On Tuesday, February 13, the SCCA school community gathered for the Burning of Palms ceremony as we burned the blessed palms we received on Palm Sunday last year. This was our final preparation for Lent. The palm is a sign of victory, triumph, and peace and were used as the people welcomed Jesus as He made His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Deprived of water for a year, our palms have become dried and withered just as our spiritual lives may be dry because of sin. Palm ash then becomes a sign of repentance and a need for redemption by Jesus. In an earlier era, ash was a principal part in fertilizer which is necessary to stir up growth. Now palm ash serves as a way of stirring each of us as we draw closer to Christ in Lent.
