Why Does Palm Sunday Resemble Good Friday?

Welcome to Holy Week which extends from Palm Sunday to Easter. It includes the Sacred Triduum: Holy Thursday of the Lord’s Supper, Friday of the Lord’s Passion, and Holy Saturday with the great Easter Vigil. Since we have a whole week to contemplate the paschal mystery—the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus—you may wonder why we read the Good Friday story on Palm Sunday? 

In fact, Palm Sunday is the only day in the Church’s calendar when we have two gospel readings during the same liturgy. The first gospel proclaims the solemn entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem where the crowds welcome him as the Messiah singing: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21: 9; Psalm 118:25-26). After we commemorate this joyous event with our procession into the church (the New Jerusalem) we promptly begin hearing readings related to the passion and death of Jesus. Is the Church confused about what day it is?

Not at all. The actual title of today is “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.” There are two reasons why we read the Lord’s passion today. One is to give us an overview of the week through Holy Saturday. We see the big picture before we break it up into smaller vignettes for deeper meditation. The big picture could perhaps be summarized in one sentence: “He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). The Passion of Jesus reveals the depths of God’s love for each of us. Keep this in mind as you ponder the events of Holy Week. 

During the three-year cycle of Sunday readings, we follow the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke respectively. We are currently in year C following the Gospel of Luke. So, on Palm Sunday we hear his version of the procession with palms and of the Passion narrative beginning with the Last Supper. But on Holy Thursday and Good Friday every year we hear John’s version of the events, which is intriguingly complementary. And on Easter the Church allows the priest to choose from the Gospel of the current year (i.e. Luke) or from the Gospel of John. The Church is trying her best to provide a variety of delectable dishes for us at the table of the Word. This is especially true at the Easter Vigil which contains five to nine readings according to the priest’s discretion. (This year we will have six.)

Remember the overall theme of all these readings: It is the love story of God for His people. We were created through the love of God. We fell away from God by our sins. But Jesus came to reveal the depths of God’s love for us, to cleanse us of sin so we can receive God’s love, share it with one another, and live forever in the kingdom of love. I invite you to journey with me through this Holy Week so we can all rediscover our place in God’s great love story.

So what is the second reason why we read the Lord’s passion today on Palm Sunday? The second reason is much less inspiring. Roman Catholics are not obliged to participate in the liturgies of the Sacred Triduum. We are expected to participate in Mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation. Those Holy Days are the Solemnities of Mary the Mother of God, The Ascension of the Lord, The Assumption of the Mary, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and Christmas. 

So if Catholics only went to Mass on the days they are obliged to do so, they would only go on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. Would Easter make any sense without the story of Christ’s passion? The most important events of the New Testament—if not of the entire Bible—are the death and resurrection of Jesus. So rather than making Good Friday a Holy Day of Obligation, the Church added the Passion narrative to Palm Sunday. 

As I said, this second reason is much less inspiring than participating in the Sacred Triduum. I encourage you to seek more inspiration by journeying through these liturgies with our parish family. (See the schedule on the next page.) If you cannot attend, at least read the gospel passages of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion to prepare for Easter. This year at the Easter Vigil we will initiate twenty-six people into our parish family!  The stories we tell this week are not just his-tory; they are our-story. We are dying and rising with Jesus and welcoming others into his eternal love story. Such love transforms our obligation into celebration!