Got Palms? And so it begins...

So we have the burning-of-the-palms this week for Ash Wednesday at St. Ignatius School in Concord Hill, Missouri. Father told the students to bring in last year's "Palm Sunday" palms (as usual) to burn. I'm at home on this beautiful Saturday morning, and I'm looking at my palm collection. I have never remembered to bring them back to church for this meaningful ceremony. Instead, I have always placed them in a vase and kept them on a little table at the end of my hall. But THIS YEAR, I am collecting all of my palms - since my first Palm Sunday as a Catholic in 2005 - and I am giving them back to the Lord. I can't wait to pass them out to my students and have them offer my palms up in our ritual. I LOVE our Faith. What an amazing ceremony! What depths of spiritual meaning these faith rituals provide us!