Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Today the Church celebrates Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion. The assigned readings are Mark 11:1-10, Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, and Mark 14:1-15:47. The Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 22 (Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24).

For one version of the Responsorial Psalm set to music, please visit:

YouTube: Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 22 "My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?"

The Gospel reading for the procession with the palms is as follows:

When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them,"Go into the village opposite you, and immediately on entering it, you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone should say to you,'Why are you doing this?' reply, 'The Master has need of it and will send it back here at once.'"

So they went off and found a colt tethered at a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. Some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" They answered them just as Jesus had told them to, and they permitted them to do it.

So they brought the colt to Jesus and put their cloaks over it. And he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!"

Reflections on these readings:

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Sundays Salesian: Palm Sunday Passion of the Lord (March 29, 2015)

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Salesian Sunday Reflection: Passion/Palm Sunday (March 29, 2015)

Msgr. Charles Pope: See What the End Shall Be (28 MAR 15)

Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio: Passion Sunday - Palm Sunday

The Deacon's Bench: "We need these palms as a reminder - and a challenge" (28 MAR 15)

Word on Fire: The Passion Narrative of Mark's Gospel (Cycle B * Lent * Palm Sunday)

Dr. Scott Hahn: Darkness at Noon (March 29th 2015 - Passion Sunday)

CWR Blog: Palm Sunday: Glory flows from the obedience of selfless love (28 MAR 15)

Spirituality of the Readings: King? Really? (Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion)

The Word Embodied: Dying (Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion)

Historical Cultural Context: Cultural Insights into the Passion (Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion)

Thoughts from the Early Church: Commentary by Guerric of Igny (Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion)

Word to Life Radio Broadcast: Palm Sunday (27 MAR 15)