Palm Sunday

I have always loved Palm Sunday. I love the idea of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem with people cheering and waving palms, I love the fact that Jesus chose to be humble and rode on a donkey and I love the fact that we remember those events in quite a physical way by starting Mass outside and waving our palms. Palm Sunday can be very problematic for some people who face barriers to inclusion and its worth talking about why that is, what we can do to help and a resource that is useful for talking about Palm Sunday at home.

For individuals with mobility issues it may be difficult to make the journey inside the church to come back out and in again. There is always the option to stay inside but its always really helpful if someone can offer to get palms blessed for anyone who feels they can’t go outside.

For individuals who don’t like change the fact that Mass starts outside can cause dysregulation and a great deal of anxiety. This may lead to a range of different responses such as not wanting to outside, going outside but wanting to be away from the crowd or perhaps even feeling they need to go home. Making the individual aware of the change in what will happen at Mass is really helpful. A social story about the changes or a Now Next board can help make individuals feel prepared and safe with the change in routine. It also important to ask individuals what may help them with the change in routine: do they want to sit inside or do they prefer to go outside but stand at a distance? Is arriving at Mass a little late and joining everyone inside an option? Mass should not be an ordeal and small changes can make all the difference between someone feeling high levels of anxiety and feeling calm enough to stay and worship.

Some people love change but it can cause overstimulation (this can certainly be the case for some individuals with ADHD). The idea that Mass starts outside can be great and the fact that it gives opportunity for people to stand and move rather than sitting can be really helpful for some. (It can act like a movement break). However for others the movement and the movement of people around them can be overstimulating and even overwhelming. It can make it difficult for them to come in and sit down if they reach a high enough level of overstimulation. If the individual needs time to regulate again then its fine for them to remain outside when everyone else goes in whilst they are supported to regulate again (in whatever way their sensory OT or parent/guardian finds works for them). Its better to let someone regulate and then go into Mass when they are ready rather than expect them to sit when physically sitting is too difficult for them: that sets them up to fail.

For some individuals the people being outside, and seeing the volume of people go inside is too much. Maybe they can cope when they arrive first and then they don’t see others arrive but seeing the volume of people can cause real panic. Standing a distance away can be really helpful, so that the individual can see what’s happening without feeling crowded. If the individual is too upset or anxious to go into Mass then it may be that they need to go home. The temptation can sometimes be to help the person ‘get over’ their anxiety and force them to go inside but for many individuals this approach is counter productive (especially for people who are neurodivergent). If you want to help someone build a positive relationship with God then showing them kindness and saying you can come again next week when things are quieter is going to support that relationship whereas forcing someone who is upset into a situation which will upset them more is likely to create an ongoing issue with them not wanting to go to Mass as they associate Mass with fear and anxiety.

So what can you do to prepare children or young people for Palm Sunday? I found a great resource which helps as a visual when talking about Palm Sunday. The Hosanna in the Highest Activity Sheet is very reasonably priced and good quality. It is double sided with images of Jesus, Children with Palms and a large Palm and the large Palm has a prayer on the back and there is a Palm Parade Story.

This activity sheet is quite large and made of thin cardboard. I wanted to use this as a cutting activity for a child who has some motor skill issues so I cut down the central line to make the cutting more manageable, and cut the pieces representing children into a separate block to allow them to be moved more easily whilst cutting the angles. Doing this work prior to supporting the child meant that their concentration could stretch to doing the cutting and then talking about the pieces we had cut out. This worked well and with support (I recommend spring loaded scissors for anyone who finds standard scissors difficult to manipulate) it created an effective scene. We had a great deal of fun wafting Jesus with the big palm and talking about how he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

This resource would be effective for supporting someone to understand why we are outside Mass with palms on Palm Sunday and you could take the pieces along to Mass as a point of reference for the individual you are supporting. ie look at the children holding palms on the picture and look at the people holding palms outside church.

I bought The Hosanna in the Highest Activity Sheet from Redemptorist Publications and highly recommend it but as always all views and opinions are my own.