at St. Ann Church in Fayette. The only Palm Sunday morning service in the Natchez area will be at St. Mary. We have invited all the Catholic congregations in southwest Mississippi, Vidalia and Ferriday to attend and we expect each of these will be represented at this celebration.

For further information, please contact church offices: St. Mary, 601-445-5616; Holy Family, 601-445-5700; Assumption Church 601-442-7250.

 

Father David O’Connor is pastor of St. Mary and Assumption congregations in Natchez.