Getting in touch with my catholic side

Today, Joe and I had our sights set on going to church. Joe hasn’t been since…I’m not sure but it’s been a long time. I went at Christmas time as a present to my mom. We had plans to go back to the flagship church of the Jesuits today at 12:30. We had seen on TV that there was something happening at the Vatican. We decided to make our way up there to take a few photos before church. In addition, today is the Rome marathon, which runs along the Tiber and by the Vatican. I was really regretting that I didn’t sign up for the 5k. I thought this could have been such a cool experience. Anyway, I figured I’d watch the runners a bit en route to the Vatican. Maybe this would provide the excitement of the race without actually having to exert myself too much.

As we made it to the Vatican, Joe exclaimed, “Oh, it’s Palm Sunday!” Right. Duh. It’s the Sunday before Easter yo, (as my friend Horace would say).
As we got closer we saw more people selling olive branches. I notice this is the more typical item used on Palm Sunday in Italy vs. palm fronds. In the states, for my non-Catholic friends, you get a palm frond on Palm Sunday. Here, you get an olive branch. It kind of makes sense since there are so many olive trees but it’s not like there are palm-trees-a-plenty in the states. In California and Florida sure but in Oregon there are no palm trees. Maybe we should get some pine needles or a branch of Oregon Grape. That would be a bit unfortunate however because that shrub sends me into an allergic fit. Anyway, I always figured the palm fronds were sent from the Catholic Archdiocese right before Palm Sunday. I assumed it was some sort of specially packaged selection of palm fronds sent directly from the Pope. Sorry to blow the lid off this secret. Those palm fronds are not from the Pope.
As we made our way up the Via della Conciliazione, the main road into the piazza, we saw that festivities were in full swing at Piazza San Pietro. We made our way in and…went to Palm Sunday mass with the Pope. I know. It’s better than mass at the Jesuit flagship church and I’m pretty sure that this gives me a “free pass and go directly to heaven” ticket. Joe kept joking about going to confession but now he’s pretty sure that this wipes his slate clean. I’m not as sure but that’s another story.
(See video from mass.)