Palm Sunday in Mihintale

 We’re living in rural Sri Lanka outside a tiny village named Mihintale.  Most of the Sri Lankan population is Buddhist with small minorities of Muslims and Christians.  I was pleasantly surprised to find St. Anthony’s, a small Catholic church in Mihintale, and made my first visit on Palm Sunday.  

When I arrived, several people were decorating coconut palms with flowers, soon to be carried inside by the altar boys.  The rest of us were handed palms as well.   

After the mass, which involved an hour of mostly standing on our feet in the 90-degree chapel , a man named Michael taught me how to weave palms into crosses.  I met several students from the university where I work, and chatted with many other warm, friendly folks.   

Then Father Damion beckoned me.  He eagerly asked where I lived, what my phone number was, if he would see me on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday, and whether I would start visiting village churches with him this week.  In spite of the priest’s zealousness, it was nice to be welcomed by all in this tiny place of worship.