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Below is the Liturgy for Palm Sunday.
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Video message from Archbishop Diarmuid Martin
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Palm Sunday 05 April 2020
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Procession Gospel Matthew 21:1-11
When they were near Jerusalem and had come in sight of Bethphage on the Mount of
Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village facing you,
and you will immediately find a tethered donkey and a colt with her. Untie them
and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, “The
Master needs them and will send them back directly”.’ This took place to fulfil
the prophecy: ‘Say to the daughter of Zion: Look, your king comes to you; he is
humble, he rides on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ So
the disciples went out and did as Jesus had told them. They brought the donkey
and the colt, then they laid their cloaks on their backs and he sat on them.
Great crowds of people spread their cloaks on the road, while others were
cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in his path. The crowds who
went in front of him and those who followed were all shouting: ‘Hosanna to the
Son of David! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the
highest heavens!’ And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.
‘Who is this?’ people asked, and the crowds answered, ‘This is the prophet Jesus
from Nazareth in Galilee’.
The Liturgy of the Word
A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah
The Lord has given me a disciple’s tongue. So that I may know how to reply to
the wearied he provides me with speech. Each morning he wakes me to hear, to
listen like a disciple. The Lord has opened my ear.
For my part, I made no resistance, neither did I turn away. I offered my back to
those who struck me, my cheeks to those who tore at my beard; I did not cover my
face against insult and spittle. The Lord comes to my help, so that I am
untouched by the insults. So, too, I set my face like flint; I know I shall not
be shamed.
This is the Word of the Lord
Psalm 21: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me
All who see me deride me.
They curl their lips, they toss their heads.
‘He trusted in the Lord, let him save him;
let him release him if this is his friend.’
Many dogs have surrounded me,
a band of the wicked beset me.
They tear holes in my hands and my feet.
I can count everyone of my bones.
They divide my clothing among them.
They cast lots for my robe.
O Lord, do not leave me alone,
my strength, make haste to help me!
I will tell of your name to my brethren
and praise you where they are assembled.
‘You who fear the Lord give him praise;
all sons of Jacob, give him glory.
Revere him, Israel’s sons.’
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Philippians
His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied
himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are; and being as
all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.But
God raised him high and gave him the name
which is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and
in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every
tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This is the Word of the Lord
Gospel Acclamation
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory! Christ was humbler yet, even to
accepting death, death on a cross. But God raised him high and gave him the name
which is above all names. Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!
THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Matthew
(26:14-27:66)
One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and
said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid
him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to
betray him.
Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say,
‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the passover?’ ‘Go
to so-and-so in the city’ he replied ‘and say to him, “The Master says: My time
is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples.”‘ The
disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.
When evening came he was at table with the twelve disciples. And while they were
eating he said ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me’ They were
greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’ He
answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray
me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas
for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had
never been born!’ Judas, who was to betray him; asked in his turn, ‘Not I,
Rabbi, surely?’ ‘They are your own words’ answered Jesus.
Now as they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and when he had said the
blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. ‘Take it and eat;’ he said
‘this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave
it to them. ‘Drink all of you from this,’ he said ‘for this is my blood, the
blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins. From now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the day I drink the
new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.’ After psalms had been sung they
left for the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all lose faith
in me this night, for the scripture says: “I shall strike the shepherd and the
sheep of the flock will be scattered, but after my resurrection I shall go
before you to Galilee”. At this, Peter said, ‘Though all lose faith in you, I
will never lose faith’. Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you solemnly, this very
night, before the cock crows, you will have disowned me three times’. Peter said
to him, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you’. And all the
disciples said the same.
Then Jesus came with them to a small estate called Gethsemane; and he said to
his disciples, ‘Stay here while I go over there to pray’. He took Peter and the
two sons of Zebedee with him. And sadness came over him, and great distress.
Then he said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here and
keep awake with me.’ And going on a little further he fell on his face and
prayed. ‘My Father,’ he said ‘if it is possible, let this cup pass me by.
Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.’ He came back to the
disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘So you had not the
strength to keep awake with me one hour? You should be awake, and praying not to
be put to the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, a
second time, he went away and prayed: ‘My Father,’ he said ‘If this cup cannot
pass by without my drinking it, your will be done!’ And he came back again and
found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy. Leaving them there, he went away
again and prayed for the third time, repeating the same words. Then he came back
to the disciples and said to them, ‘You can sleep on now and take your rest. Now
the hour has come when the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of
sinners. Get up! Let us go! My betrayer is already close at hand.’ He was still
speaking when Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared, and with him a large number of
men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the
people.
