Welcome to the Catholic Parishes in Duntocher & Faifley

Jesus emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in human likeness

Today, as we begin the week we call Holy, we try and put some time aside so as to enter into it as attentively as possible. Palm Sunday begins with a processional Gospel (Luke 19: 28-40) recounting Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The disciples are overjoyed and lead the cries of ‘Hosanna’.

Then the Gospel of the Mass itself gives us Luke’s account of Jesus’s Passion and death. Jesus is betrayed and handed over to be crucified.

The prophet Isaiah (First Reading) presents a disciple, the Suffering Servant, often identified with Jesus, who suffers without offering resistance.

The Psalm follows the same theme, echoing elements of the Gospel narrative. But the last verse becomes a hymn of praise to God, who brings victory out of defeat.

Our Second Reading is an ancient liturgical hymn of praise. Here Jesus is presented as one who is divine but humbles himself, in obedience to the Father. He empties himself and accepts death on the cross, and so he is exalted as Lord by all those in heaven and on earth.

Jesus ‘taking the form of a servant’, or of a slave, leads us to consider all those throughout our world who suffer modern forms of slavery. May our prayers and actions in this Jubilee year give them hope and lead to justice.

(With thanks to St Beuno's Outreach)

ARTWORK

The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

Giotto di Bondone 1304-06, Fresco, 200 x 185 cm

Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua