Why is the Passion read on Palm Sunday?

[VeritasSeeker]

Hello, Why is the Passion read on Palm Sunday? For Palm Sunday is when Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah.

And as he rode into Jerusalem), they spread their garments on the road. As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:36-38, RSV)

Is it not a case for celebration? From what i have heard, for the eastern rite churches, this is a day of celebration. Thanks in advance.

 

[SenorSalsa]

The entrance into Jerusalem is read at the start of Mass.

I suppose the Passion is read because its the last Sunday before Easter, so its the last time people are obligated to attend Mass before the recounting of his Resurrection, so to get the full picture his Passion is read here.

It has always seemed strange to me too, but since most people won’t (can’t) go to a 3 pm service on a Friday, its probably read on Palm Sunday for their edification.

 

[patrick457]

Hello, Why is the Passion read on Palm Sunday? For Palm Sunday is when Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah.

And as he rode [into Jerusalem), they spread their garments on the road. As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:36-38, RSV)

Is it not a case for celebration? From what i have heard, for the eastern rite churches, this is a day of celebration. Thanks in advance.

Well, the Roman Rite really drives the Passion down our throats during Holy Week - but to a lesser extent now compared to then. In the pre-1970 Lectionary, the Gospel readings from Sunday to Friday, excluding Holy Monday and Holy Thursday, are the Passion narratives from all four Gospels:

Palm Sunday: Matthew 21:1-9; 26:1-75; 27:1-66
Holy Tuesday: Mark 14:1-72; 15:1-46
Holy Wednesday: Luke 22:1-71; 23:1-53
Good Friday: John 18:1-40; 19:1-42

What is interesting is that originally around the time of Pope Leo the Great (400-461), Matthew’s Passion Narrative was used on Palm Sunday and the following Wednesday and John’s on Good Friday. Eventually, Luke’s Passion became the Wednesday Gospel while Mark was chosen for Tuesday somewhere around the 10th century, giving us the above order.

It was all due to the fact that originally for the church of Rome, the Sunday before Easter was just Passion Sunday. When the Roman Rite became hybridized with the Gallican family of rites around the Carolingian period, the two customs merged and Sunday became Palm Sunday, while the original name was applied to the Sunday before Palm Sunday.

Before 1955, the Blessing of the Palms was a more larger, fuller service. Now, back then and even today, the gospel read during the blessing is indeed the triumphal entry. So it’s not like we don’t read them.

Personally, I think the Passion serving as the main Gospel during this Sunday in the Roman Rite is intended to be ironic and juxtapositional on many levels: the crowds greet Jesus as a triumphant king, but Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. Many of the people who greet Him with Hosanna would also be the ones who will shout for His execution days later.
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[StillWondering]

I loved that the Passion was read today. It gave me so much to think about and it’s so deep and vast that I only managed to ponder over a few lines. It’s quite amazing to heard it again and again. There’s always more to think about when we are thinking about God.

And I did feel very celebratory today. One thing that our priest said to those doing the scrutinies is that we hear today of how Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem and hailed as the Messiah and the king who will free the Israelites. Then immediately after this scene, the pharisees, scribes, and priests in the community banded together and incited the people of Jerusalem to turn on Christ and bring about his death! What fickle hearts we sinful humans are. What a way to celebrate for us to truly know that our celebration does not end at Mass but goes without us throughout our lives. It is not one day that we shout out in cheers. We need to recognize when we are turning away from Christ, else our celebrations are for naught.

 

[patrick457]

And I did feel very celebratory today. One thing that our priest said to those doing the scrutinies is that we hear today of how Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem and hailed as the Messiah and the king who will free the Israelites. Then immediately after this scene, the pharisees, scribes, and priests in the community banded together and incited the people of Jerusalem to turn on Christ and bring about his death! What fickle hearts we sinful humans are. What a way to celebrate for us to truly know that our celebration does not end at Mass but goes without us throughout our lives. It is not one day that we shout out in cheers. We need to recognize when we are turning away from Christ, else our celebrations are for naught.

That does remind me. I guess we can also call this Sunday ‘Turncoat Sunday’.

It does seem that the Roman is the only liturgical rite that employs the Passion for Palm Sunday. For example, in both the Ambrosian and the Mozarabic rite, the Johannine account of the anointing of Jesus and/or His entry into Jerusalem is employed (Ambrosian = John 11:55-12:11, Mozarabic = John 11:55-12:13) for this day.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hello, Why is the Passion read on Palm Sunday? For Palm Sunday is when Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah.

Is it not a case for celebration? From what i have heard, for the eastern rite churches, this is a day of celebration. Thanks in advance.

we celebrate both. the first gospel is read before Mass for the blessing of palms and procession, and the Passion is the gospel during Mass because this is Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.

 

[Joe_Brown]

Hello, Why is the Passion read on Palm Sunday? For Palm Sunday is when Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah.

And as he rode [into Jerusalem), they spread their garments on the road. As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:36-38, RSV)

Is it not a case for celebration? From what i have heard, for the eastern rite churches, this is a day of celebration. Thanks in advance.

I was thinking the same thing today why the passion is read. Makes sense now though.
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