Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

by Fr. David Halm, C.S.C.  |  03/24/2024  |  Pastor's Letter

A very blessed Palm Sunday to everyone. Following our six weeks of preparation in Lent we have come to the beginning of this most sacred week. Together, over the coming days, we will commemorate the central mysteries of our faith: the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Please note the various liturgies and their times and locations that we announce in this bulletin. Many will be celebrated bilingual - out of respect for the many parishioners who speak either English or Spanish. These Masses, liturgies, and devotions go back to the earliest days of our faith, when Jesus’ followers gathered in the time of Passover to commemorate the depth of His love, and celebrate with renewed joy the resurrection of Jesus. In just a week we will be gathered to renew our own joy and hope, guided by a paschal light to review an empty tomb and encounter Our Risen Lord.

For now, we read the Passion, participate in the Eucharist, follow Jesus on the Way of the Cross, and observe a solemn silence next Saturday. All of the ways we pray during Holy Week draw us closer to Jesus and together as a Church.

One particularly moving reenactment of the Lord’s Way of the Cross is on Good Friday at 4:00pm in the Las Ligas Neighborhood (Illini Street, south of El Mirage & Lower Buckeye). It takes place outside, on holy ground, where families have gathered for generations to take turns in carrying the Cross and praising the Lord. Please consider joining us for this moving devotion.

Importantly, we also observe this Holy Week together with Holy Mother Mary. John 19:25 says “Near the cross of Jesus stood his Mother” and our Holy Cross Constitution 8 continues, “Mary, who knew grief and was a Lady of Sorrows. She is our special patroness, a woman who bore much She could not understand and who stood fast. To Her many sons and daughters, whose devotions ought to bring them often to Her side, She tells much of this daily cross and its daily hope.” Indeed, we have come to Her side and will stay with Her through the Passion and into Resurrection. May Mary always intercede for us, but especially this week.

Fr. David