Father, is it Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday? And my answer would be,
YES!
It is Palm Sunday, in light of the Gospel we hear at the beginning of Mass. We gather to receive palm branches, have them blessed, and process into the worship space. The Gospel proclaimed at that point describes Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. So, it is Palm Sunday.
Then we gather in the Church, and in the Word we hear the reading of Christ’s Passion and Death. We gather around the table and share in that Passion as the bread and wine are offered. By the same love that is shown in Jesus’ Passion, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood—the REAL PRESENCE of God—in our midst. It is Passion Sunday.
The Paschal Mystery is the mystery of the Lamb of God, whose sacrifice preserves His people just as the blood of the lamb in Passover protected the Hebrew people in Egypt (
Pasch comes from the Greek word for the
Passover). We enter now into the holiest week in our Church calendar, where we celebrate that Paschal Mystery. I pray you can share in the many celebrations that mark this very special week!