Reflection for 29 March 2026: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”…”Surely it is not I, Lord?”…”You have said so.” (Mt 21-22, 25)
Dear Marian Helpers and Members of our Marian Family,
Palm Sunday is always an emotional day for me, and I imagine it is for you as well. We begin Mass by joining the crowd, waving our palm branches, crying out “Hosanna!” and proclaiming Jesus as King and Prophet. Yet only moments later, we take up the words of that same crowd and call for His death. It is a sobering reminder of how fickle the human heart can be.
It would be easy to dismiss this as a story from long ago in a far away place. But how often have we done the same? How often have we proclaimed our faith in the Lord, only to deny Him by our actions? How often have we, like Judas, insisted on our innocence while knowing that we are guilty?
At least Judas betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. How often have we betrayed Him for far less?
Holy Week invites us to confront the difficult truth that it was our sins that led Christ to the Cross. And yet, this is not a cause for despair, but for wonder, for He accepted that Cross freely, out of love for us. But such love demands a response!
We are faced with a choice. We can be like the crowd-faithful when it suits us, but quick to turn away when it does not. Or we can be like those faithful few, Our Lady, St John, Nicodemus, and the holy women, who remained with Jesus even when all seemed lost.
It’s easy to follow the Lord when everything goes our way. It is far more difficult to follow Him when everything goes His way. Yet His way is the way that leads to life, to love, to mercy, and to renewal. His way is the way of the Cross.
This Holy Week, remember that we not just passive observers but instead participants. We are the fickle crowd but we are called to be those faithful followers standing at the foot of the Cross.
Do not let these sacred days pass you by. Enter into them with sorrow for sin, with hearts open to grace and with hope in the promise of redemption. For Good Friday is not the end of the story…to share in the joy of Easter, we must first walk with Christ through His (and our) Passion.
May God bless you now and always!
Fr Alex Pumphrey, MIC
Remember: Good Friday, 3 April, is a day of fasting and abstinence. It is also Day 1 of the Novena to The Divine Mercy.
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Contact Father Alex at info@divinemercy.org.uk
Please send us your prayer intentions! (click here). We will place them at the foot of our altar in the Divine Mercy Apostolate’s Chapel here in West Ealing, London and will remember them in our daily Chaplets of Divine Mercy.
