PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD'S PASSION, MARCH 29, 2026
- Maria Knox
- Mar 29
- 3 min read
At the Procession with Palms - Gospel Matthew 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."
REFLECTION
"Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest."
Every year on Palm Sunday we hear how Jesus goes up to Jerusalem from Bethphage. This is about a 1.5 to 2 mile ride. While he is riding the donkey the crowds sing Hosanna to Him. Why is this? What does this have to do with us?
Pope Benedict XVI tells us the following about this passage *:
But what are we really doing when we join this procession as part of the throng which went up with Jesus to Jerusalem and hailed him as King of Israel? Is this anything more than a ritual, a quaint custom? Does it have anything to do with the reality of our life and our world? To answer this, we must first be clear about what Jesus himself wished to do and actually did. After Peter’s confession of faith in Caesarea Philippi, in the northernmost part of the Holy Land, Jesus set out as a pilgrim towards Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. He was journeying towards the Temple in the Holy City, towards that place which for Israel ensured in a particular way God’s closeness to his people. He was making his way towards the common feast of Passover, the memorial of Israel’s liberation from Egypt and the sign of its hope of definitive liberation. He knew that what awaited him was a new Passover and that he himself would take the place of the sacrificial lambs by offering himself on the cross. He knew that in the mysterious gifts of bread and wine he would give himself for ever to his own, and that he would open to them the door to a new path of liberation, to fellowship with the living God. He was making his way to the heights of the Cross, to the moment of self-giving love. The ultimate goal of his pilgrimage was the heights of God himself; to those heights he wanted to lift every human being.
Further on, Pope Benedict explains that this is also our journey. A pilgrimage that takes us towards the living God. Jesus is inviting us to this ascent. We can not do it by ourselves, so Jesus came down to us to help us ascend to the Father.
Pope Benedict XVI further tells us:
God’s humility is the extreme form of his love, and this humble love draws us upwards.
Comments