Hey J.C., you're all right by me

Whatup Palm Sunday.

I attended mass last evening with my parents. My mom was one of the lectors along with another reader and the priest, reading Luke's version of the Passion. It's pretty juicy with a quasi sword fight, betrayal, denial, an angry crowd, etc. This marks the near end of the Lenten season and the beginning of Holy Week which culminates in the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, then Easter Sunday. For those outside the Church, I feel obligated to mention that this is IT. Easter is hands down the biggest deal in Catholicism, even more than Christmas. I realize secular society hasn't quite gotten the message on that one, otherwise Good Friday would be the busiest shopping day of the year. "Black Friday" is a much more relevant name for this day as opposed to the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm not in charge of these things. Getting back to the glory that is Holy Week (and I mean this in all seriousness--I L-O-V-E Holy Week), I've included a video of mainstream cinema depicting the event that Palm Sunday is based on, Jesus' triumphant return from the desert to the city of Jerusalem. Granted, the film was made in 1973 and some might find the look the Pharisees have got going on a bit dated, but I do not. Besides, Jesus is totally hot in this flick. I think this movie is a fabulous portrayal of the Passion as it is based more on the Gospel of Mark than on Luke's, the latter having been written several decades after the Christ event. Mark's gospel also ends without any resurrection* (just like in the movie!) and carries the storyline of a Greek tragedy with a fallen hero. Anyhow, enjoy the clip. I recommend starting at 3:45 seconds into it. Hosanna Superstar!

*Mark 16:8 ends with the empty tomb and the following scripture verses were added later, according to most scholars. More on this can be found in most bible translations and also at the always reliable (sarcasm alert!) online encyclopedia Wikipedia.