Our Future Is in Good Hands

Below is a Lenten season reflection on the importance of involving our children and youth in our church's liturgical rituals.

Our Future Is in Good Hands by Rev. Jonathan Hall

On a Sunday morning in early February, The Kids' Club and SPdL Youth gathered for a Burning of the Palm Branches service. This experience was an opportunity for the younger members of our church family to become involved in the behind-the-scenes work of Second-Ponce. Appropriately, many of the same children and youth who waved those palm branches last April took part in this year’s burning.  

An important aspect of faith development in a church community is understanding how and why certain rituals take place. The more we can expose and involve our young ones in the oft-mysterious happenings of our church calendar, the brighter the future becomes for SPdL and our Christian faith. 

As I began researching this service, I realized that preparing ashes for Ash Wednesday is a holy practice observed by our Christian siblings in other denominations including the Catholic and Episcopal liturgical faith traditions. This ritual, sometimes called the Burning of Blessed Palms, burns the previous year’s Palm Sunday branches to create ashes that will be used in the current year’s Ash Wednesday service. As Lent begins and we turn our eyes toward the cross once more, this connection physically links the joy of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem with the somber reckoning of our own mortality. 

While the burning the palms was a success, we also learned a valuable lesson for next year: Do not burn the palms directly next to the church’s air conditioning intake, especially when the wind is blowing the smoke right in! For those who were alarmed and ready to stop, drop and roll–do not fear! Next year, we will host this event in a different outdoor space as our children and youth continue to lead us in this small but significant element of our faith tradition. Our future is in good hands.