Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
Audio version available for subscribers. Subscribe
Today's Readings
First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 22
Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11
Gospel: (Passion):
Read today's readings at USCCBReflection
The Mass begins outside, with palms and shouting. Hosanna to the Son of David! The city shakes. Then we process inside, and the mood darkens. By the end of the Gospel, Jesus is dead, and the church is on its knees.
No other liturgy covers this much ground. In one hour, you move from triumph to agony. The same voices that sing hosanna will soon say: let him be crucified. The liturgy forces you to be in the crowd. Not watching the crowd. In it.
Paul's hymn in Philippians traces the full arc: though he was in the form of God, he emptied himself. He humbled himself. He became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Then: God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name above every name. The emptying comes first. The exaltation follows. That is the pattern of the Christian life.
Psalm 22 is Jesus' prayer from the cross: my God, my God, why have you abandoned me? It is the psalm of desolation. But it does not end in desolation. The same psalm says: I will proclaim your name to my brethren. Even the cry of abandonment is a prayer. Even in the darkness, there is a You to cry to.
In the evening of life, you may have prayed Psalm 22 not as liturgy but as experience. You have felt abandoned. You have known the darkness from noon to three. You have walked your own Via Dolorosa. Today the Church walks it with you. The palms you carry home are not souvenirs. They are witnesses. They say: I was there. I walked with him.
The palms. Place them reverently in your home - behind a crucifix, above a doorway, in your prayer space. They are blessed sacramentals. They stay all year. When they dry, return them to the parish for burning - they become next year's Ash Wednesday ashes. The circle never breaks.
The Rosary Today
The Sorrowful Mysteries - Today, pray them slowly. Each mystery is part of the Passion you just heard proclaimed. Let the rosary be your way of walking through Gethsemane, the scourging, the crowning, the carrying of the cross, and the crucifixion one more time. Stay with him.
Prayer of the Faithful
For the Church throughout the world as Holy Week begins: that she would walk faithfully from palm to cross to empty tomb, holding nothing back. We pray to the Lord.
For the elect preparing for Baptism next Saturday: that the Passion of Christ would deepen their understanding of the faith they are about to profess. We pray to the Lord.
For those who feel abandoned by God - who pray Psalm 22 from experience, not liturgy: that they would know the same psalm ends in praise, and that darkness is not the final word. We pray to the Lord.
For the faithful departed: that the God who was exalted after the cross would exalt them in the resurrection. We pray to the Lord.
Something to Do
Bring the palms home. Place them reverently. Then sit in your favorite chair and read the Passion one more time, slowly, from Matthew 26. Not as a text. As a story that happened to someone you love. Let it hurt. That's what this week is for.
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
— Psalm 22:2
Know someone who would benefit from Eventide & Altar?
Gift them a free 7-day trial.
Invite a Friend →You are not alone. Submit your intentions and they'll be carried to Holy Hour this Sunday.
Take to Holy Hour