For Christians all around the world, today marks the beginning of Holy Week and the final days of the Lenten season.  Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter commemorating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem before His subsequent crucifixion and resurrection.  The event was mentioned in each of the canonical Gospels (the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible:  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).  According to the Gospels, Jesus rode in on a donkey and people celebrating laid down their cloaks and small branches of trees in front of Him as He passed.  Eastern symbolism suggests Jesus did not choose a horse as it was seen as an animal of war.  Rather, His entry symbolized Him as the Prince of Peace.  In Jewish tradition the palm is one of the four species carried for celebrating.  In the Greco-Roman culture of the Roman Empire, which strongly influenced Christian tradition, the palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory.  In ancient Egyptian religion, the palm was carried in funeral processions to represent eternal life.  In churches today parishioners will hold palm branches which will be blessed with an aspergillum, or holy water slinger, as I told my four year old.  The name derives from the Latin verb aspergere, “to sprinkle”.  In our church little cross pins are made from palm branches to be worn during the service.  I have saved a few over the years and some have dried quite beautifully.  I love the mix of passion and triumph reflected in the liturgy and hymns.  Even the vestments go from scarlet red, representing the supreme redemptive sacrifice Christ was entering the city to fulfill, back to purple which is the color for mourning and penitence during the 40 days of Lent.  It varies from church to parish; I belong to the Episcopal church.  However I believe almost every Christian church, regardless of denomination, incorporates palms into their worship today.  In the words of Pope Benedict XVI:  “Palm Sunday tells us that … it is the cross that is the true tree of life.”