For Sunday
Holy Week Year A
Collect
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Reading
Matthew 21:1-11 (Liturgy of the Palms) & Matthew 26:14- 27:66 (the Passion)
Reflection
Palm Sunday is probably the hardest-working Sunday in the church calendar. We ask it to encapsulate the entire Holy Week experience in one service. And even that is boiled down to two elements: the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday and the Passion on Good Friday.
For many of us, we arrive on Palm Sunday after a five-week Lenten journey of self-reflection, self-denial, and study. We have given a little more time to our faith, offered a little more reflection on our behavior, and abstained from some of our regular indulgences.
We claim a palm frond and prepare for the celebration of Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem with trepidation. The gospel for the day is celebratory. But less so when we realize it is the Passion which follows.
Between these two moments is most of the week.
Notably absent from this summary is what happens after Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. In Matthew’s gospel (and Mark and Luke’s), he heads to the Temple and makes a big scene. Then he comes back the next day and teaches there. His teaching is popular with the crowds and hated by the leadership.
Then he is anointed, they gather for the Last Supper, and Jesus prepares for his Passion.
This is a familiar story, but one we only really focus on in part. Perhaps this week, read and meditate on the whole thing: reading Matthew from chapter 21 through 27. Take your time. And bear witness.