Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Liturgy Alive

The liturgical calendar of the year

Description

April 2, 2023

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Until Where Do I Follow My Lord?
One With Jesus in Suffering and Triumph

I. BLESSING OF PALMS AND PROCESSION

Introduction Before the Blessing of Palms

Until Where Do I Follow My Lord?

Today is a day of glory for the Lord, with people acclaiming him as God’s messenger: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” A few days from now, as we will hear in the Passion story, people will shout: “Crucify him!” We understand this better when we reflect on our lives. We have some days of glorious happiness, of success and joy, but also sad days of contradiction and failure. Today we look at them in the light of the Lord. With him we live happy days, with him we experience sad days, but whether sad or joyful, in all of them we follow the Lord.

One with Jesus in Suffering and Triumph

Today’s celebration is the opening scene of the drama of Holy Week. It points to the two central acts that brought us forgiveness and new life: Jesus’ death and resurrection. We acclaim Jesus as our victorious King when we wave our palms, for he will overcome sin and death on Easter. But to win this victory, he chose to pass through suffering and death, as we are told in the story of his passion. Let us be one with Jesus in his pain, that we may also share in his victory.

Prayer of Blessing of the Palms

God of all life,
we come before you with green branches,
symbols of life and youth,
and of Jesus who called himself the green wood.
Bless us, and bless these branches.
Let these green twigs and leaves acclaim Christ
as our Lord who brings us life’s fullness,
even though we have to go with him
the hard road of suffering and death.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

– The priest sprinkles the branches with holy water in silence.

Gospel of the Palm Blessing (Mt 21:1-11): Your Humble King Comes to You

Jesus enters Jerusalem in popular triumph. We too proclaim him our glorious King, but his true kingship was that of the Servant of God and people, who died to bring us life. Do we want to be like him?

At the Procession with Palms - Gospel: Mt 21:1-11

When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem
and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,
"Go into the village opposite you,
and immediately you will find an ass tethered,
and a colt with her.
Untie them and bring them here to me.
And if anyone should say anything to you, reply,
'The master has need of them.'
Then he will send them at once."
This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet
might be fulfilled:
Say to daughter Zion,
"Behold, your king comes to you,
meek and riding on an ass,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."
The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them.
They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them,
and he sat upon them.
The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,
while others cut branches from the trees
and strewed them on the road.
The crowds preceding him and those following
kept crying out and saying:
"Hosanna to the Son of David;
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord;
hosanna in the highest."
And when he entered Jerusalem
the whole city was shaken and asked, "Who is this?"
And the crowds replied,
"This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee."

– A brief homily may be given. Then the priest or a minister invites the people for the procession:

      With the people of Jerusalem
      we honor Jesus as our Lord
      and we follow him singing his praise.

– After the procession of solemn entrance, the priest immediately prays the Opening Prayer. If there is no procession or solemn entrance, the usual Penitential Act of the missal is said.

THE MASS

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to our heavenly Father
that the passion and death of Jesus
may bring us forgiveness and life
(pause)
God our Father,
in the passion and death of Jesus, your Son,
you have made us aware
of how deeply you love us.
Make us also conscious of how evil sin is
and dispose us to keep believing in your love
when we have to bear the cross of suffering.
For after the cross follows the resurrection,
for Jesus and for us.
Give us this firm faith
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

First Reading (Is 50:4-7): God Will Come to My Help

The suffering Servant of God remains faithful to his mission even when persecuted. For he relies on God.

Reading I: Is 50:4-7

The Lord GOD has given me
   a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
   a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
   he opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
   have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
   my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
   from buffets and spitting.

The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

Responsorial Psalm: 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24

R. (2a) My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
All who see me scoff at me;
   they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
   let him rescue him, if he loves him.”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Indeed, many dogs surround me,
   a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
They have pierced my hands and my feet;
   I can count all my bones.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
They divide my garments among them,
   and for my vesture they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far from me;
   O my help, hasten to aid me.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
   in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
   all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
   revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Second Reading (Phil 2:6-11): Jesus Humbled Himself and So Became Our Lord

God’s Son humbled himself to become one of us and to serve us. This is why God raised him up and made him the Lord of all.

