PALM SUNDAY March 29, 2026

There are several interesting points to note about the event we commemorate today.

     First, it is at first sight most unusual that such an event took place at all. Our Lord had always resisted any form of “hero-worship” directed to Himself, especially if this implied the idea of Kingship in any form. Here are the crowds greeting Him with wild enthusiasm, “praising God at the top of their voices for all the miracles they had seen”. So what has changed from the earlier times when Jesus would have shunned such a reaction to His coming? One reason is that He must be seen to claim the Messiahship before He dies. This is not the Messiah that the people had previously been waiting for—the warrior-king who would lead them to victory over the Romans. Jesus had always resisted that idea of kingship. But now there are signs that the people, having seen the miracles He has worked in their midst, are now enthusiastically ready to believe in Him. In particular we remember that only a few days earlier, Our Lord had raised Lazarus from the dead, a miracle which led many of the people to believe in Him. After three years of teaching and of signs such as the raising of Lazarus, Our Lord was at last enabling the people to understand just how different a kind of Messiah He was.

     Secondly, Jesus rides on a donkey-colt. This was hardly an animal to suggest great majesty. But the Prophet Zechariah had foretold this triumphal arrival many centuries earlier, and most of the evangelists refer directly to it: “Do not be afraid, Daughter of Zion, see, your king is coming, mounted on the colt of a donkey.” As St. John says, “At the time, His disciples did not understand, but later, after Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that this had been written about Him and that this was in fact how they had received Him”. This is a familiar theme, especially in St. John. Many of the things that Our Lord did “to fulfil the Scriptures” were not im-mediately understood as such by those who witnessed them, even His closest friends. Yet Our Lord did them because they were part of God’s plan for the Messiah. Our Lord also knew that His followers would only finally begin to understand the truth about Him when the Holy Spirit came after He had ascended into heaven. As He had said to them during the Last Supper, “the Holy Spirit will lead you into the complete truth”.   ~  Fr. Paul Dobson.

 THE GOOD FRIDAY COLLECTION ON FRIDAY APRIL 03^rd

"Needs of the Holy Land" is coordinated by the Commissariat of the Holy Land.  As in the past, please remit funds from this collection to the Archdiocese. These funds are used for the upkeep of the sanctuaries and to help with Pastoral work, Catholic schools and social assistance in the Holy Land.  For more information please visit: www.commissariat.com