Palm Sunday marks the beginning of intensified prayer and reflection as we move towards the Paschal Mystery. It is during this week we enter deeply into the mystery of Jesus, the Son of God, our Redeemer.

God is a community of persons, Father, Son and Spirit, relating in an intimate way. We are created in the image and likeness of God and so we are created for intimacy and communion. We are created for communion with the Blessed Trinity with ourselves, with others and with nature. This communion was broken when sin entered the world.  The effect of sin then is separation from God, from self, others and creation. This is seen in the story of the Fall in Genesis. Adam was separated from God because he hid from God, from self because he hid himself with fig leaves, from others because he blamed Eve for his wrong doing and from creation because they were thrown out of the Eden, the place where they were intimately bounded with God.

The nature of God the Father is that of pure divinity. The nature of the Son, Jesus is both divine and human. The Spirit is the great love that exists between Father and Son and binds them in and intimate way that makes them equal to each other.

When we profess the Creed we say we believe in God the Father, creator of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in Jesus who proceeds from the Father and is equal to the Father. We believe in the Spirit. Our God the Alpha, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, came down from heaven for us and our salvation.

Jesus came to restore us to the unity we had before original sin. Jesus is the way to the Father. He is the way back into the Eden experience (intimately with God, self, neighbour and creation). We invite you today to take some time and contemplate this Eden experience where we are intimately bonded to our God from whom we take our existence.  This gives us a sense of purpose in our existence. We are on a journey back to the heart of God the Father. It also makes us aware that this cannot be done through human effort only. Within Jesus the human being is united to God the Father.

Theologians explain that the human aspect of Jesus unites with our humanity and allow us to enter into an intimacy with a visible, tangible person. Jesus makes visible the invisible God.

God became man, Jesus, to unite us to God so through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection we will be restored to eternal life. A mortal being could not restore us, God who is perfect, restored us.

An understanding of the Trinity will move us into a space beyond the relationship with Jesus to an encounter with God through the Spirit. It is important for us to enter with our whole heart, mind and soul, our entire being, into the Paschal Mystery so that we can truly experience the saving power in our lives.

As catechists and teachers, let us open ourselves to this precious opportunity to unite ourselves with Jesus in a real way.–  Bernadette Gopaul-Ramkhalawan, Archdiocesan Catechetical Office