By: Brandon Ricardo Velázquez Álvarez, seminarian

“Hosanna to the Son of David!” We initiate the Holy Weed with this acclamation on Palm Sunday, when we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem.  The celebration occurred in an atmosphere of joy and fraternity.  Communities in the proximities of the Introductory Course facilities attended Eucharist and participated with devotion bringing each his or her palm leaf.  Homily turned around the Passion of the Lord; especially around the courage we must assume to accept the cross with generousness and joy, seeking to live our Christian life coherently.

The days before the Easter Triduum were very enriching, especially because, on Monday and Tuesday, Monsignor Juan Armando Perez Talamantes was with us.  He passionately and resolutely shared topics on Holy Thursday and Friday, The Spiritual Struggle, The Cross and The Death of the Lord.  His words made most of us feel truly reassured, they moved us away from the comfortable stance we sometimes assume in our formative process in the Seminary and, at the same time, helped us prepare our hearts to initiate the Easter Triduum joyously.

We lived all Triduum celebrations with the faithful, who were really willing to participate in all activities devotedly and enthusiastically, form Holy Thursday, with the Supper of the Lord, to the Passion and Death of the Lord, the representation of the Stations of the Cross on Friday, and ending up with great joy for the Resurrection of the Lord in Easter Watch, where we all lived and experienced the words of the angels at the burial site, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he has risen”.