Hosanna to the Son of David!
This weekend, Holy Week begins with the Sunday of Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Although Good Friday is coming – the Passion and Death are coming – for the moment, this moment, joy resounds as our King arrives in His city.
In most parishes throughout the world, the principal Mass is celebrated by a procession of the people into the church, waving palm branches.
Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.
As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany
at the place called the Mount of Olives,
he sent two of his disciples.
He said, “Go into the village opposite you,
and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered
on which no one has ever sat.
Untie it and bring it here.
And if anyone should ask you,
‘Why are you untying it?’
you will answer,
‘The Master has need of it.’”
So those who had been sent went off
and found everything just as he had told them.
And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them,
“Why are you untying this colt?”
They answered,
“The Master has need of it.”
So they brought it to Jesus,
threw their cloaks over the colt,
and helped Jesus to mount.
As he rode along,
the people were spreading their cloaks on the road;
and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives,
the whole multitude of his disciples
began to praise God aloud with joy
for all the mighty deeds they had seen.
They proclaimed:
“Blessed is the king who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest.”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him,
“Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
He said in reply,
“I tell you, if they keep silent,
the stones will cry out!”
(Luke 19:28-40: Cycle C Reading at the Procession with Palms)
But the joy of the Messiah’s arrival in Jerusalem is short-lived. The next reading from Isaiah (Is 50:4-7) is the third song of the suffering servant. In this prophecy we hear the confusion, but also the confidence, of the man beaten and abused on account of his witness, but who knows that God stands with him.
The Responsorial Psalm is the heartbreaking Psalm 22, a prophecy of the Passion and Crucifixion, with the response, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
A same note of devastation followed by hope comes to us in the form of the Epistle, which is worth quoting in full. No excerpt can really do it justice, for it is the very summation of the mystery of the Incarnation:
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.(Phil 2:6-11)
(attributed to Blessed Fra Angelico)
And then. And then, we come to the Passion. This year, we hear Saint Luke’s version (Luke 22:14—23:56). The Missal has the narrative split into three voices, plus the crowd. There is something eerie and horrible about the congregation, taking the part of the crowd, shouting “Crucify him!” It really does put you in that time and that place.
I encourage all of you to attend Mass on Palm Sunday.
Catholics, of course, should be going every week anyway, but to my non-Catholic Christian friends, I offer this plea: please, please try to attend these services of Holy Week at a Catholic Church. There is something about living through these events by participating in these liturgies that can’t be summed up in mere words.
It will bring you closer to Christ by placing you, just for a moment, deep within the events of our Salvation history.
The great Triduum liturgy begins on Holy Thursday, continues through Good Friday, and reaches it’s triumphant climax at the Easter Vigil.
On a personal note, one of my favourite images from our celebrations at my former parish of Holy Rosary is from the entrance into the church on Palm Sunday of 2017. In it, we see Father Wichert our pastor escorted by Father Jerry Sherbourne and our (then) Master Altar Server Gary Rose. You can see the choir coming in behind them – including my lovely bride, Francine.
Edited to add some photos from our Palm Sunday celebration at St. Ann Church, Tacoma.