Reading II; Phil 2:6-11

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   coming in human likeness;
   and found human in appearance,
   he humbled himself,
   becoming obedient to the point of death,
   even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
   and bestowed on him the name
   which is above every name,
   that at the name of Jesus
   every knee should bend,
   of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
   and every tongue confess that
   Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

Verse before the Gospel: Phil 2:8-9

Christ became obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.

Passion (Mt 26:14-27:66 or 27:11-54): The Suffering Servant of God

In his suffering and death, Jesus is the Savior foretold in the Scriptures. His death will overcome death and bring life to all.

Gospel: Mt 27:11-54

Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate, who questioned him,
"Are you the king of the Jews?"
Jesus said, "You say so."
And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders,
he made no answer.
Then Pilate said to him,
"Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?"
But he did not answer him one word,
so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now on the occasion of the feast
the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd
one prisoner whom they wished.
And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.
So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them,
"Which one do you want me to release to you,
Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?"
For he knew that it was out of envy
that they had handed him over.
While he was still seated on the bench,
his wife sent him a message,
"Have nothing to do with that righteous man.
I suffered much in a dream today because of him."
The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds
to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.
The governor said to them in reply,
"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"
They answered, "Barabbas!"
Pilate said to them,
"Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?"
They all said,
"Let him be crucified!"
But he said,
"Why? What evil has he done?"
They only shouted the louder,
"Let him be crucified!"
When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all,
but that a riot was breaking out instead,
he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd,
saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood.
Look to it yourselves."
And the whole people said in reply,
"His blood be upon us and upon our children."
Then he released Barabbas to them,
but after he had Jesus scourged,
he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium
and gathered the whole cohort around him.
They stripped off his clothes
and threw a scarlet military cloak about him.
Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head,
and a reed in his right hand.
And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying,
"Hail, King of the Jews!"
They spat upon him and took the reed
and kept striking him on the head.
And when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the cloak,
dressed him in his own clothes,
and led him off to crucify him.

As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon;
this man they pressed into service
to carry his cross.

And when they came to a place called Golgotha
— which means Place of the Skull —,
they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall.
But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink.
After they had crucified him,
they divided his garments by casting lots;
then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
And they placed over his head the written charge against him:
This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
Two revolutionaries were crucified with him,
one on his right and the other on his left.
Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying,
"You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
save yourself, if you are the Son of God,
and come down from the cross!"
Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said,
"He saved others; he cannot save himself.
So he is the king of Israel!
Let him come down from the cross now,
and we will believe in him.
He trusted in God;
let him deliver him now if he wants him.
For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
The revolutionaries who were crucified with him
also kept abusing him in the same way.

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And about three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"
which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Some of the bystanders who heard it said,
"This one is calling for Elijah."
Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge;
he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed,
gave it to him to drink.
But the rest said,
'Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him."
But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice,
and gave up his spirit.

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

And behold, the veil of the sanctuary
was torn in two from top to bottom.
The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened,
and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection,
they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus
feared greatly when they saw the earthquake
and all that was happening, and they said,
"Truly, this was the Son of God!"

General Intercessions

Strengthened by the word and example of Jesus, let us pray to our Father in heaven that the pain and death of his Son may bear fruit in us and in all. Let us say. R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

– For a serving Church that is faithful and fearless in preaching to all the Good News of Jesus’ cross and resurrection, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

– For all Christians, that we may learn to follow Jesus in his way of service and self-denial so as to bring joy and hope to those around us, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

– For a better and more honest society, in which no one is trampled upon and in which people are concerned about each other, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

– For people who are broken and discouraged, that they may again encounter Jesus who continued alone and in pain on his way of suffering and experienced the joy of the resurrection, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

– For those who have to face death, that they may be strengthened by the presence of the Lord Jesus and the encouraging support of those dear to them, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

– For all of us, that the coming days of Holy Week may be a time of grace for us and bring us closer to the Lord, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

God our Father, hear our prayers, and help us understand the language of trust and mercy, of reconciliation and forgiveness, of freedom and understanding, in Christ Jesus our Lord. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

Loving Father,
on the night before he died
Jesus gave himself to his friends
in the form of bread and wine,
as he does again here among us now.
Give us grateful hearts for all his goodness
and make us strong enough
to give ourselves with him
to those with whom we go through life.
Let this offering bring us reconciliation
with one another and with you.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

Jesus’ cross and death brought us forgiveness and life. He died that we might live. With Jesus we thank the Father for his love.

Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer

Jesus prayed to the Father
for the strength to do his will.
We join him in his prayer of trust. R/ Our Father...

Deliver Us

Deliver us Lord, from sin
and from every kind of evil,
and grant us your forgiveness and peace.
In your mercy, give hope and love
to those who are abandoned
and agonizing because of their crosses.
Lead us all forward in hope
toward the full coming among us
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who said:
“Anyone who wants to be great among you
must be the servant of all,
just as I came not to be served
but to serve,
and to give my life as a ransom for all.”
Happy are we if we follow the Lord. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer after Communion

Loving Father, in this Eucharist
your Son Jesus has given himself to us
as he gave himself totally on the cross.
May we learn from him
to keep our hope in you alive
and to continue going our way in life,
even when we do not know
what will come to us in the future
or when we have to bear heavy crosses.
We trust you, and we know
that we will rise above our miseries
to a life of joy without end,
by the power of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Blessing

Jesus lived for us, Jesus died for us.
Let us accompany him this Holy Week
on his way to the cross,
that he may always accompany us
on our way of service and commitment
to God and to one another.
And may almighty God give you strength
and bless you.

the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Go with one another
the way of Jesus our Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.

Reflection:

2 April 2023 - PASSION (PALM) SUNDAY

Matthew 26:14- 27:66

The grain that dies.

The liturgy of Palm Sunday calls on us to meditate on two different journeys that Jesus makes. The first is his triumphant entry into Jerusalem amid the shouts of “hosana” by the crowds and the second is about his exit from the city toward Calvary – on the Way of the Cross. We move from one emotional extreme to the other. Welcome and triumph are transformed into rejection and failure. However, we also realise that both these journeys were victorious journeys. The way of the Cross and Christ's suffering are the prelude to Jesus’ ultimate victory over sin and death, through the resurrection.

The account of the passion according to Mathew emphasises that the events that unfold in the week of the passion of Christ is in fulfilment of the scriptures. Therefore, he would repeatedly remind the readers that “all this has happened to fulfill the Scriptures of the prophets” (Mt 26:56).

God did not miraculously save Jesus from betrayal, passion and crucifixion. He did not save his son from torture and death. God does not overcome evil with any miraculous intervention. It is difficult to understand this logic of God and all the more difficult to accept that ‘a grain of wheat must fall and die to produces much fruit’ (cf. John 12:24).

The Gospel of Matthew particularly insists on the rejection of all sorts of violence even for self-defense. Only he reports the words of Jesus to Peter, “all who take hold of the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). Violence in self-defence could be the strongest temptation of the day. But through acts of humility, such as the washing of feet, and the institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday, Jesus presents a different style of countering the attacks of the enemy. Besides rejecting violence, the Lord encourages humble acceptance of our enemies and betrayers.

Matthew alone reports the death of Judas. This disciple is the symbol of all those who, for a time, follow Jesus. Then, when they are aware that Jesus does not fulfill their dreams of glory and their thirst for power, they abandon him and even turn against him. But Judas was not the only one who moved away from Jesus. Every other disciple also had their moments of failures. But the difference was that they still had their hopes in Jesus’ forgiveness.

Matthew alone speaks of the guards placed in custody of the tomb of Jesus: It is a sign of the triumph of evil. We too have similar experiences in life: evil always gives the impression of triumph. God, however, ensures his unexpected intervention. His angel will roll every stone that prevents life.

The grain that dies. - Youtube

Back to calendar