On Palm Sunday we carry palms in our hands at Mass, just like the people of Jerusalem did all those years ago when they welcomed Jesus to their city.

In the ancient world, palm branches were a symbol of victory.

For the Hebrew people of the Old Testament, the elegance, strength and simplicity of a palm tree was a symbol of the just man or woman, the one who had put their trust in God and in whom God’s law had taken root and triumphed.

For the conquering Romans, it was also a symbol of victory. Palm trees aren’t native to Italy, so conquering generals brought back with them palm trees as souvenirs and signs of their military prowess and victories.

The crowds waving palm branches in front of Jesus, therefore, were celebrating his victory. 

When we carry palms at Mass today we join with them and also declare and celebrate Christ’s victory.

But what victory is that, and how did Christ win it?

It’s Christ’s victory over original sin. Original sin is the sin of our first parents when they chose not to listen to God but to listen to the voice of their own desires; when they forsook the will of God and replaced it with their will. Original sin, like all sin, is ultimately the sin of idolatry: the dethroning of God and the setting up someone or something in that place in our lives which God alone should occupy.

In the same way that we inherit our DNA and character traits from our parents, so too we inherit from them our spiritual DNA, our spiritual characteristics: original sin. The choice of Adam and Eve has continued to pollute our human freedom through all the generations and has been handed on to successive generations. Each new generation inheriting the fallen state from the previous.

By his passion, death and resurrection Jesus has broken the deadly chain or original sin. His total obedience to the Father’s will has reversed the disobedience of our first parents, despite the Devil’s best efforts to thwart him.

In the same way that the Devil had convinced Adam and Eve to say ‘no’, so too he tried to get Jesus to say ‘no’ to his Father. Judas’ betrayal, the abandonment of the disciples, the false accusers, the condemnation, the mockery, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, the torture of crucifixion and its slow, painful asphixiation. These were Satan’s attempts to get Jesus to turn his back on his Father.

Jesus, however, defeated the Devil by continuing to love in the face of all the pain and hatred. He forgave and obeyed through everything that happened to him.

Jesus’ obedience in the face of his passion and death, breaks once and for all the power of sin and death; it breaks the chain of original sin. It offers us the hope of repairing our relationship with God, of replacing original sin with the original blessing that God had planned for us from the beginning.

Calvary is Christ’s victory over sin and is the victory we celebrate.

Calvary is the reason we wave palms today at Mass and the reason why next Friday is truly a ‘good’ Friday.