Now the traitor had arranged a sign with them. ‘The one I kiss,’ he had said ‘he
is the man. Take him in charge.’ So he went straight up to Jesus and said,
‘Greetings, Rabbi’, and kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘My friend, do what you
are here for’. Then they came forward, seized Jesus and took him in charge. At
that, one of the followers of Jesus grasped his sword and drew it; he struck out
at the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. Jesus then said, ‘Put your
sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Or do you think
that I cannot appeal to my Father who would promptly send more than twelve
legions of angels to my defence? But then, how would the scriptures be fulfilled
that say this is the way it must be?’ It was at this time that Jesus said to the
crowds, ‘Am I a brigand, that you had to set out to capture me with swords and
clubs? I sat teaching in the Temple day after day and you never laid hands on
me.’ Now all this happened to fulfil the prophecies in scripture. Then all the
disciples deserted him and ran away.
The men who had arrested Jesus led him off to Caiaphas the high priest, where
the scribes and the elders were assembled. Peter followed him at a distance, and
when he reached the high priest’s palace, he went in and sat down with the
attendants to see what the end would be. The chief priests and the whole
Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus, however false, on which they
might pass the death-sentence. But they could not find any, though several lying
witnesses came forward. Eventually two stepped forward and made a statement,
‘This man said, “I have power to destroy the Temple of God and in three days
build it up.”‘ The high priest then stood up and said to him, ‘Have you no
answer to that? What is this evidence these men are bringing against you?’ But
Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I put you on oath by the
living God to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God’. ‘The words are
your own’ answered Jesus. ‘Moreover, I tell you that from this time onward you
will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the
clouds of heaven.’ At this, the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has
blasphemed. What need of witnesses have we now? There! You have just heard the
blasphemy. What is your opinion?’ They answered, ‘He deserves to die’. Then they
spat in his face and hit him with their fists; others said as they struck him,
‘Play the prophet, Christ! Who hit you then?’
Meanwhile Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came up
to him and said, ‘You too were with Jesus the Galilean’. But he denied it in
front of them all. ‘I do not know what you are talking about’ he said. When he
went out to the gateway another servant-girl saw him and said to the people
there, ‘This man was with Jesus the Nazarene’. And again, with an oath, he
denied it, ‘I do not know the man’. A little later the bystanders came up and
said to Peter, ‘You are one of them for sure! Why, your accent gives you away.’
Then he started calling down curses on himself and swearing, ‘I do not know the
man’. At that moment the cock crew, and Peter remembered what Jesus had said,
‘Before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times’. And he went
outside and wept bitterly When morning came, all the chief priests and the
elders of the people met in council to bring about the death of Jesus. They had
him bound, and led him away to hand him over to Pilate, the governor.
When he found that Jesus had been condemned, Judas his betrayer was filled with
remorse and took the thirty silver pieces back to the chief priests and elders.
‘I have sinned;’ he said ‘I have betrayed innocent blood’ ‘What is that to us?’
they replied ‘That is your concern.’ And flinging down the silver pieces in the
sanctuary he made off and hanged himself; The chief priests picked up the silver
pieces and said, ‘It is against the Law to put this into the treasury; it is
blood-money’. So they discussed the matter and bought the potter’s field with it
as a graveyard for foreigners, and this is why the field is called the Field of
Blood today. The words of the prophet Jeremiah were then fulfilled: And they
took the thirty silver pieces, the sum at which the precious One was priced by
children of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, just as the Lord
directed me.
Jesus, then, was brought before the governor, and the governor put to him this
question, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus replied, ‘It is you who say it’.
But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders he refused to answer
at all. Pilate then said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many charges they have
brought against you?’ But to the governor’s complete amazement, he offered no
reply to any of the charges. At festival time it was the governor’s practice to
release a prisoner for the people, anyone they chose. Now there was at that time
a notorious prisoner whose name was Barabbas. So when the crowd gathered, Pilate
said to them, ‘Which do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who
is called Christ?’ For Pilate knew it was out of jealousy that they had handed
him over. Now as he was seated in the chair of judgement, his wife sent him a
message, ‘Have nothing to do with that man; I have been upset all day by a dream
I had about him’. The chief priests and the elders, however, had persuaded the
crowd to demand the release of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus. So when the
governor spoke and asked them, ‘Which of the two do you want me to release for
you?’ they said, ‘Barabbas’. ‘But in that case,’ Pilate said to them ‘what am I
to do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ They all said, ‘Let him be crucified!’
