As we celebrate Passover and Easter amid pandemic, know that faith will always find a way

Bea L. Hines
·5 min read

Today, as we enter another Holy Week, or Passion Week, I am looking back with love and thankfulness for all the Palm Sundays I have witnessed.

This day was always special to us in the Christian faith. In the Bible, Palm Sunday, as we in modern times named it, commemorates the day that Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey, over a path that had been strewn with palm fronds and cloaks. The people, the Bible tells us, sang Hosannas and praised Him as he humbly rode in the city, where only a few short days later, He would be crucified.

So, it has always been with this story in mind that the Palm Sunday processions of my childhood were held. The processions were usually led by the St. Agnes band, followed by ladies dressed in sparkling white dresses, waving palm fronds, while stepping to the beat of the drums in the band. It was glorious.

Men, dressed in their dark suits and masonic attire, strutted proudly as the band led the procession to and from a local church, usually the Historic St. Agnes Episcopal Church in Overtown and the Church of the Incarnation in Liberty City. The processions usually followed a sacred church service.

On this day, the Palm Sunday procession was for every Christian, of every denomination.

So, as a child after our own church services at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, then located at Northwest 15th Avenue and 65th Street in Liberty City, my friends and I eagerly waited to hear the beat of the big bass drum, signaling the start of the Palm Sunday procession. We skipped and walked alongside the procession as it wound through the streets of our neighborhoods.

My friend Barbara Burrows, a member of St. Agnes, remembers the processional always started at 4 p.m.

“The Palm Sunday processions started under Fr. James Culmer, but it was under Fr. Richard Barry that the St. Francis Catholic and Temple Baptist churches were invited to participate in the processions.

“We used to sing, ‘Ride on, Ride on in majesty,’ as we processed in the streets. We all wore white. Some of the men even wore white suits with red ties,” she said. “There were two bands combined, St. Agnes and Mount Olive, made up of musicians from throughout the community and named St. Agnes Band.

“Now, because of the virus, we can’t have the processions anymore,” Burrows said. “Fr. Denrick Rolle, [the current pastor of St. Agnes] will have a drive-by at 11:30 a.m. at St. Agnes, 1750 NW Third Ave., so people can pick up blessed palm fronds.

“But it won’t be the same. Let’s hope that next year we will get back to celebrating the old way of celebrating Palm Sunday,” Burrows said.

The pipe organ at the Historic Saint Agnes Episcopal Church in Overtown. The Rev. Dr. Richard L. Marquess-Barry places one of the candles with the organ behind him in this 2006 file photo. The restored organ has over 2,000 pipes.
The pipe organ at the Historic Saint Agnes Episcopal Church in Overtown. The Rev. Dr. Richard L. Marquess-Barry places one of the candles with the organ behind him in this 2006 file photo. The restored organ has over 2,000 pipes.

While the Christian faith celebrates Palm Sunday and the Easter season, our friends of the Jewish faith are commemorating Passover and their deliverance from slavery. At Temple Judea in Coral Gables, there will be virtual Passover Seder at 6 p.m. Sunday. To participate, interested persons must register at Temple Judea.

Temple Judea, 5500 Granada Blvd., in Coral Gables.
Temple Judea, 5500 Granada Blvd., in Coral Gables.

Here is an excerpt from a message by Rabbi Judith Siegal of Temple Judea:

“As we approach the second Passover during a pandemic, we are looking at the questions and themes of Pesach a bit differently. One of the themes of Passover is freedom from slavery and our obligation to work until all people are truly freed from oppression.

“During a time when we do not feel fully free to even leave our houses safely or gather with our family freely, we are focusing our Seders on the questions of how the meaning of freedom has changed for us in the last year and how have we, ourselves felt more free or more captive than before the pandemic,” Siegal said.

“In light of the ongoing issue of racial justice and its resurgence over the past year, there has always been an emphasis on racial justice and the fact that people of color are still disadvantaged and persecuted, and that we are obliged to do the work to help in redemption. This year, especially, there is an emphasis on the role we play as Jews, in bringing freedom to all…”

As a freedom-loving Christian, I can say, “Ditto” to the rabbi’s message.

The Palm Sunday/Easter season for Christians is also a time of celebrating our deliverance — from the bonds of sin and a new beginning.

This season, more than ever, we need to celebrate. While the loss of life due to the pandemic and mass shootings have put a damper on this season of sacred celebrations, there is still so much to celebrate and to be thankful for. Although many churches are still closed, congregations have found creative ways to worship — from Facebook videos to Zoom calls and even at canopy-covered parking lots.

Some churches, like Trinity Cathedral, the Episcopal cathedral near the Venetian Causeway, have instituted a reservation system, with a limit of 25 parishioners per service. When a service has reached its capacity, the service will be closed to other registrants.

Congregants can register to attend one of three services at Trinity: 8 and 10 a.m. or 12:15 p.m. On Sunday morning at the Cathedral, an usher will confirm that your name is on the reservation list. To register for either of the services at Trinity, email the church at office@trinitymiami.org.

Faith will always find a way.

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