‘Why?’ he asked ‘What harm has he done?’ But they shouted all the louder, ‘Let
him be crucified!’ Then Pilate saw that he was making no impression, that in
fact a riot was imminent. So he took some water, washed his hands in front of
the crowd and said, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your concern.’ And
the people, to a man, shouted back, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’
Then he released Barabbas for them. He ordered Jesus to be first scourged and
then handed over to be crucified.
The governor’s soldiers took Jesus with them into the Praetorium and collected
the whole cohort round him. Then they stripped him and made him wear a scarlet
cloak, and having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head and
placed a reed in his right hand. To make fun of him they knelt to him saying,
‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him
on the head with it. And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off
the cloak and dressed him in his own clothes and led him away to crucify him.
On their way out, they came across a man from Cyrene, Simon by name, and
enlisted him to carry his cross. When they had reached a place called Golgotha,
that is, the place of the skull, they gave him wine to drink mixed with gall,
which he tasted but refused to drink. When they had finished crucifying him they
shared out his clothing by casting lots, and then sat down and stayed there
keeping guard over him. Above his head was placed the charge against him; it
read: ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews’. At the same time two robbers were
crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.
The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads and said, ‘So you would
destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days! Then save yourself! If you are
God’s son, come down from the cross!’ The chief priests with the scribes and
elders mocked him in the same way. ‘He saved others;’ they said ‘he cannot save
himself. He is the king of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we
will believe in him. He puts his trust in God; now let God rescue him if he
wants him. For he did say, “I am the son of God”.’ Even the robbers who were
crucified with him taunted him in the same way.
From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour
And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you deserted me?’ When some of
those who stood there heard this, they said, ‘The man is calling on Elijah’, and
one of them quickly ran to get a sponge which he dipped in vinegar and, putting
it on a reed, gave it him to drink. ‘Wait!’ said the rest of them ‘and see if
Elijah will come to save him.’ But Jesus, again crying out in a loud voice,
yielded up his spirit.
(All kneel and pause a moment.)
At that, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth
quaked; the rocks were split; the tombs opened and the bodies of many holy men
rose from the dead, and these, after his resurrection, came out of the tombs,
entered the Holy City and appeared to a number of people.
Meanwhile the centurion, together with the others guarding Jesus, had seen the
earthquake and all that was taking place, and they were terrified and said: ‘In
truth this was a son of God.’
And many women were there, watching from a distance, the same women who had
followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him. Among them were Mary of
Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimatbaea called Joseph, who had
himself become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the
body of Jesus. Pilate thereupon ordered it to be handed over. So Joseph took the
body, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had
hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the
tomb and went away. Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting
opposite the sepulchre.
Next day, that is, when Preparation Day was over, the chief priests and the
Pharisees went in a body to Pilate and said to him,
‘Your Excellency, we recall that this impostor said, while he was still alive,
“After three days I shall rise again.” Therefore give the order to have the
sepulchre kept secure until the third day, for fear his disciples come and steal
him away and tell the people, “He has risen from the dead.” This last piece of
fraud would be worse than what went before. Pilate said to them: You may have
your guards. Go and make all as secure as you know how.’ So they went and made
the sepulchre secure, putting seals on the stone and mounting a guard.
Prayer of the Faithful
Father Son and Spirit,
your Love breathes life into us.
We are grateful. Lord hear us
The trial and conviction of Jesus was unfair. For those who are victims of COVID
19 and especially the families of those who have died, there is a feeling of
unfairness and injustice. May the memory of their loved ones bring them
consolation and peace. Lord hear us.
The Lord Jesus had to face the struggles of human life. May those who are caring
for the sick and finding it difficult be inspired by his courage and love. Lord,
hear us.
We are grateful to the elderly in our communities, who have willingly confined
themselves to their homes, not simply to protect themselves but to protect us
also. Lord, hear us.
In silence we call to mind all those who need our prayer and support. Lord, hear
us.
Reflection - A Poem by Laura Kelly Fanucci
"When this is over, may we never again take for granted
A handshake with a stranger
Full shelves at the store
Conversations with neighbours
A crowded theatre
Friday night out
The taste of communion
A routine check up
The school rush each morning
Coffee with a friend
The stadium roaring
Each deep breath
A boring Tuesday
Life itself.
When this ends
may we find
that we have become
more like the people
we wanted to be
we were called to be
we hoped to be
and may we stay
that way — better
for each other
because of the worst."
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